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Josie Trinidad is an American storyboard artist and director best known for her work at Walt Disney Animation Studios. She joined Disney in 2004, and worked on The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), and Wreck-It Ralph (2012). She served as the co-head of story on Zootopia (2016) and was the head of story on Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). She made her directorial debut with the television series Zootopia+.
At eleven years old, Trinidad watched Robin Hood (1973) on videocassette, and repeatedly paused the film so she could examine it frame by frame. "I realized, 'Oh my, those are drawings, she recalled. They're beautiful, hand-drawn images, and someone is behind that!' I was 11 years old and knew at that moment I wanted to be an animator." However, she admitted she grew up in a family that perceived art as more of a hobby than a viable career. Trinidad nevertheless stated: "What I did was I worked really hard and I made sure that I tried. At least I could say I tried to make it into animation. If it worked, great. If it didn't work, then maybe I was meant to do something else. But I never gave up."
A graduate of Adolfo Camarillo High School, Trinidad attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), majoring in English literature and fine arts, and studied character animation at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). After graduating, she worked as an illustrator for the toy company MGA Entertainment, as well as Klasky Csupo on animated commercials.
In Zootopia, Trinidad was appointed as the film's co-head of the story. In that position, she held pitch meetings with a team of 12 to 15 story artists, and hosted a smaller group during editorial meetings. After reading an early draft of the script, Trinidad connected the main character Judy Hopps, finding a kinship with the character's urban relocation when she was a college student. For visual research, the filmmakers sent Trinidad to the Philippines to gather inspiration for the film. There, she visited the De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde and the animation studio Toon City in Manila. By this point, Trinidad had stated the story team had become more racially diverse, with nearly half of the team being female. Zootopia was awarded the 2017 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Trinidad was tapped as the film's head of story for the 2018 sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. In an interview, she stated, "We wanted the world of the Internet to feel authentic, like how we all use it today, but to mix it up with our own kind of fun, which were websites ... The trick is getting something familiar then turning it in something never seen before. The biggest challenge though, was trying to hone that big idea down." Despite this, she has reflected the overall story process for an animated film is "not very glamorous," but nevertheless is very collaborative.
In December 2020, it was announced that a spin-off series titled Zootopia+ was in development for streaming on Disney+. Trent Correy had pitched the series as one of three pitches for potential Disney+ series. Trinidad, who had served as a story artist on the 2016 film, was originally set to direct only two episodes for the series. However, her excitement led to her co-directing the entire series alongside Correy. The series began streaming on November 9, 2022.
In August 2025, at the Destination D23 convention, it was announced that Trinidad and Jason Hand were directing an animated feature titled Hexed. The story centers on an awkward teenage boy whose magical abilities are discovered by his Type A mother and together, they are transported into a hidden magical world.
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | ||||||
| 2010 | Tangled | ' | |||||
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | Jubileena Bing Bing | |||||
| 2014 | Big Hero 6 | Additional voices | |||||
| 2016 | Zootopia | Landlady | |||||
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | Additional voices | |||||
| 2021 | Raya and the Last Dragon | ||||||
| 2026 | Hexed | Feature directorial debut |
| 2007 | How to Hook Up Your Home Theater | |||
| 2011 | The Ballad of Nessie |
| 2022 | Zootopia+ | 6 episodes |
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