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Josh Cooley
Josh Cooley by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Cooley in 2024
Born (1979-05-23) May 23, 1979 (age 45)
Occupation
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • storyboard artist
  • voice actor
Years active 2003–present
Employer
Awards Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
Toy Story 4 (2019)

Joshua Cooley (born May 23, 1979) is an American filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the animated films Toy Story 4 (2019) and Transformers One (2024), with the former winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Inside Out (2015), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Career

Cooley was recruited by Joe Ranft at Pixar, where he started his career as an intern, mostly working as a storyboard artist on films including The Incredibles (2004), the first two films of the Cars franchise (2006-2011), Ratatouille (2007), and Up (2009). In 2009, Cooley wrote and directed a short film George & A.J. for Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures.

In 2015, Cooley worked as a screenwriter and storyboard supervisor on the film Inside Out, which was released to critical acclaim. Cooley received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for his work on the film, alongside Pete Docter (the film's director), Ronnie Del Carmen (co-director), and Meg LeFauve. The same year, he wrote and directed another short film titled Riley's First Date?.

Following the success of Inside Out, Cooley was tapped by John Lasseter and screenwriter Andrew Stanton to co-direct Toy Story 4. Lasseter ended up setting aside his directorial duties in 2016, making Cooley the sole director. Toy Story 4 was Cooley's directorial debut. Upon release, the film received critical acclaim, and Cooley took home his first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Cooley left Pixar in March 2020.

In 2024, Cooley directed an animated Transformers film, titled Transformers One, for Paramount Pictures. The film is set on the Transformers home planet of Cybertron and focuses on the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

On May 19, 2020, it was reported that Cooley will write and direct a live-action adaptation of the children's book Malamander by Thomas Taylor for Sony Pictures, marking his first live-action film. In addition, on July 10, 2020, it was announced that Cooley would be the writer and director of the film Little Monsters, starring Universal Monsters characters, for Universal Pictures. On June 23, 2021, Cooley was set to write a film based on the Disney Parks attraction Tower of Terror, with Scarlett Johansson starring and producing the project, after previously working together on Transformers One.

Filmography

Films

Year Title Director Writer Story
Supervisor
Story
Artist
Other Voice
Role
Notes
2004 The Incredibles No No No Uncredited No
2006 Cars No No No Additional No
2007 Ratatouille No No No Yes No
2009 Up No No No Yes Yes Omega
2011 Cars 2 No No Additional No No
2015 Inside Out No Screenplay Yes No Yes Jangles
2019 Toy Story 4 Yes Original Story No No Yes Additional Screenplay Material
Pixar Senior Creative Team
2020 We Bare Bears: The Movie No No No No Yes Painting Elephant Additional Voices
Soul No No No No Yes Additional Dialogue Contributions
Pixar Senior Creative Team
2024 Transformers One Yes No No No Yes Skywarp
TBA Malamander Yes Yes No No No
Little Monsters Yes Yes No No No
Tower of Terror No Yes No No No

Shorts

Year Title Director Writer Story
Artist
Editor Other Voice Role Notes
2005 Mindwalk No No No Film No
2009 Calendar Confloption No No Yes No No
George and A.J. Yes Yes No No No
2010 Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales No No No No Yes Additional Voices Episodes 8-9
2011 Toy Story Toons: Small Fry No No No Story Yes Cashier / Lizard Wizard
2013 Cars Toons: Tales from Radiator Springs No No No No Yes Bug / Additional Voices Episodes 1-3
Toy Story of Terror! No No No No Yes Officer Phillips TV special
2015 Riley's First Date? Yes Yes No No Yes Dad's Sadness
2021 22 vs. Earth No Yes No No No Disney+ Original Short Film

Other credits

Year Title Role
2009 Tracy Cameraman #2, Extras, Camera Operator, Artist
2015 The Good Dinosaur Special Thanks
2017 Coco Pixar Senior Creative Team
2018 Incredibles 2
2019-20 Forky Asks a Question Special Thanks
2020 Lamp Life
Onward Special Thanks, Pixar Senior Creative Team

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Josh Cooley para niños

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