Enrico Casarosa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born (1971-11-20) 20 November 1971 (age 54)
Genoa, Liguria, Italy
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • storyboard artist
Yearsactive1996–present
Enrico Casarosa
Casarosa in 2014
Born (1971-11-20) 20 November 1971 (age 54)
Genoa, Liguria, Italy
Alma materSchool of Visual Arts
Fashion Institute of Technology
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • storyboard artist
Years active1996–present
Employers
SpouseMarit Casarosa[1]
Children1

Enrico Casarosa (born 20 November 1971)[2][3] is an Italian director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. Best known for his work at Pixar, he has directed the short film La Luna (2011) and the feature film Luca (2021), both of which were nominated for Academy Awards.[4]

Casarosa was born in Genoa, Italy, but moved to New York City in his twenties, to study animation at the School of Visual Arts and Illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Career

Casarosa began his professional career as a background designer and storyboard artist on several animated TV series, including 101 Dalmatians: The Series and PB&J Otter.[5] Before joining Pixar, he worked as a storyboard artist at Blue Sky Studios on Ice Age and Robots.

In 2002, Casarosa joined Pixar, where he worked as a story artist on Cars, Ratatouille, Up and Cars 2.[6] In late 2004, Casarosa started a drawing marathon community called SketchCrawl and has been organizing the event ever since.[7] In 2011, his short film La Luna premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France,[8] and was released theatrically with Pixar's Brave in 2012.[4]

Cararosa then worked as head of story on The Good Dinosaur when Bob Peterson was the original director, and later as a story artist on Coco.[9][10]

In 2021, Casarosa made his feature directorial debut with Luca, which was released on Disney+ in the United States.[11][12][13] The film received generally positive reviews from critics for its nostalgic feel and acting. The film won a Hollywood Critics Association award for Best Picture. It was also nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 79th Golden Globe Awards and the 94th Academy Awards.

In October 2022, Cararosa stated he was developing another original Pixar feature film.[14][15] In June 2025, the film was titled Gatto, with the story centered on a black cat named Nero living in Venice who questions whether he's lived the right lives. It is scheduled for release in 2027.[16][17]

Personal life

Casarosa currently resides in San Francisco with his wife Marit and daughter Fio.[1]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Director Story Story
Artist
Other Voice Role Notes
2002 Ice Age No No Yes No
2005 Robots No No Uncredited No [5]
2006 Cars No No Uncredited No [18]
2007 Ratatouille No No Yes No
2009 Up No No Yes No
2011 Cars 2 No No Yes No
2015 The Good Dinosaur No No No Yes Additional Story Supervision
2017 Coco No No Yes Yes Pixar Senior Creative Team [15]
2018 Incredibles 2 No No No Yes
2019 Toy Story 4 No No No Yes
2020 Onward No No No Yes
Soul No No No Yes
2021 Luca Yes Yes No Yes Card Player / Angry Fisherman
2022 Turning Red No No No Yes
Lightyear No No No Yes
2023 Elemental No No No Yes
2024 Inside Out 2 No No No Yes
2025 Elio No No No Yes
2026 Toy Story 5 No No No Yes
2027 Gatto [16] Yes TBA No Yes

Shorts

Year Title Director Writer Story
Artist
Executive
Producer
2011 La Luna Yes Yes No No
2016 Piper No No Yes No
2021 Ciao Alberto No No No Yes

Featurettes and TV

Year Title Role
1996 Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders 13 episodes
Background design, storyboard revision
1997 The Secret of Anastasia Direct-to-video
Lead character model designer, background layout designer
The Amazing Feats of Young Hercules
1997–1998 101 Dalmatians: The Series 23 episodes
Storyboard artist, storyboard revision artist, designer
1998–2000 PB&J Otter 18 episodes
Background artist, storyboard artist

Bibliography

  • The Adventures of Mia, Volume One (2001) graphic novel
  • Fragments (2001) art book with Ronnie Del Carmen
  • The Adventures of Mia, Volume Two (2004) graphic novel
  • Fragments Intermezzo (2004) art book
  • Flight, Volume One (2004) part of a larger comic anthology
  • Three Trees Make a Forest (2007) exhibition art book with Ronnie Del Carmen and Tadahiro Uesugi
  • Totoro Forest Project (2008) with Daisuke Tsutsumi, Ronnie Del Carmen, and Yukino Pang
  • The Venice Chronicles (2008)
  • Disney Picture Book: La Luna (2012) in support of La Luna
  • Disney Pixar: The Art of Luca (2021) in support of Luca

Awards and nominations

Special projects

References

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