Joshua Cooley (born May 23, 1979) is an American filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the animated films Toy Story 4 (2019) and Transformers One (2024), with the former winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Inside Out (2015), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Description above from the Wikipedia article Josh Cooley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- May 23, 1979 (47)
- Berkeley, California, USA
- Actor, writer and director
- 15 on MovieCove · 28 credits in all
What are Josh Cooley's films like?
Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 7
Light 6 · Serious 1 · Dark 0
Grounded 1 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 2
A split, not a type: Gentle 4 · Charged 3 · Intense 0
Steady 4 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 5
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
Casual 6 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 5 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 7 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet4
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Josh Cooley's films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 15 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (13).
- Up (2009) · actor
- Ratatouille (2007) · writer
- Inside Out (2015) · actor, writer
- Toy Story 4 (2019) · director, writer
- Cars (2006) · additional storyboarding
- Hoppers (2026) · adr & dubbing
- Toy Story of Terror (2013) · actor
- Riley's First Date? (2015) · actor, director, writer
- Toy Story Toons: Small Fry (2011) · actor, writer
- The Good Dinosaur (2015) · thanks
- 22 vs. Earth (2021) · writer
- Cars 2 (2011) · additional script supervisor · storyboard artist
- +1 more
Subscription and free streaming for Josh Cooley's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
28 credits, 15 with a MovieCove page.
Hoppers(2026)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Transformers One(2024)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
22 vs. Earth(2021)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
We Bare Bears: The Movie(2020)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
Toy Story 4(2019)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
The Good Dinosaur(2015)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Riley's First Date?(2015)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Inside Out(2015)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Toy Story of Terror(2013)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Bugged (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Hiccups (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Cars 2(2011)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Mater Private Eye (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Moon Mater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
George and A.J.(2009)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Up(2009)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Cars Toon Mater's Tall Tales (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Ratatouille(2007)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Cars(2006)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films99 Nights in the Forest (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
I Eat Poop: A Dung Beetle Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Little Monsters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
London Ghost Tour (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Malamander (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Tower of Terror (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled Josh Cooley Lego Film (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled Live-Action Transformers Film (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 28 titles, 20 of them dated from 2006 to 2026.
Film career
- 2008Screen debut· Cars Toon Mater's Tall Tales
- 2015Career best· Inside Out
- 2015Oscar nomination· Inside Out
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
Awards
an Oscar from 6 major nominations, 2016–2020.
- Oscar, won · Best Animated Feature Film
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Animated Featured Film
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Feature Film
- Oscar, nominated · Best Writing, Original Screenplay
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Josh Cooley's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 91st percentile, the median of all 15; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 83rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up11
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 15 titles divides audiences: 8 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved6
- Crowd Pleaser8
- Broadly Agreed1
Reviewers score the acting 77/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles; fans 82, detractors 54. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Josh Cooley's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Josh Cooley work with?
People who share at least 2 of Josh Cooley's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; John Lasseter shares the most, 4.
Writers
- John LasseterShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), Inside Out (2015), Riley's First Date? (2015), Toy Story Toons: Small Fry (2011)See all 4 shared titles with John Lasseter
Actors
- Keegan-Michael KeyShared titles: Transformers One (2024), Toy Story 4 (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Keegan-Michael Key
- Tim AllenShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), Toy Story Toons: Small Fry (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Tim Allen
- Tom HanksShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), Toy Story Toons: Small Fry (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Tom Hanks
- Amy PoehlerShared titles: Inside Out (2015), Riley's First Date? (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Amy Poehler
Composers
- Michael GiacchinoShared titles: Inside Out (2015), Riley's First Date? (2015), George and A.J. (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Michael Giacchino
Producers
- Jonas RiveraShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), Inside Out (2015), Riley's First Date? (2015), George and A.J. (2009)See all 4 shared titles with Jonas Rivera
- Pete DocterShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), Inside Out (2015), Riley's First Date? (2015), George and A.J. (2009)See all 4 shared titles with Pete Docter
- Mark NielsenShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), Inside Out (2015), Riley's First Date? (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Mark Nielsen
- Andrew StantonShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), Inside Out (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Andrew Stanton
Mixed roles
- Kevin NoltingShared titles: 22 vs. Earth (2021), Inside Out (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Kevin Nolting
- Valerie LaPointeShared titles: Toy Story 4 (2019), George and A.J. (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Valerie LaPointe
