Danny Arriaga is a character artist and creative leader with over two decades of experience in feature animation. His career began at Pixar Animation Studios, where he started as a production assistant on Monsters, Inc. and The Incredibles. He was later promoted to Sketch Artist, contributing to Ratatouille, WALL•E, and Up, and went on to serve as Character Art Director on Toy Story 3.

Danny has also collaborated with Walt Disney Animation Studios as a Visual Development Artist on Wreck-It Ralph and as Art Director on Prep & Landing 2. He later returned to Pixar as a Character Designer on Inside Out and as Character Art Director on Coco, a film for which he received an Annie Award.

Across both studio and personal work, Danny’s approach is guided by empathy, collaboration, and a deep belief in characters as reflections of lived experience. He is currently working at Walt Disney Animation Studios, most recently on Moana 2.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Danny studied art and illustration at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He currently resides in Southern California with his family, two beloved beagles, and a cat.