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Angus MacLane

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Angus MacLane
Image
MacLane in 2016
Born (1975-04-13) April 13, 1975 (age 51)
Riverside County, California, U.S.
Alma materRhode Island School of Design (BFA)
Occupations
  • Animator
  • screenwriter
  • director
  • voice actor
Years active1997–present
EmployerPixar Animation Studios (1997–2023)

Angus MacLane (born April 13, 1975) is an American animator, filmmaker and voice actor, best known for his work at Pixar Animation Studios.[1][2][3][4][5][6] He co-directed the film Finding Dory (2016)[7][8] and made his solo feature directorial debut with the Toy Story spin-off film Lightyear (2022).[9] MacLane is also a Lego enthusiast and created the CubeDudes building format and designed a LEGO WALL-E that has become an official set from The Lego Group.[10][11]

Early life and education

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Angus MacLane was born on April 13, 1975, in Riverside County, California, but grew up in Portland, Oregon. He originally wanted to be a comic book artist but halfway through school switched to animation and hoped one day he could work at the Will Vinton Studios (now Laika) and would eventually go on to work for the studio before working for Pixar. In 1997, he received a bachelor of fine arts from Rhode Island School of Design.[12]

Career

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1997–2023: Pixar

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MacLane joined Pixar in 1997, starting as an animator on the short film Geri's Game. He worked as an animator on every Pixar feature film from A Bug's Life (1998) through Toy Story 3 (2010). He also worked in the character development on Monsters, Inc. (2001) and The Incredibles (2004).[13]

After serving as a supervising animator on One Man Band, MacLane started working on the story team for Andrew Stanton's WALL-E before moving up to directing animator. After animating a small scene for a side character named BURN-E, MacLane was intrigued to learn what might happen to the character. This led to the development of a short film for the film's home media release, titled BURN-E, which became his first directing credit at Pixar.

In the following years, MacLane continued to direct for the studio, being in charge of the Toy Story Toons short film Small Fry (2011) and the television special Toy Story of Terror! (2013). In June 2014, it was announced he would work again with Stanton as co-director on Finding Dory (2016).[7][8]

In December 2020, it was announced he would write and direct Lightyear, a Toy Story spin-off centered on the character the toy is based upon. His feature directorial debut, the film was billed as a passion project inspired by his love of science fiction films.[14] The film was released in June 2022 to generally positive reactions but becoming a box-office bomb, which in turn lost the studio an estimated $106 million.[15]

MacLane was one of 75 Pixar employees laid off by The Walt Disney Company as part of an ongoing company-wide restructuring in May 2023.[16][17][18]

Further projects

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In November 2025, it was reported that MacLane was developing a new film titled Trudy Blue, with Dakota Johnson attached in the leading role.[19]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Director Writer Animator Story
Artist		 Character
Developer		 Production
Artist		 Other Voice Role Notes
1998 A Bug's Life No No Additional No No No No
1999 Toy Story 2 No No Yes Additional No No No
2000 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command:
The Adventure Begins		 Partial No No No No No No Directed Pixar CG opening scene
direct-to-video [20][21]
2001 Monsters, Inc. No No Yes Additional Yes No No Also character developer
2003 Finding Nemo No No Yes No No No No
2004 The Incredibles No No Yes No Animation No No
2006 Cars No No Additional No No No No
2007 Ratatouille No No Additional No No No No
2008 WALL-E No No Directing Yes No Yes Yes BURN-E (uncredited)
2009 Up No No Yes No No No No
2010 Toy Story 3 No No Yes No Animation No No Also character developer (Ken[22])
2016 Finding Dory Co-Director No No No No No Yes Sunfish "Charlie Back and Forth" / Additional Voices Additional Story Material
2017 Coco No No No No No No Yes Pixar Senior Creative Team
2018 Incredibles 2 No No No No No No Yes
2019 Toy Story 4 No No No No No No Yes
2020 Onward No No No No No No Yes
Soul No No No No No No Yes
2021 Luca No No No No No No Yes
2022 Turning Red No No No No No No Yes
Lightyear Yes Yes No No No No Yes ERIC / DERIC / Zyclops
2023 Elemental No No No No No No Yes
2026 Hoppers No No No No No No Yes Special Thanks

Shorts

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Year Title Director Writer Animator Executive
Producer		 Other Voice Role Notes
1997 Geri's Game No No Yes No No
2000 For the Birds No No Yes No No
2005 One Man Band No No Supervising No No
2008 BURN-E Yes Yes No No Yes BURN-E / SUPPLY-R
2010 Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales No No No No Yes Additional Voices Episodes 8–9
2011 Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation No No Supervising No Yes Captain Zip
Toy Story Toons: Small Fry Yes Yes No No Yes Gary Grappling Hook / T-Bone / Funky Monk / Super Pirate
2012 Toy Story Toons: Partysaurus Rex No No No No Yes Additional Voices Special Thanks
2013 Party Central No No No No Yes
2016 Marine Life Interviews No No No Yes No
2017 Lou No No No No Yes Special Thanks
2019 Purl No No No No Yes
2022 Cars on the Road No No No No Yes Pixar Senior Creative Team

