Jim Morris ’77, G’78
Jim Morris ’77, G’78 is President of Pixar Animation Studios, where he oversees all of the Company’s productions and operations. Morris began working at Pixar in 2005 Films under his supervision have included Ratatouille, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Brave, Monsters University, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory, Cars 3, Coco, Incredibles 2, Onward and Soul. As a producer, Morris most made the live-action feature for Disney, John Carter, with director Andrew Stanton. He also produced Pixar’s WALL•E, which won the Oscar® for Best Animated Feature. Morris was also awarded Producer of the Year in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures from the Producer’s Guild of America, the AFI Award, the Golden Globe and the Visual Effects Society Best Animated Feature Award for WALL•E.
Prior to joining Pixar, Morris held a range of key positions for 17 years in various divisions of Lucasfilm Ltd. He served as President of Lucas Digital Ltd., and managed its three divisions, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Skywalker Sound and Lucasfilm Animation. As ILM’s General Manager for more than 13 years, he supervised a staff of over 1,400 artists and technicians, and guided the largest visual effects facility in the entertainment industry.
During Morris’ tenure, ILM created the groundbreaking, Academy Award-winning visual effects in Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her, Terminator 2 and Forrest Gump. Other notable projects completed under his management include Mission: Impossible, Twister, Saving Private Ryan, Star Wars: Episode I, Star Wars: Episode II, The Perfect Storm, Pearl Harbor, Minority Report, Pirates of the Caribbean, Master and Commander, and three Harry Potter films.
Morris joined ILM in 1987 as a Producer of visual effects for films and commercials. Among Morris’ producing credits are James Cameron’s The Abyss, which earned an Oscar® for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, and Steven Spielberg’s Always.
Before joining ILM, Morris was Executive Producer at Arnold & Associates, where he oversaw the company’s three offices and produced commercials for clients such as Atari and Chevron. Prior to that, he was Executive Producer at One Pass, where he headed the commercial production department. He also served in the production departments at J. Walter Thompson and Foote, Cone & Belding in San Francisco. Morris worked as a Producer and Director for PBS affiliate WCNY-TV, and began his career as a cameraman and editor at NBC affiliate WSYR-TV.
Morris is the recipient of the Producers Guild Digital 50 Award, the Visual Effects Society Board of Directors Award and the Visual Effects Society Founders Award. He has also been named a VES Fellow. Morris served for many years as President of the San Francisco Film Commission, and is Founding Chair of the VES. He is a member of AMPAS, PGA, BAFTA, VES and ASIFA, and currently serves as a member of Motion Picture Academy’s Finance Committee.
Since earning a bachelor’s degree in film and a master’s degree in television and radio from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Morris has generously supported Syracuse University through his ongoing commitment to sharing the extraordinary expertise of Pixar company representatives.
The College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Syracuse International Film Festival, the Newhouse School, and the entire SU community have all benefited from his personal experience when he has spoken on campus. Morris is also responsible for regularly sending Pixar’s leading film and animation experts to Syracuse to engage with our students. Morris now serves on Dean Tick’s Advisory Board for the College of Visual and Performing Arts.