Lee Unkrich

Lee Edward Unkrich (born August 8, 1967) is an American filmmaker. He was a longtime member of the creative team at Pixar, where he started in 1994 as a film editor. He later began directing, first as co-director of Toy Story 2 (1999). After co-directing Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Finding Nemo (2003), Unkrich made his solo directorial debut with Toy Story 3 (2010), and most recently directed Coco (2017), both of which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Academy Award for Best Original Song. After working at Pixar for 25 years, Unkrich retired from the company in January 2019 to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests. Early life and career Unkrich was raised in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the only child of Emilie Unkrich and Robert Unkrich. His father was a World War II veteran ("He stormed the beach at Normandy") and artist. Unkrich was raised in the Jewish faith. He spent his youth acting at The Cleveland Play House. Unkrich graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 1990.