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Valerie LaPointe

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Valerie LaPointe
LaPointe in 2018
Born (1981-08-04) August 4, 1981 (age 43)
Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Alma materVirginia Commonwealth University (BFA)
University of Southern California (MFA)
Occupations
  • Storyboard artist
  • director
  • animator
  • voice actor
Years active2006–present
SpouseMatthew Luhn
Children2

Valerie LaPointe (born August 4, 1981) is an American director and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios.

Early life

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LaPointe was born in Norfolk, Virginia. When she was in the third grade, she watched The Little Mermaid (1989), and began drawing the character Ariel. "It really struck a chord and inspired me," LaPointe said, "I kind of became fixated on everything about it."[1] At eight years old, she decided being an animator was her career goal.[2][3] Her family moved to Kempsville. When she was 12, she wrote a letter addressed to Walt Disney Pictures with a pitch idea for a film. The studio mailed back, stating that they don't accept outside pitches, but they sent her an information packet detailing where to go to art school and what to study.[1]

In 1999, LaPointe enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). There, she produced a student film titled Night Life, which used watercolor paintings. She graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree, graduating in communication arts and design.[2] Subsequently, she received a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship from the United States Department of Education. A VCU professor encouraged her to pursue a Master's degree,[2] in which she later enrolled in the School of Cinematic Studies at the University of Southern California (USC). During her graduate studies, she created a stop motion student film titled Lolly's Box, which was screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.[4] It became one of the top eight finalists for the 2006 Student Academy Awards.[5]

Career

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In 2006, LaPointe became an apprentice story artist for Pixar's inaugural story internship program; she was in a class with eight other interns, including Adrian Molina.[6] She graduated from USC in 2007 with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), and was hired as a full-time employee for Pixar.[1] Her first official project as a storyboard artist was the 2008 short film Presto. She later worked on the Mater's Tall Tales and Toy Story Toons series, such as Small Fry (2011) and Partysaurus Rex (2012). She moved up to feature-length films, which included Brave (2012), Inside Out (2015), and The Good Dinosaur (2015).[2][6]

In 2016, LaPointe joined the production team for Toy Story 4 (2019). Admittedly, she felt Toy Story 3 (2010) provided the essential closure to the series. However, she listened to director Josh Cooley's pitch for the film, in which Bo Peep was to be the focal character. She stated, "...then I perked up and thought, 'Okay. Yeah. I could see this being a really good reason to make this.'"[3] She was made the story supervisor, in which she supervised a team of storyboard artists to retool Bo Peep, a minor love interest in the first two Toy Story installments, into a confident feminist heroine.[1] Additionally, LaPointe came up with the idea of the film's antagonist Gabby Gabby. She explained, "I really wanted to have a girl baby doll character in the Toy Story universe [to have] more female toy characters in general. But also, why was there never a baby doll? It's so signature of every little girl."[7] For her work on Toy Story 4, she was credited as one of the eight story writers.[8]

By the end of 2018, the Toy Story 4 story team was approached to produce an animated spin-off short film. LaPointe pitched a short film based on Bo Peep, adapting story ideas that were cut from Toy Story 4.[6] She remembered: "I think the biggest looming question was what happened in that space and time because in Toy Story 4 we see Bo being given away and then we pick back up with her, she is a lost toy ... We'd come up with a lot of ideas in the meantime: For me, it was a big mystery that we didn't have the screen time for in the feature, so it was just perfect for a short film."[6] LaPointe was made the director of the film, later titled Lamp Life (2020), in which she did most of the writing and storyboarding.[6] It was released on Disney+ on January 31, 2020.[9]

In 2019, Variety named LaPointe as one of the top ten American animators to watch for.[7] As of 2020, she is in development of several projects at Pixar.[6]

Personal life

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LaPointe is married to Matthew Luhn, and she has two daughters.[1][2][10] She lives in Oakland, California.[11]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Director Writer Story
Supervisor 		Story
Artist 		Producer Voice
Role 		Notes
2009 Up No No No No No Additional
Voices
2012 Brave No No No Additional No
2015 Inside Out No No No Yes No
The Good Dinosaur No No No Yes No
2019 Toy Story 4 No Original
Story 		Yes No No
2020 Soul No No No No Associate
executive

Shorts

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Year Title Director Writer Story
Artist 		Editor Producer Voice Role Notes
2003 Night Life Yes Yes No Yes Yes
2005 Upside Downed Yes Yes No Yes Yes Melina
Lolly's Box Yes Yes No Yes Yes
2007 Your Friend the Rat No No No No No 2D ink and paint
artist
2008 Presto No No Yes No No
2008–2010 Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales No No Yes No No Episodes 1–3
2009 George and A.J. No No No No No Cat Lady
2011 Toy Story Toons: Small Fry No No Yes No No
2012 Toy Story Toons: Partysaurus Rex No No Additional No No
2020 Lamp Life Yes Yes Yes No No
2021 Sprite Fright No No No No No Ellie

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Sidersky, Robyn (August 4, 2019). "She used to doodle sketches of Disney's Ariel. Now this Virginia Beach native is working for Pixar". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Weinstein, Dina (March 29, 2021). "Art & Animation: A conversation with VCU grad, Pixar director Valerie LaPointe". Virginia Commonwealth University. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Murphy, Jackson (June 18, 2019). "Q&A with Toy Story 4 Head of Story Valerie LaPointe". Animation Scoop (Interview). Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  4. ^ "Lolly's Box". Annecy Festival. Archived from the original on July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  5. ^ Baisley, Sarah (May 5, 2006). "Academy Announces Finalists for 2006 Student Academy Awards". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Zahed, Ramin (January 30, 2020). "Valerie LaPointe Reveals Bo Peep's Secret Past in New Pixar Short 'Lamp Life'". Animation Magazine (Interview). Archived from the original on July 29, 2024. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Nissen, Dano (July 9, 2019). "10 Animators to Watch 2019". Variety. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (May 13, 2019). "'Toy Story 4': Rashida Jones, John Lasseter Among 8 Who Will Share "Story By" Credits". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  9. ^ Prudom, Laura (January 29, 2020). "Disney Plus' Lamp Life Sneak Peek: What Happened to Bo Peep Between Toy Story 2 and 4?". IGN. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  10. ^ LaPointe, Valerie. "Very proud to post about my husband @matthewluhnstory new book! Written by Matthew, illustrated by Luke Flowers @lfcreative !! Its in @barnesandnoble now! Santa Yeti #santayeti". Archived from the original on July 29, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024 – via Instagram.
  11. ^ "Her-Story: The Women of Pixar's Story Department". Walt Disney Family Museum. 2020. Archived from the original on July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
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