Peter Sohn

Peter Sohn is an American animator, director, storyboard artist, and voice actor whose work at Pixar Animation Studios spans feature films and short films. Born in the Bronx, New York, to Korean immigrant parents, he grew up in New York City and later studied at the California Institute of the Arts. His father’s experiences as an immigrant and a grocer became an important personal reference point for Elemental, the Pixar feature Sohn directed in 2023. Sohn joined Pixar in 2000. Early in his studio career, he worked in animation and story on films including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. He also became recognizable to audiences as a voice performer. In Ratatouille, he voiced Emile, the food-loving brother of Remy. His other screen voice credits include Squishy, the young dinosaur in The Good Dinosaur, and Ganke Lee in Spider-Man: Homecoming. These acting roles accompany his behind-the-scenes work as a filmmaker. His first directing credit at Pixar was the 2009 short Partly Cloudy. Sohn wrote and directed the film, which imagines clouds as makers of babies and follows Gus, a cloud, and Peck, a stork, as Gus creates more difficult animals. Partly Cloudy was released theatrically before Pixar’s Up. Sohn’s first feature as director was The Good Dinosaur, released in 2015. Its alternate-history premise imagines that the asteroid missed Earth. The story centers on Arlo, a fearful young Apatosaurus, and Spot, a feral human boy traveling together through a dangerous landscape. Elemental returned Sohn to feature directing after The Good Dinosaur. Released in 2023, it is set in Element City, where residents made of fire, water, earth, and air live under rules that often keep the elements apart. The film follows Ember Lumen, a fire element expected to inherit her family’s shop, and Wade Ripple, a water element. Leah Lewis voices Ember, while Mamoudou Athie voices Wade. Sohn has connected the film to his family’s immigrant experience and to his father’s grocery store. Elemental premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival before its theatrical release. Beyond directing, Sohn has remained a recurring creative presence in Pixar productions as both an artist and performer. His career includes story work, character animation, feature direction, short filmmaking, and voice acting. This combination is evident in his Pixar credits, which range from animation work on major studio releases to the personal cultural influences that helped shape Elemental. His output ties technical craft to autobiographical material.