Valerie LaPointe

Valerie LaPointe is an accomplished artist and director currently working at Pixar Animation Studios in the Bay Area of California. Originally from Virginia Beach, VA, LaPointe has been passionate about animation since she was eight years old, inspired by The Little Mermaid to pursue drawing, singing, and dreaming of becoming part of the magical world of animation. Her early enthusiasm led her to write to Disney at the age of 12 with her feature ideas and drawings, which were returned with a legal letter but also with valuable guidance on how to pursue a career in animation.

LaPointe attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, from 1999 to 2003, where she earned a BFA in Communication Arts & Design with a focus on Kinetic Imagery (animation and video). Her dedication to her craft earned her the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship from the US Department of Education, which enabled her to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She completed her MFA in Animation from the School of Cinematic Arts in 2007, where she produced several films, including Lolly’s Box (a stop-motion film that premiered at Annecy and was a finalist for the Student Academy Awards in 2006). She briefly worked on commercials and music videos for Partizan Entertainment before joining Pixar.

Since January 2007, LaPointe has been a full-time Story Artist, Story Supervisor, and Director at Pixar, having initially interned in Pixar’s first story internship program in the summer of 2006. Her contributions include working as a Story Artist on Presto, Brave, Mater's Tall Tales, Partysaurus Rex, Small Fry, Inside Out, and The Good Dinosaur. She was a Story Supervisor and received a Story By credit on Toy Story 4. More recently, she wrote and directed the short film Lamp Life for Disney+ and served as Associate Executive Producer on Soul.

LaPointe has also collaborated with Disney Imagineering, contributing her artwork to the Art of Animation Hotels (Nemo & Cars) at Disney World in Florida, and worked on the Ratatouille ride for Disneyland Paris.

In addition to her work in animation, LaPointe enjoys voice acting and has appeared in some Pixar DVD deleted scenes as a scratch voice for characters. She also voiced Ellie in the Blender Studios animated short Sprite Fright. Her drawing activity book, 100 Years of Fashion and Fun, is published by the General Pencil Company and available for purchase on Amazon.

Valerie LaPointe continues to develop stories for animated features, TV series, children’s books, and graphic novels.