Television

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Year Title Director Writer Other Voice Role Notes
2000–01 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Partial No No Directed Pixar CG intro variants [20][21]
2013 Toy Story of Terror! Yes Yes Yes Officer Wilson TV special
2025 Win or Lose No No Yes Pixar Senior Creative Team

Other credits

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 The Making of 'The Incredibles' Himself DVD Extra
2009 Tracy Waiter / Actor #9
2021 Pixar 2021 Disney+ Day Special[23] Himself Disney+ Original specials
2022 Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to 'Lightyear'[24]

Recognition

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References

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  1. ↑ Wolcott, Gary (December 2, 2008). "Q&A with Pixar star MacLane". Tri-City Herald. ATOMICTOWN.COM. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
  2. ↑ Shamsian, Jacob (October 28, 2016). "One of the directors of 'Finding Dory' kept 'Finding Nemo' constantly running on his phone while making the movie". Insider. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  3. ↑ Moore, Sara (August 26, 2015). "Interview with Angus MacLane of WALL•E". Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  4. ↑ Telsch, Rafe (November 12, 2008). "Interview: BURN-E Director Angus MacLane". CinemaBlend. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  5. ↑ White, Ryan (December 11, 2011). "Pixar writer, director Angus MacLane puts inspiration from Portland roots into short 'Small Fry'". The Oregonian. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  6. ↑ Radish, Christina (October 14, 2013). "Carl Weathers Talks TOY STORY OF TERROR!, Playing "Combat Carl," Joining the TOY STORY Franchise, and More". Collider. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Han, Angie (June 11, 2014). "Pixar Updates: 'Finding Dory' Gets Co-Director, More 'Inside Out' Details Revealed". /Film. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Feldberg, Isaac (June 11, 2014). "Angus MacLane Co-Directing Finding Dory With Andrew Stanton". We Got This Covered. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  9. ↑ Julie & T.J. (December 10, 2020). "Pixar Announces 'Lightyear' – An Origin Story of the Human Buzz Lightyear – Coming Summer 2022". Pixar Post. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  10. ↑ Courtney, Tim (August 14, 2015). "Introducing LEGO Ideas #011 WALL•E". LEGO Ideas Blog. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  11. ↑ "LEGO Interview: Angus MacLane and the CubeDudes". bricksabillion.com. September 26, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  12. ↑ Michael Cavna (December 11, 2008). "The Interview: Pixar Animator Angus MacLane". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  13. 1 2 staff. "32nd ANNUAL ANNIE NOMINATIONS AND AWARDS RECIPIENTS". annieawards.org. Annie Awards. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  14. ↑ Lussier, Germain (April 21, 2022). "What Exactly Is Pixar's Lightyear?". Gizmodo. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  15. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 14, 2023). "The Biggest Box Office Bombs Of 2022: Deadline's Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament". Deadline. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  16. ↑ Chmielewski, Dawn (June 3, 2023). "Exclusive: Walt Disney's Pixar targets 'Lightyear' execs among 75 job cuts". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Walt Disney's Pixar Animation eliminates 75 positions". The Economic Times. June 3, 2023. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  18. ↑ Wolsos, T.J. (August 9, 2024). "Disney/Pixar Lays Off 75 Employees – Developing". Pixar Post. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  19. ↑ Wiseman, Anthony D'Alessandro,Andreas (November 10, 2025). "Dakota Johnson-Led Sci-Fi Android Pic 'Trudy Blue' Launching Sales At AFM". Deadline. Retrieved May 29, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. 1 2 White, James (October 27, 2021). "Lightyear Exclusive Interview: Director Angus MacLane On The 'Real' Buzz's New Movie". Empire. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  21. 1 2 Hermanns, Grant (April 21, 2022). "Angus MacLane & Galyn Susman Interview: Lightyear". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  22. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7G0zk-S0ic
  23. ↑ Palmer, Roger (November 10, 2021). "Pixar 2021 Disney+ Day Special Details Revealed". What's On Disney Plus. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  24. ↑ T.J. Wolsos (June 10, 2022). "Buzz Lightyear Documentary 'Beyond Infinity' Now on Disney+". Pixar Post. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  25. ↑ staff. "41st ANNUAL ANNIE AWARDS WINNERS". annieawards.org. Annie Awards. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
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