Joshua Cooley (born May 23, 1979) is an American animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor. He is best known for directing the 2019 film ''

Toy Story 4 ''Toy Story 4'' is a 2019 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to ''Toy Story 3'' ( ...

'', the fourth film of the ''Toy Story'' franchise, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also worked on the 2015

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

animated film '' Inside Out'' and directed the short film ''

Riley's First Date? ''Riley's First Date?'' is a 2015 Pixar computer animated romantic comedy short film written and directed by Josh Cooley. It premiered on August 14, 2015, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, and was included in the October 13, 2015, Digita ...

'' that was included in its home video release.

Career

Cooley was recruited by

Joe Ranft Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation ...

at Pixar, where he started his career as an intern, mostly working as a storyboard artist on films including ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah ...

'' (2004), the first two films of the ''Cars'' franchise (2006-2011), ''

Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...

'' (2007), and '' Up'' (2009). In 2009, Cooley wrote and directed a short film '' George & A.J.'' for Pixar and

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

. In 2015, Cooley worked as a screenwriter and storyboard supervisor on the film '' Inside Out'', which was released to critical acclaim. Cooley received an Academy Award nomination for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

for his work on the film, alongside Pete Docter (the film's director),

Ronnie Del Carmen Ronnie del Carmen (born December 31, 1959) is a Filipino animation writer, director, story artist, story supervisor and production designer. He co-directed and was one of the story writers for the 2015 Pixar film '' Inside Out'', for which he ...

(co-director), and Meg LeFauve. The same year, he wrote and directed another short film titled ''

''. Following the success of ''Inside Out'', Cooley was tapped by

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios ...

and screenwriter

Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990. His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's ''A Bug's Life'' (1998), directing '' Finding Nemo'' (2003) ...

to co-direct ''

''. Lasseter ended up setting aside his directorial duties in 2016, making Cooley the sole director. ''Toy Story 4'' was Cooley's directorial debut. Upon release, the film received critical acclaim, and Cooley took home his first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Cooley left Pixar in March 2020. Cooley is set to direct an animated ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms ...

'' film at Paramount Pictures. The film, which will be "separate and apart from" the Michael Bay-directed

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

and the stand-alone ''

Bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera ...

'', will focus on

Optimus Prime Optimus Prime, , is a fictional character in the ''Transformers'' franchise. The Transformers characters were developed for an American market after Hasbro representatives visited the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. The characters were modified and the ...

and

Megatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, ...

's relationship. On May 19, 2020, it was reported that Cooley will write and direct a live-action adaptation of the children's book ''Malamander'' for Sony Pictures, marking his first live-action film. On July 10, 2020, it was announced that Cooley would be the writer and director of the film ''Little Monsters'', starring

Universal Monsters Universal Classic Monsters (also known as Universal Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters) is a media franchise based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s. Although not initially conc ...

characters, for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Filmography

Films

Shorts

Other credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Josh 1979 births American film directors American male screenwriters American male voice actors American storyboard artists American animated film directors Animation screenwriters Animators from California Annie Award winners Living people Cartoon Network Studios people Pixar people Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners