BREAKING: Jennifer Lee, "Frozen" Director Named Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pete Docter, “Inside Out” Director Named Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios

Disney announced that Jennifer Lee and Pete Docter will split John Lasseter’s duties at Disney, as the studio’s animation division tries to move forward after the tumultuous departure of John Lassseter.

Jennifer Lee, the director of “Frozen,” has been named chief creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, while Pete Docter, the director of “Inside Out,” has been tapped as chief creative officer at Pixar Animation Studios. John Lasseter stays at Disney until the end of the year, without office, as creative consultant. Jim Morris, president of Pixar Animation Studios, and Andrew Millstein, head of Walt Disney Animation Studios, will continue to report to Ed Catmull, who runs Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

 “I am deeply grateful to everyone at Walt Disney Animation Studios and The Walt Disney Company for this opportunity,” Jennifer Lee said in a statement. “Animation is the most collaborative art form in the world, and it is with the partnership of my fellow filmmakers, artists and innovators that we look ahead to the future. My hope is to support the incredible talent we have, find new voices and work together to tell original stories. The great films of Disney Animation — the films I loved as a kid and my daughter has grown up loving — are magical, timeless and full of heart, and it is our goal to create films that carry on and grow this 95-year legacy for future generations.”

Pete Docter said in a statement of his own, “I am excited and humbled to be asked to take on this role. It is not something I take lightly; making films at Pixar has been my chronic obsession since I started here 28 years ago. I am fortunate to work alongside some of the most talented people on the planet, and together we will keep pushing animation in new directions, using the latest technology to tell stories we hope will surprise and delight audiences around the world.”