Adrian Molina (born August 23, 1985) is a Mexican American animator, storyboard artist and screenwriter who works for Pixar. He co-wrote the screenplay and story of '' Coco'' (2017), which he also co-directed.

Early life and education

Molina was born in

Yuba City, California Yuba City ( Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a city in Northern California and the county seat of Sutter County, California Sutter County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

to a Mexican family, and raised in Grass Valley. He graduated from Bear River High School in 2003, to subsequently attend and graduate from the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

in 2007.

Career

Molina joined Pixar in 2007. He started as a 2D animator on '' Ratatouille''. He later moved on to be a storyboard artist, working on ''

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...

'' and '' Monsters University''. Molina also illustrated the Little Golden Book for ''Toy Story 3''. After writing for '' The Good Dinosaur'', Molina started his first assignment as a screenwriter, for '' Coco'', and later went on to co-direct the film. He also wrote several lyrics for the film. Following the success of ''Coco'' and the D23 Expo announcement in September 2022, Molina was announced to direct the upcoming feature film '' Elio'', set to release on June 20, 2025. However in August 2024, it was announced that Molina had left he project to develop another film, with Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian directing ''Elio'' instead. Nevertheless, he is retaining his director credit on the film. In March 2025, during the Disney Shareholder Meeting, CEO Bob Iger announced that the sequel to ''Coco'' was in early development, with Molina returning from the original film.

Personal life

Molina is gay. He has been married to Ryan Dooley since 2011.

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molina, Adrian 1985 births American male screenwriters American lyricists American writers of Mexican descent American storyboard artists Animation screenwriters Annie Award winners American gay artists American gay writers LGBTQ animators American LGBTQ screenwriters American LGBTQ songwriters Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners Gay screenwriters Gay songwriters Living people People from Yuba City, California Pixar people Screenwriters from California Songwriters from California