In the Director's Chair with Frank Oz: In Conversation with Pete Docter

Director and Disney Legend Frank Oz has had a storied career as an award-winning filmmaker, directing beloved classics such as The Dark Crystal (1982) alongside Co-Director Jim Henson, Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), What About Bob? (1991), and many more. Join us for an in-depth conversation with Oz, moderated by fellow Director and Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, as he discusses his prolific directorial career and the fascinating path that led him there.

Children under 12 years of age must be accompanied by an adult who shall be responsible for the child at all times.

Tickets for In the Director's Chair with Frank Oz: In Conversation with Pete Docter will be available as follows:

• Walt’s Circle Donors: Purchase tickets beginning Tuesday, March 24 at noon PT by emailing membership@wdfmuseum.org.
• Founding, Supporter, and Friend-level members: Purchase tickets beginning Wednesday, March 25 at noon PT by emailing membership@wdfmuseum.org.
• All member levels: Tickets available beginning Thursday, March 26 at noon PST via the Member Portal.
• Public (non-members): Remaining tickets available beginning Friday, March 27 at noon PST online.

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Frank Oz is a four-time Emmy® winner, recipient of The Art Director’s Guild Award, The Comedy Award, Saturn Lifetime Achievement Award, George Foster Peabody award, and others. He has performed with The Muppets and on the Star Wars films. The dozen feature-length films he has directed include Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, In & Out, The Score, and Death at a Funeral.

Pete Docter is the Oscar®-winning director of Monsters, Inc. (2001), UP (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Soul (2020), and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. Most recently, he served as the Executive Producer for Disney and Pixar’s original feature film Elemental (2023) and on the studio’s recent feature Inside Out 2, which was released in theaters on June 14, 2024.

Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the studio’s third animator, Docter collaborated and helped develop the story and characters for Toy Story (1995), Pixar’s first full-length animated feature film, for which he also was a supervising animator. He served as a storyboard artist on A Bug’s Life (1998) and wrote initial story treatments for both Toy Story 2 (1999) and WALL· E (2008). Aside from directing his four films, Docter also executive produced Monsters University (2013) and the Academy Award®-winning Brave (2012).

Docter’s interest in animation began at the age of eight when he created his first flipbook. He studied character animation at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, California, where he produced a variety of short films, including one that won a Student Academy Award®. Those films have since been shown in animation festivals worldwide and are featured in the Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2 DVD. Upon joining Pixar, he animated and directed several commercials, and has been nominated for nine Academy Awards® including Best Animated Feature winners UP, Inside Out, and Soul (2020); Best Animated Feature nominee Monsters, Inc.; and Best Original Screenplay nominees UP, Inside Out, and WALL· E. In 2010, UP also was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar® by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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