Andrew Stanton
Birthdate: Dec 3, 1965
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Andrew Stanton (birthname: Andrew Ayers Stanton) is a two-time Oscar-winning animator and one of the finest animator-directors affiliated with Pixar Animation Studios, with whom he’s been a key artistic contributor since 1990 as a creative vice-president overseeing Pixar’s features and shorts. Stanton made his feature launch as co-writer/co-story writer/story artist/character designer of an early Pixar classic (its first feature production) and the first computer-animated feature, Toy Story (1995), co-written by Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow with co-story writers John Lasseter (who also directed), Pete Docter and Joe Ranft, starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn and Jim Varney, earning three Oscar nominations and grossing a knockout $401.2 million globally (based on estimated costs) for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
Stanton was co-director/co-writer/co-story writer/story artist of director/co-story writer John Lasseter’s second Pixar animated feature, A Bug’s Life (1998), with the voice cast of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, and Hayden Panettiere, and which earned a potent $363.3 million (based on estimated costs) for distributor Disney. Stanton was a co-writer/co-story writer of director/co-story writer Lasseter’s acclaimed Pixar sequel, Toy Story 2 (1999), reuniting the original cast with new voice actors Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris, and Jodi Benson, grossing for distributor Disney a highly profitable $511.4 million (based on estimated costs).
Andrew Stanton was a co-screenwriter/executive producer on director/co-story writer Pete Docter’s Pixar hit, Monsters, Inc. (2001), co-written by Daniel Gerson, starring the voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly and Bonnie, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature (in the first year of this Oscar category) and grossing over four times estimated costs with a $579.7 million global return for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
Stanton had his filmmaking breakthrough as a leading director/writer/story writer for Pixar with his now-classic animated comedy-drama, Finding Nemo (2003), co-written by Bob Peterson and David Reynolds, starring the voice cast of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush and Bill Hunter, winning Pixar’s first Oscar for Best Animated Feature (along with three other Oscar nominations), delivering a colossal return ten times estimated costs with over $940 million and eventually becoming the best-selling DVD title of all time.
Stanton achieved arguably his greatest artistic success to date (and, for many, Pixar’s peak achievement following its purchase by Disney) as director/co-writer/co-story writer of the highly acclaimed sci-fi adventure, WALL-E (2008), co-written by Jim Reardon, with co-story writer Pete Docter, featuring the voices of Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy and Sigourney Weaver, grossing three times estimated costs for a potent $532.5 million return for distributor Disney while earning five Oscar nominations (exceptionally rare for an animated feature) including a Best Animated Feature Oscar win, and eventually selected for the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Stanton contributed as co-story writer (with Pixar founder and lead animator John Lasseter and director Lee Unkrich) to the Disney-Pixar sequel, Toy Story 3 (2010), with the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Jodi Benson and John Morris, resulting in one of Disney-Pixar’s biggest hits earning five times estimated costs (a gross slightly over $1 billion) while winning two of five Oscar nods including Best Animated Feature.
Andrew Stanton was director/co-writer of his first live-action feature and first commercial and critical failure, the sci-fi action adventure John Carter (2012), co-written by Stanton’s frequent collaborator Mark Andrews and novelist Michael Chabon who adapted Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel from his Barsoom novel series titled A Princess of Mars, co-starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Willem Dafoe, produced and released by Disney to a poor $284 million return (based on estimated costs exceeding the gross).
Stanton as director/co-writer/co-story writer returned to his customary Pixar success with his acclaimed sequel, Finding Dory (2016), co-directed by Angus MacLane, co-written by Victoria Strouse, starring the sterling voice cast of returning co-stars Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks, with new voice cast members Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Hayden Rolence, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy, and earning five times estimated costs with an over-$1 billion global gross for Disney.
Stanton was co-writer and an executive producer on Disney-Pixar’s Best Animated Feature Oscar winner, Toy Story 4 (2019), with new cast voices Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves and Ally Maki under Josh Cooley’s direction, co-written by Stephany Folsom, and grossing just over $1 billion globally (five times estimated costs, a consistent pattern for this and other Pixar releases involving Stanton).
Stanton was director/co-writer of the anticipated Disney-Pixar series sequel, Toy Story 5 (2026), co-directed and co-written by Kenna Harris, produced by Lindsey Collins, with new cast voices Greta Lee, Conan O’Brien, Craig Robinson, Shelby Rabara, Scarlett Spears, Jeff Bergman, Bad Bunny, Ernie Hudson, and Alan Cumming, and released wide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Andrew Stanton received an executive producer credit (only) on the following Pixar animated features: Ratatouille (2007), Up (2009), Brave (2012), Monsters University (2013), Inside Out (2015), The Good Dinosaur (2015), and Lightyear (2022). Stanton has also been a lead member of the Pixar Senior Creative Team since its creation following Disney’s purchase of the animation studio.
Personal life
Andrew Stanton was born and raised in Rockport, Massachusetts, by parents Ron (radar company founder) and Gloria (actor, homemaker). Stanton has a brother, Nathan (animator, writer, story artist, second unit director). Stanton graduated from his high school in Rockport and attended the University of Hartford for his freshman year. Stanton transferred to California Institute of the Arts, where he studied in the character animation program and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1987. Stanton has been married to Julie Stanton (his high school sweetheart) since 1989; the couple has children, Ben and Audrey, and their family lives in Los Angeles. Stanton’s height is 6’. Stanton’s estimated net worth is $40 million.
Known For
Andrew Stanton Movies
director
Upcoming (1)
- 2026 |
Toy Story 5
Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang's jobs are challenged when they're introduced to electronics, a new threat to playtime.
Previous (2)
- 2012 |
John Carter
A war-weary former army captain is inexplicably transported to Mars and reluctantly becomes embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions.
- 2008 |
actor
Previous (5)
- 2020 | Animation Outlaws
- 2016 |
Finding Dory
asCrush
Friendly but forgetful blue tang Dory begins a search for her long-lost parents and everyone learns a few things about the real meaning of family along the way.
- 2012 | Guardians of the Gates: The Surfboats
- 2003 |
Finding Nemo
asCrush
After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.
- 1998 | A Bug's Life
writer
Previous (3)
- 2019 |
Toy Story 4
When a new toy called "Forky" joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy.
- 2010 |
Toy Story 3
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.
- 1999 |
Toy Story 2
When Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and his friends set out on a rescue mission to save Woody before he becomes a museum toy property with his roundup gang Jessie, Prospector, and Bullseye.
Facts About Andrew Stanton
Pixar Genesis: Andrew Stanton was the ninth person hired by Pixar Animation Studios when it formed in 1990.
Favorites: Stanton, despite being primarily a director and creative artist in animated movies, has cited these live-action movies as his favorites: David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962), George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope (1977), Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), and James Cameron’s Aliens (1986).
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