Pixarian Start and Birth Dates, September 2012 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Pixarian start and birth dates! It turns out September has been a busy month for new employees!

• Dave Mullins (2000) - Mullins began his Pixar career as an animator on Finding Nemo. He has worked on a number of other films such as The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille. He also co-directed Monsters, Inc. commercials for McDonalds and directed Cars commercials for General Motors. He was a directing animator on Up and supervising animator on Cars 2. Prior to Pixar, Mullins graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design and worked at Acclaim Entertainment and Disney Feature Animation.

  
  

  
  

• Steve Purcell (2001) - Steve started at Pixar as a story artist on Cars. His story-telling skills and early drawings of Merida convinced Brenda Chapman to ask him to be head of story for Brave. His passion for the project led him to be promoted to co-director, along with Chapman and Mark Andrews. Steve is also known as the creator of the comic book series Sam & Max. Purcell graduated from the California College of the Arts in Oakland.
• Dan Scanlon (2001) - Dan started at Pixar on September 10, 2001. He was a story artist on Cars, and directed the short film Mater and the Ghostlight. He is now directing Pixar's next feature film, Monsters University (to be released June 21, 2013). Prior to his arrival at Pixar, Scanlon was a storyboard artist on The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure. Scanlon is also known for his live-action mockumentary Tracy.
• Jay Shuster (2002) - Jay started at Pixar as a concept designer for Cars. He went on to being a character designer on WALL•E, and was the character art director for Cars 2. Before coming to Pixar, Shuster worked at Lucasfilm as a concept artist on films such as Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Shuster graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI.

As for birthdays, Pixar director and filmmaker extraordinaire Brad Bird was born in September, 1957 in Kalispell, MT. Brad became a fan of animation at a young age, and even was invited to visit the Disney Studios at the age of 11 after sending the studio samples of his work. After high school, Bird attended the California Institute of Arts as a student in the newly launched character animation program with classmates John Lasseter, Tim Burton and Henry Selick. He was an executive consultant on The Simpsons, and directed the critically acclaimed film The Iron Giant before coming to Pixar where he directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille. He also directed the live action film Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

Dave Mullins

Jay Shuster

Dan Scanlon

Steve Purcell

Brad Bird