Jim Capobianco (born 1969) is an American film director, animator and screenwriter. He has worked as a story artist and storyboard artist for films such as The Lion King (1994), Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Finding Dory (2016).

In 2008, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Ratatouille (2007). In 2023, he wrote and directed the animated feature film The Inventor, about Leonardo da Vinci's life in France.

Career

Raised in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, Capobianco attended Saddle Brook High School.

A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, Capobianco started in the story department at Walt Disney Feature Animation on The Lion King (1994). He then worked on the storyboards for Hunchback of Notre Dame (1999) and Fantasia 2000 (1999). Capobianco has also worked for Pixar, on storyboards for films such as A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Finding Dory (2016).

In 2007, he wrote and directed the animated short film Your Friend the Rat, and co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film Ratatouille, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

In 2009, Capobianco co-founded with Shelley Trott the Bay Area International Children's Film Festival. That same year, he directed Leonardo, a short film about Leonardo da Vinci, now in the permanent collection of the MoMA NYC.

With Aerial Contrivance Workshop, Capobianco was the 2D animation sequence director for Walt Disney Motion Pictures' Mary Poppins Returns (2018), and also wrote and directed the 2023 stop-motion animated feature film The Inventor, a continuation of his short Leonardo, focused on the end of Leonardo da Vinci's life in France.

Filmography

Aerial Contrivance Workshop

  • 2009: Leonardo (short film) - writer, director and producer
  • 2009: How To be a Good Bagger - writer and director
  • 2018: Mary Poppins Returns - Animation Sequence Director
  • 2022: Philharmonia Fantastique - story and animation director
  • 2023: The Inventor - writer, director and producer

As animator

  • 1989: Baby's Bedtime

Netflix Animation

Pixar

Cartoon Saloon

Disney Feature Animation

Awards and nominations

Award / FestivalYearCategoryNominated workResultRef(s)
Online Film & Television Association Awards2007Best Original ScreenplayRatatouilleNominated
Academy Awards2008Best Original ScreenplayNominated
Annie Awards2008Best Animated Short SubjectYour Friend the RatWon
Latino Entertainment Journalists Association Awards2019Best Visual EffectsMary Poppins ReturnsNominated
Annecy International Animation Film Festival2023Best Feature FilmThe InventorNominated

External links