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Lee Unkrich

Lee Unkrich

Director, editor, actor, producer and writer · Born August 8, 1967 (59) · Cleveland, Ohio, USA

2 Oscars · 2 BAFTA Awards · 1 other major award body

Lee Edward Unkrich (born August 8, 1967) is an American film director, editor and writer. He is best known for his work with the animation studio Pixar, which he joined in 1994 as an editor before being credited as a co-director on Toy Story 2 (1999). Following the film's success, Unkrich served a similar role for the films Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Finding Nemo (2003) before making his solo directorial debut with Toy Story 3 (2010). The film and the second he directed, Coco (2017), won two Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. After 25 years at the company, Unkrich retired in January 2019 to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lee Unkrich, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
August 8, 1967 (59)
From
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Works as
Director, editor, actor, producer and writer
Titles
18 on MovieCove · 27 credits in all
TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Down 34% in 30 days

What are Lee Unkrich's films like?

Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.

What they feel like to watch

their average across 11 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category

Light 9 · Serious 2 · Dark 0

Grounded 2 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 4

Gentle 4 · Charged 5 · Intense 2

Steady 4 · Shifting 7 · Whiplash 0

A split, not a type: Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 5

Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 9 · Relentless 0

Casual 10 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0

A split, not a type: Easy watch 6 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 3

Resolved 11 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Hopeful
8
Joyful
6
Melancholic
5
Tense
4
Warm
2
Other
7

How their films end · 1 with a twist

  • Happy8
  • Bittersweet2
  • Ambiguous1

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Lee Unkrich's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 17 of their 18 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (15).

Subscription and free streaming for Lee Unkrich's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

27 credits, 18 with a MovieCove page; 7 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Coco 2 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2029)

    Director

  • Hoppers(2026)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
  • Toy Story 4(2019)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
  • Coco(2017)

    Director · Editor · Original Story · as Additional Voices (voice)

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
  • Dante's Lunch (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • The Good Dinosaur(2015)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
  • Lava(2014)

    Thanks

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
  • Inside Out(2015)

    Other

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
  • Monsters University(2013)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
  • Toy Story 3(2010)

    Director · Editor · Story · as Additional Voices (voice)

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
  • Ken's Dating Tips: #24 Know Yourself, Be Yourself (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Director

  • Ken's Dating Tips: #31 Play Hard to Get (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Director

  • Ken's Dating Tips: #48 Communication is Key (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Director

  • Groovin' with Ken (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Director

  • Presto(2008)

    Thanks

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
  • Cars(2006)

    Additional Editor · Other

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
  • Finding Nemo(2003)

    Co-Director · Supervising Film Editor · as Additional Voices (voice)

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
  • Monsters, Inc.(2001)

    Co-Director · Additional Editing · as Additional Voices (voice)

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
  • Toy Story 2(1999)

    Co-Director · Editor · as Additional Voices (voice)

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
  • A Bug's Life(1998)

    Editor · as Additional Voices (voice)

    Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
  • Toy Story(1995)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
  • Separated by Murder (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)

    Editor

  • Betrayed by Love (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)

    Assistant Editor

  • Renegade(1992)

    Show 11 episodes · Assistant Editor

    Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all shows
  • Silk Stalkings(1991)

    Show 12 episodes · Director · Editor

    Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all shows
  • Prison Stories: Women on the Inside(1991)

    Production Assistant

    Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
  • Ken's Dating Tips (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

Career shape

A full career of 27 titles, 25 of them dated from 1991 to 2026.

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting6 of 27: 0 only acting, 6 with another role · typical Midcredits score99thDirecting13 of 27: 7 only directing, 6 with another role · typical Midcredits score99thWriting2 of 27: 0 only writing, 2 with another roleProducing4 of 27: 4 only producing, 0 with another roleEditing8 of 27: 2 only editing, 6 with another role · typical Midcredits score98thOther crew8 of 27: 6 only other crew, 2 with another role · typical Midcredits score92nd

27 titles, 8 with more than one role — directing and editing overlap on 4 of them.

By decade

1990s8 · 2 acting · 8 crew2000s4 · 2 acting · 4 crew2010s12 · 2 acting · 12 crew2020s1 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

Awards

2 Oscars and 2 BAFTA Awards from 7 major nominations, 2004–2018.

WinNomination
  1. 2018
    • Oscar, won · Best Animated Feature Film
    • BAFTA Award, won · Best Animated Feature Film
  2. 2011
    • Oscar, won · Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
    • Oscar, nominated · Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
    • BAFTA Award, won · Best Animated Film
    • +1 other major body · 1 nomination
      • Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Screenplay, Adapted
  3. 2004
    • BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Feature Film

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Lee Unkrich's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 95th percentile, the median of all 16; across their 11 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 96th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

96thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 11

Approval · how many liked their films

97thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 11

Reach · how many have seen their films

99thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 11

Midcredits score across 18 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up14
  • 50th to 74th1
  • 25th to 49th2
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

9 of their 18 titles are Universally Loved.

  • Universally Loved9
  • Cult Classic1
  • Crowd Pleaser6
  • Mixed2

Reviewers score the atmosphere 82/100 and the pacing 65/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is Lee Unkrich's work okay for kids?

Across up to 9 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, sex & nudity, profanity and alcohol & drugs run lighter than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore9 titles28–46 · median 30 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity9 titles9–16 · median 13 · minimallighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity9 titles9–14 · median 11 · minimallighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs9 titles6–28 · median 11 · minimallighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense9 titles37–60 · median 43 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does Lee Unkrich work with?

People who share at least 2 of Lee Unkrich's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; John Lasseter shares the most, 10.

Directors

Writers

Actors

Composers, cinematographers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles