Enrico Casarosa (born 20 November 1971) is an Italian and American 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.
Early life 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. 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. In late 2004, Casarosa started a drawing marathon community called SketchCrawl and has been organizing the event ever since. In 2011, his short film La Luna premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France, and was released theatrically with Pixar's Brave in 2012.
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.
In 2021, Casarosa made his feature directorial debut with Luca, which was released on Disney+ in the United States. 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. 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.
Personal life Casarosa currently resides in San Francisco with his wife Marit and daughter Fio.
Filmography Films YearTitleDirectorStoryStoryArtistOtherVoice RoleNotes2002Ice Age2005Robots2006Cars2007Ratatouille2009Up2011Cars 22015The Good DinosaurAdditional Story Supervision2017CocoPixar Senior Creative Team2018Incredibles 22019Toy Story 4 2020OnwardSoul2021LucaCard Player, Angry Fisherman2022Turning RedLightyear2023Elemental2024Inside Out 22025Elio2026HoppersToy Story 52027Saverio
Shorts Year Title Director Writer CharacterDesigner StoryArtist ExecutiveProducer2011La Luna 2016Piper 2021Ciao Alberto
Featurettes and TV Year Title Role 1996 Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders 13 episodesBackground design, storyboard revision 1997 The Secret of Anastasia Direct-to-videoLead character model designer, background layout designer The Amazing Feats of Young Hercules 1997–1998 101 Dalmatians: The Series 23 episodesStoryboard artist, storyboard revision artist, designer 1998–2000 PB&J Otter 18 episodesBackground 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 Association Year Category Work Result Academy Awards 2012 Best Animated Short Film La Luna 2022 Best Animated Feature Luca Annie Awards 2016 Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production The Good Dinosaur 2022 Outstanding Achievement for Directing in a Feature Production Luca British Academy Film Awards 2022 Best Animated Film Luca Children's and Family Emmy Awards 2022 Outstanding Short Form Program Ciao Alberto Golden Globe Awards 2022 Best Animated Feature Film Luca
Special projects In 2008, Enrico Casarosa (along with Ronnie del Carmen, Daisuke Tsutsumi and Yukino Pang) initiated the Totoro Forest Project, a fundraising exhibition/auction to support the non-profit Totoro Forest Foundation. This initiative also produced a corresponding art book reprinting the various pieces contributed and included the likes of James Jean, Charles Vess, Iain McCaig and William Joyce among others.
References
External links