Ronnie del Carmen

Ronnie del Carmen is a Filipino-American animator, storyboard artist, writer, and director whose Pixar work includes the feature films Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Up, Inside Out, and Soul. Born in Cavite City, Philippines, on December 31, 1959, he grew up drawing comics and absorbing American comic-book art alongside Philippine popular culture. He studied advertising at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and, before leaving the Philippines, worked in local advertising and as a comics illustrator. In 1989, del Carmen moved to the United States and entered animation through work at Warner Bros. Feature Animation. His early American credits include storyboard work on Batman: The Animated Series and on DreamWorks productions including The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. That period also established a professional identity rooted in visual storytelling: he has often described storyboards as a way of testing a film’s emotion and clarity before animation is completed. Del Carmen joined Pixar in 2000, initially working as a story artist on Finding Nemo. He became the film’s story supervisor, helping develop the father-and-son journey of Marlin and Nemo across the ocean. At Pixar he also contributed story work to Ratatouille and served as story supervisor on Up, whose opening montage traces Carl and Ellie Fredricksen’s marriage and loss with almost no dialogue. His most prominent screen credit is co-director of Inside Out, made with director Pete Docter. The 2015 film places Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust inside eleven-year-old Riley’s mind as her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. Inside Out won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and made del Carmen, together with Docter and producer Jonas Rivera, an Oscar nominee in that category. Its treatment of Sadness as necessary rather than villainous reflects the film’s dramatic argument: Riley begins recovering only after Joy accepts that grief can invite comfort and connection. Del Carmen later returned to the Up world as creator, writer, and director of Dug Days, Pixar’s 2021 series of five shorts centered on the talking dog Dug and Carl’s life after the feature. Outside film, his 2012 graphic memoir Paper Biscuit recounts episodes from his childhood in the Philippines, including family life, neighborhood observations, and his early fascination with drawing. His career therefore links Manila illustration, American television and feature animation, and Pixar’s story department, while his own published work preserves memories that predate his move to California.