Adrian Molina

Adrian Molina
Molina at the 2017 Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Born
Yuba City, California, U.S.
EducationCalifornia Institute of the Arts (BFA)
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • director
  • storyboard artist
  • animator
Years active2006–present
EmployerPixar Animation Studios (2007–present)
Spouse
Ryan Dooley
​
(m. 2011)​

Adrian Molina is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter and director. He is best known for his works at Pixar, including co-writing and co-directing Coco (2017) and Elio (2025), with the latter being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Early life and education

Molina was born in Yuba City, California 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 in 2007.[1]

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 and Monsters University.[1] Molina also illustrated the Little Golden Book for Toy Story 3.[2] After getting an additional screenplay material credit for both Monsters University and 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.[1][3][4]

In 2022, he served as an associate executive producer on the Academy Award-nominated Turning Red.

Following the success of Coco and the D23 Expo announcement in September 2022, Molina was announced to direct the 2025 film Elio.[5][6][7] However in August 2024, it was announced that Molina had left the project, with Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi taking over the storywriting and directorial duties instead.[8] Nevertheless, he retained his director credit on the film due to his heavy amount of work that he made.[9] Reports in June 2025 suggested Molina left after studio demands for edits to remove LGBT-related content from the film.[10]

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.[11]

Personal life

Molina is gay. He has been married to Ryan Dooley since 2011.[12]

Filmography

Year Title Director Screenwriter Executive
Producer 		Story
Artist 		Other Notes
2006 CuddleBee Hugs 'n' Such Co-Director Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Short film from CalArts, co-directed with Alex Hirsch
2007 Ratatouille No No No No Yes Animator: End Titles
2010 Toy Story 3 No No No Yes No
2013 Monsters University No No No Yes Yes Additional Screenplay Material
Opening Title Designer and director
2015 The Good Dinosaur No No No No Yes Additional Screenplay Material
2017 Coco Co-Director Yes No No Yes Additional Voices, songwriter
2021 Luca No No No No Yes Additional Story Contributor
2022 Turning Red No No Associate No Yes
2025 Elio Yes Story No No Yes
TBA Coco 2 Co-Director TBA No No Yes

Accolades

Accolades received by Adrian Molina
Award Date of ceremony Category Film Result Ref.
Annie Awards February 3, 2018 Directing in an Animated Feature Production Coco Won [13]
Music in an Animated Feature Production Coco Won
Writing in an Animated Feature Production Coco Won
Humanitas Prize February 16, 2018 Feature – Family Coco Nominated [14]
Imagen Awards August 25, 2018 Best Director Coco Won [15]

References

  1. ^ a b c "'Coco's Mexican-American Co-Director Adrian Molina Reveals Origins of Pixar's Día de Muertos Film". Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  2. ^ Spring Into Action! (Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3) by Annie Auerbach | PenguinRandomHouse.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "Pixar Coco plot details revealed | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  4. ^ Robinson, Joanna. "Pixar's Coco Is a "Love Letter to Mexico" When It's Needed Most". HWD. Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  5. ^ "'Elio': Pixar Sets New Pic About 11-Year-Old Boy Beamed Into Space; America Ferrera Stars & 'Coco's Adrian Molina Directs". Deadline Hollywood. September 9, 2022. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Meyer, Joshua (September 9, 2022). "Disney Announces New Pixar Sci-Fi Adventure Comedy, Elio [D23]". /Film. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  7. ^ McClintock, Pamela (October 27, 2023). "Disney Delays 'Snow White' and 'Elio' a Year, Removes Jonathan Majors' 'Magazine Dreams' From Calendar". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  8. ^ Taylor, Drew (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Chief Pete Docter Talks New 'Elio' Directors, Story and Casting Changes | Exclusive". TheWrap. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024. Docter said that Molina is still at Pixar and, what's more, he 'was taken on to a priority project that we're not ready to talk about yet, but it's very exciting and he's excited about it as well,' even though he's no longer involved with 'Elio.'.
  9. ^ Julie & T.J. (August 9, 2024). "Pixar at the 2024 D23 Expo – News Consolidation". Pixar Post. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  10. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (June 30, 2025). "Inside 'Elio's' "Catastrophic" Path: America Ferrera's Exit, Director Change and Erasure of Queer Themes". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  11. ^ "'Coco 2' in Development at Pixar". TheWaltDisneyCompany.com. March 20, 2025. Archived from the original on July 8, 2025. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  12. ^ Crispim, Fabio (June 30, 2018). "'Coco' co-director Adrian Molina is 'all for' an LGBT Pixar film". attitude. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  13. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (February 4, 2018). "Annie Awards: 'Coco' Tops the Animation Celebration". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  14. ^ Pedersen, Erik (January 9, 2018). "Humanitas Prize Finalists Announced; Feature Awards Split Into 3 Categories". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  15. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 26, 2018). "Imagen Awards: 'One Day At A Time', 'Coco' Among Honorees – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
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