Adrian Molina
Birthdate: August 23, 1985 (40 Years Old)
Birthplace: Yuba City, California
Adrian Molina is an animation director and screenwriter as well as an animator who has been working with Pixar Studios since 2007, the year he graduated from the California Institute of the Arts, as an animator on the end titles sequence of Ratatouille (2007). Molina was a story artist for Pixar’s Toy Story 3 (2010) and Monsters University (2013), on which he was also a writer of additional material and director/title designer of the opening title sequence.
Molina contributed additional screenplay material for Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur (2015), and then Molina had his career breakthrough as co-director/writer/song writer of Disney/Pixar’s hit, Coco (2017), co-directed by Lee Unkrich (with whom Molina shared the Best Animated Feature Academy Award), with the voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renee Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguia and Edward James Olmos, and which grossed a knockout $814.3 million (against $225 million costs).
Molina served on Pixar’s Senior Creative Team for a roster of subsequent Disney/Pixar releases, including Toy Story 4 (2019), Onward (2020), Soul (2020), Luca in 2021 (on which Molina was also a story contributor), Turning Red in 2022 (on which Molina was also an associate producer), Lightyear (2022), Elemental (2023) and Inside Out (2024).
Adrian Molina returned to the director’s chair as credited co-director of Disney/Pixar’s sci-fi adventure, Elio (2025), which he left in 2024 and handed over to co-directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, and voiced by Yonas Kibreab (in the title role), Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Jameela Jamil, Brad Garrett, Shirley Henderson, and Matthias Schweighöfer. Molina again served on the Pixar Creative Team for Disney/Pixar’s animal-based adventure, Hoppers (2026), Toy Story 5 (2026), directed and written by Andrew Stanton, and Disney/Pixar’s anticipated sequel, Incredibles 3 (date to be announced).
Molina was then co-director of Disney/Pixar’s long-anticipated sequel, Coco 2 (2029), which he had been preparing since departing production on Elio.
Personal life
Adrian Molina was born in Yuba City, California and raised in Grass Valley, California, by his parents. Molina attended and graduated from Bear River High School, and then attended the California Institute of the Arts, from which he graduated with a degree in Animation in 2007. Molina has been married to Ryan Dooley since 2011.
Known For
Adrian Molina Movies
Writer
Facts About Adrian Molina
Creative Conception: Adrian Molina has said that he conceived Elio as a “personal coming-of-age story about youthful alienation,” but then left the production in 2024 when he determined that he “ultimately wasn’t the one to see it to the finish line.”
