Daniel Chong (born November 19, 1978) is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, director, and producer. He is best known as the creator of

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

's television series ''

We Bare Bears ''We Bare Bears'' is an American animated series created by Daniel Chong for Cartoon Network. The show follows three bear brothers, named Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear, and their awkward attempts at integrating with the human world in the San Franci ...

'' (2015–2019). He also directed, wrote and executive produced '' We Bare Bears: The Movie'' (2020). He is also writing and directing the upcoming

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

film '' Hoppers'' (2026).

Early life

Chong was born in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

, to Singaporean Chinese immigrants. He grew up in

Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Indigenous The Indigenous people of the Fountain Valley area are the Tongva. The closest ...

, and attended

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

. He currently resides in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California.

Career

Chong began his career as an intern for

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios Inc. (abbreviated as CNS or CN Studios) is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the producti ...

, and went on to become as a

storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mar ...

for numerous animation giants, such as

Blue Sky Studios Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American visual effects and computer animation animation studio, studio, which was active from 1987 to 2021. It was based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was founded on February 22, 1987, by Chris Wedge, Michael F ...

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

, Illumination Entertainment, and

Pixar Animation Studios Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney S ...

. He worked as a storyboard artist on the animated films '' Bolt'' (2008), ''

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from the studio ...

'' (2011), '' Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'' (2012), ''

Free Birds ''Free Birds'' is a 2013 American animated Thanksgiving science fiction film, science fiction comedy film directed by Jimmy Hayward, who co-wrote the screenplay with the film's producer Scott Mosier. The film stars the voices of Owen Wilson, Wo ...

'' (2013), and '' Inside Out'' (2015). While working at

, Chong worked on the television specials ''

Toy Story of Terror! ''Toy Story of Terror!'' is an American animated Halloween television special produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures, based on the ''Toy Story'' franchise. It is set after the e ...

'' (2013) and ''

Toy Story That Time Forgot ''Toy Story That Time Forgot'', titled ''Toy Story: That Time Forgot'' on Disney+, is an American animated Christmas television special, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation that aired on ABC on December 2, 201 ...

'' (2014), the former of which won him an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

. Chong went on to create the animated series ''

'', which premiered on

in 2015. The initial idea for ''We Bare Bears'' came from a

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

that he had created in 2010 called ''The Three Bare Bears''. The webcomic ended almost a year later, but he carried the idea with him. Chong has cited ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', ''

Broad City ''Broad City'' is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. It was developed from their independent web series of the same name, which was produced between 2009 and 2011. The sitcom, like the web serie ...

'', ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'',

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited, known simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those fe ...

and

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. Wes Anderson filmography, His films are known for themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Due to his films' eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative ...

as inspirations for the style and tone of the show. Chong directed, wrote, and executive produced a film adaptation of the series, '' We Bare Bears: The Movie'', which was released in June 2020, thus ending the series. In December 2020, Chong revealed on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he had returned to Pixar and was working on a project there. The film was officially revealed as '' Hoppers'' in August 2024 to be released on March 6, 2026.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Daniel American animated film producers 1978 births American people of Chinese descent Animators from New York (state) American storyboard artists Living people California Institute of the Arts alumni Animators from California Artists from Berkeley, California Cartoon Network Studios people Pixar people Artists from Queens, New York Walt Disney Animation Studios people Illumination (company) people We Bare Bears