‘Up’ director Docter named Pixar’s creative chief

Pete Docter, the director of Pixar’s “Up” and “Inside Out,” is the new chief creative officer of the Emeryville studio, and “Frozen” director Jennifer Lee will have the same job at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, replacing John Lasseter, the Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday.

Lasseter went on a sixmonth sabbatical in November after acknowledging “missteps” with fellow employees. He currently holds a consulting role until a permanent exit he will make from Disney on Dec. 31, the company announced this month.

Docter was the third Pixar animator hired in the early 1990s and he directed the fourth Pixar movie, “Monsters Inc” — the first Pixar movie not helmed by Lasseter. Docter has won two best animated feature Academy Awards, for “Up” and “Inside Out.”

Lee became the first female director of a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature when “Frozen” was released in 2013. “Frozen” remains the topgrossing animated film in history, taking in more than $1.25 billion in worldwide ticket sales.

Lee, who also co-wrote the screenplay for Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph,” is directing “Frozen 2” along with Chris Buck.

The promotions were announced Tuesday in a statement by Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn.

“I am excited and humbled to be asked to take on this role,” Docter said. “It is not something I take lightly; Making films at Pixar has been my chronic obsession since I start-

ed here 28 years ago. I am fortunate to work alongside some of the most talented people on the planet, and together we will keep pushing animation in new directions, using the latest technology to tell stories we hope will surprise and delight audiences around the world.”

Docter and Lee will both report to Ed Catmull, who remains president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Lasseter has been a creative head at Pixar since its earliest days and formally took the position at Walt Disney Animation Studios when Disney bought Pixar in 2006. Since then, Walt Disney Animation Studios has had a strong resurgence, with films including “Frozen” and “Zootopia.”

Lasseter, who directed “Toy Story” and “Cars” and was the public face of Pixar for decades, announced his leave of absence on Nov. 21, apologizing in a memo to Pixar employees for making colleagues “feel disrespected or uncomfortable,” with mention of “unwanted hugs.”

Docter is a well-regarded creative force at Pixar whose movies have been among the most critically acclaimed and cerebral in the Pixar catalog.

“At its foundation, I think we’re making movies for adults because the emotion has to be there first and foremost,” Docter told The Chronicle in 2009, during an interview about his movie “Up.” “The film can be about fish or toys or monsters or whatever, but it always has to have that emotional connection with us.”