Adrian Molina | |
|---|---|
 Molina at the 2017 Annecy International Animated Film Festival | |
| Born | August 23, 1985 Yuba City, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Employer | Pixar Animation Studios (2007–present) |
| Spouse |
Ryan Dooley (m. 2011) |
Adrian Molina (born August 23, 1985) is an 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. He will make his directorial debut with the upcoming film Elio (2025), which he also wrote.[1][2]
Molina was born in Yuba City, California to a Mexican family, and raised in Grass Valley, and he graduated from Bear River High School in 2003, to subsequently attend and graduate from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007.[3]
Molina has joined at Pixar since 2007, where 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.[3] Molina also illustrated the Little Golden Book for Toy Story 3.[4] 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 serveral lyrics for the film.[3][5][6]
Following the success of Coco and the D23 Expo announcement in September 2022, Molina was announced to write and direct the upcoming feature film Elio, which he will make his directorial debut, set to release on June 13, 2025.[7][1][8][2]
Molina is openly gay. He has been married to Ryan Dooley since 2011.[9]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
Story Artist |
Other | Voice | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 2019 | Toy Story 4 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team | |
| 2020 | Onward | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Soul | No | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2021 | Luca | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Story Contributions Pixar Senior Creative Team | |
| 2022 | Turning Red | No | No | Associate | No | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team | |
| Lightyear | No | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2023 | Elemental | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2024 | Inside Out 2 | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2025 | Elio | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
