Peter Sohn

Peter Sohn is an American animator, storyboard artist, voice actor, and film director whose career has been closely associated with Pixar Animation Studios. Born in New York City on October 18, 1977, he is the son of Korean immigrants. His family background later informed Elemental, the 2023 Pixar feature he directed. Sohn studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where his student work brought him to the attention of Pixar figures. Before joining Pixar, he worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation on projects including Mulan and Fantasia 2000. He joined Pixar in 2000, beginning a long run across its films as an artist and performer. He contributed story work to Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and WALL-E, and he was a story artist on Brad Bird’s Ratatouille. Sohn also supplied the voice of Emile, Remy’s food-loving brother, in Ratatouille, giving him one of his best-known acting credits. His Pixar voices also include Squishy, a young monster in Monsters University, and Ciccio, a dinosaur character in The Good Dinosaur. In 2009, Sohn made his directorial debut with Partly Cloudy, a Pixar short centered on Gus, a cloud who creates dangerous baby animals, and Peck, the stork who delivers them. The film was included in theatrical presentations with Up and earned praise for its visual comedy and unexpectedly tender partnership. Sohn then directed Pixar’s 2015 feature The Good Dinosaur. Set in an alternate history where the asteroid never caused dinosaurs’ extinction, it follows Arlo, a fearful Apatosaurus, and Spot, a feral human boy, as they travel through a hazardous wilderness. Sohn’s next feature, Elemental, follows Ember Lumen, a fire element living in Element City, and her relationship with Wade Ripple, a water element. Sohn has said that the film’s immigrant-family dimension drew on his parents’ experience and on his own upbringing in New York. Elemental premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival before its June theatrical release. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, where Sohn was among the film’s nominees as its director. Sohn has remained a frequent Pixar creative collaborator beyond directing. He also returned to voice work in Lightyear, voicing Sox, the robotic cat companion to Buzz Lightyear, in the 2022 film. His work spans hand-drawn and computer animation, story development, feature direction, and character performance. Across those roles, Sohn has moved from Disney animation to Pixar filmmaking while repeatedly returning to supporting character voices with warmth.