Lee Unkrich has certainly come a long way since he first started out in Hollywood, as he’s gone from working on a Lorenzo Lamas cable series to tackling some of Pixar Animation’s most well-known and successful titles (including 2003’s Finding Nemo and 2010’s Toy Story 3).
Born a Film Buff:
Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Lee Unkrich developed his passion for cinema at an early age – as he would often tag along with his mother to the movies and watch whatever adult fare she had selected for the day. As a result, Lee was exposed to exactly the kind of films that most young boys would kill to watch – including 1975’s Dog Day Afternoon and 1980’s The Shining. The latter had a particularly pronounced effect on the budding filmmaker, as it marked the first time that Lee noticed the craft and hard work that goes into making a full-length feature.
Lee Moves to Hollywood
After trying his hand at acting during his teen years, Lee quickly realized that he was more suited to a career behind the scenes and subsequently enrolled at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. It was there that he discovered his talent and enthusiasm for the editing process, and, following his graduation, Lee began taking on jobs as a cutter for both movies and television shows. He spent much of the early 1990s working on projects that were destined for obscurity, yet everything changed once he got the call from a fledgling animation studio called Pixar in 1994.
Lee Goes to Pixar
Pixar was in the middle of production on their first full-length animated feature, 1995’s Toy Story, when they hired Lee as a freelance editor, and though the job was only supposed to last a few weeks, Lee impressed his bosses and coworkers to such an extent that he was asked to stay on. Lee’s stellar work as an editor on Toy Story and 1998’s A Bug's Life eventually convinced Pixar’s higher ups that he deserved a shot at something more substantial, and in 1998, Lee was asked to co-direct 1999’s Toy Story 2 with Ash Brannon and Pixar head honcho John Lasseter.
Lee Co-Directs Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo
Lee’s success with Toy Story 2 – in addition to the movie’s critical and financial windfall, Lee shared an Annie Award for Outstanding Direction with Brannon and Lasseter – resulted in more opportunities for the up-and-coming filmmaker within Pixar, and he was asked to help direct both 2001’s Monsters, Inc. and 2003’s Finding Nemo. The latter eventually became the studio’s top grossing film, and earned Lee and co-director Andrew Stanton some of the most glowing reviews of their respective careers.
Lee Directs Toy Story 3
Lee’s esteem among his fellow Pixar artists eventually led to a coveted gig within the studio’s walls, as he was assigned the task of helming Toy Story 3 without a co-director. In making his solo directorial debut, Lee sought to bring his experience in the live-action world to the project. As Lasseter told the San Francisco Chronicle, “(Lee’s) the one who recognized early on the difference (between) computer generation and cel animation - and that we have to be more inspired from live-action filmmaking than animated filmmaking."