Unkrich was raised in
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the only child of Emilie Unkrich and Robert Unkrich. His father was a
World War II veteran and artist. Unkrich was raised in the Jewish faith. He spent his youth acting at
The Cleveland Play House. Unkrich graduated from the
University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 1990. Unkrich was Vice-President of Editorial and Layout at
Pixar. Before joining the studio, Unkrich worked for several years in television as an editor and director. In 1994 he was hired by Pixar as a short-term employee for a period of four weeks, but ended up staying for 25 years. He is the 2011 recipient of the
University of Southern California's Mary Pickford Distinguished Alumni Award recognizing alumni contributions to the cinematic arts. On January 18, 2019, Unkrich announced he was leaving Pixar to spend time with his family and pursue interests that have "long been back-burnered." In 2023, Unkrich was revealed to have occasionally consulted at Pixar since leaving in 2019. In late 2022 he announced he had completed editing a book about
The Shining, written by
J. W. Rinzler. In 2023,
Taschen released Unkrich's book ''
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining'' in a limited collector's edition. A hardcover version of the book was released in 2024. The book was edited by Unkrich, and written by
J. W. Rinzler and Unkrich. In March 2025, during the Disney Shareholder Meeting, CEO
Bob Iger announced that the sequel to
Coco was in early development, with Unkrich returning to co-direct the film with
Adrian Molina. ==Personal life==