Molina joined
Pixar in 2007. He started as a 2D animator on
Ratatouille. He later moved on to be a storyboard artist, working on
Toy Story 3 and
Monsters University. After getting an additional screenplay material credit for both
Monsters University and
The Good Dinosaur, Molina started his first assignment as a screenwriter, for
Coco, and later went on to co-direct the film. He also wrote several lyrics for the film. In 2022, he served as an associate executive producer on the Academy Award-nominated
Turning Red. Following the success of
Coco and the
D23 Expo announcement in September 2022, Molina was announced to direct the 2025 film
Elio. However in August 2024, it was announced that Molina had left the project, with
Madeline Sharafian and
Domee Shi taking over the storywriting and directorial duties instead. Nevertheless, he retained his director credit on the film due to his heavy amount of work that he made. Reports in June 2025 suggested Molina left after studio demands for edits to remove the LGBTQ storyline from the film, with staff members crying when they learned of his departure. In March 2025, during the Disney Shareholder Meeting, CEO
Bob Iger announced that the sequel to
Coco was in early development, with Molina returning from the original film. == Personal life ==