Korean-American Director Peter Sohn Makes Directorial Debut in Animated Film 'The Good Dinosaur', Become's Pixar's New 'Director of New Generation'

Korean-American Peter Sohn is the newest addition to Pixar's roster of new generation directors as he makes his directorial debut in the upcoming animated feature film "The Good Dinosaur".

Korea Times reported Oct. 30 38-year-old Sohn first started as an animator in Pixar. He has worked with the company for 15 years before taking on his first directing role.

Although Pixar is home to over 600 creative employees, Sohn is the company's first lead director of color.

"One of the highlights of working on this film is that Pixar has a new storyteller, a new director of a new generation, quite honestly, who's not a white guy," said "The Good Dinosaur" producer Denise Ream.

Sohn is a crowd-favorite over at Pixar, with Ream saying "people are inspired by him."

He joined Pixar in 2000, setting off his career working on the story and art departments for the timeless favorite "Finding Nemo". He eventually made his ascent up the ladder by taking on director and writer roles in 2009 for a short film called "Partly Cloudy", which premiered together with "Up".

Aside from serving as an animator, writer and director for the company, Sohn has made multiple contributions to several Pixar films, Cartoon Brew noted Oct. 22. He was the visual inspiration for 8-year-old "Wilderness Explorer" Russel in "Up". He was also the voice behind Emile in "Ratatouille" and Squishy in "Monsters University".

"Finding Nemo" director Bob Peterson was originally commissioned to direct "The Good Dinosaur", with Sohn as his co-director. But when Peterson ran into some issues with the development of the story, he was dropped from the project and Peter Sohn was entrusted as the new director of "The Good Dinosaur".

Peter Sohn, whose Korean name is Tae Yoon, grew up in Bronx, New York. He recalled that growing up as an artist in the 70's was difficult because at that time it wasn't appreciated as a means of living.

"I fought to go to art school," Sohn shared.

Sohn also hopes to visit South Korea in February.

Even "Up" and "Toy Story" director Pete Docter had nothing but praise for Sohn.

"He's definitely been someone you could see the potential in his stuff very early on. Seeing his story boards, I was like, this guy, there's something about his sensibility. There's something special about this guy. I need to see more of his work on the screen," Docter said.

Indeed so, we are going to see more of Sohn's work on the screen.

"The Good Dinosaur" will premiere in theatres Nov. 25.