Daniel Chong
Daniel Chong is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, director, and producer. He is best known as the creator of Cartoon Network's television series We Bare Bears, and as the director, writer, and executive producer of We Bare Bears: The Movie. He has worked as a member of Pixar's senior creative team and is writing and directing the studio's upcoming film Hoppers.
Career
Chong began his career as an intern for Cartoon Network Studios, and went on to become as a storyboard artist for numerous animation giants, such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Illumination Entertainment, and Pixar Animation Studios. He worked as a storyboard artist on the animated films Bolt, Cars 2, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Free Birds, and Inside Out.While working at Pixar, Chong worked on the television specials Toy Story of Terror! and Toy Story That Time Forgot, the former of which won him an Annie Award.
Chong went on to create the animated series We Bare Bears, which premiered on Cartoon Network in 2015. The initial idea for We Bare Bears came from a webcomic 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, Broad City, Peanuts, Aardman Animations and Wes Anderson 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. A spinoff series titled We Baby Bears premiered in 2022; Chong serves as executive producer.
In December 2020, Chong revealed on Twitter that he had returned to Pixar and was working on a project there. The film was officially revealed as Hoppers in August 2024; it is scheduled to be released on March 6, 2026.