Daniel Chong (animator)
Daniel Chong (born November 19, 1978) is an American animator, writer, director, and producer. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network animated series We Bare Bears (2015–2019). He also directed, wrote and executive produced We Bare Bears: The Movie (2020).
Daniel Chong | |
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Born | Daniel Chong November 19, 1978 Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2008–present |
Known for | We Bare Bears |
Chong worked as a storyboard artist on the animated films Bolt (2008), Cars 2 (2011), The Lorax (2012), Free Birds (2013), and Inside Out (2015).
Early life
Chong was born in Fargo, North Dakota U.S. He is born to Singaporean Chinese immigrants and attended California Institute of the Arts. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Career
Chong began his career as a storyboard artist for numerous animation giants, such as Blue Sky Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Illumination Entertainment, and Pixar Animation Studios.[1] He worked as a storyboard artist on the animated films Bolt (2008), Cars 2 (2011), The Lorax (2012), Free Birds (2013), Despicable Me 2 (2013), and Inside Out (2015).
While working at Pixar, Chong worked on the television specials Toy Story of Terror! (2013) and Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014), the former of which won him an Annie Award.[2]
Chong went on to create the animated series We Bare Bears, which premiered in 2014. 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.[1] Chong has cited Seinfeld, Broad City, Peanuts, Aardman Animations and Wes Anderson as inspirations for the style and tone of the show.[3] 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.[4]
In December 2020, Chong revealed on Twitter he had returned to Pixar and was working on a project there.[5]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Storyboard Artist | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Bolt | Yes | |
2011 | Cars 2 | Yes | |
2012 | The Lorax | Yes | |
2013 | Free Birds | Yes | |
2013 | Despicable Me 2 | Uncredited | |
2015 | Minions | Uncredited | |
2015 | Inside Out | Yes | |
2020 | We Bare Bears: The Movie | Yes | Also director, writer and executive producer |
Television
Year | Title | Storyboard Artist | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010–2011 | Mater's Tall Tales | Yes | Yes | 3 episodes |
2013 | Toy Story of Terror! | Yes | No | Television special |
2014 | Toy Story That Time Forgot | Yes | No | Television special |
2014–2019 | We Bare Bears | Yes | Yes | Also creator and executive producer 141 episodes |
2021 | We Baby Bears | No | No | Executive producer |
Awards and nominations
Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Toy Story of Terror | Won |
2016 | BAFTA Children's Awards | Best International | We Bare Bears | Won |
2018 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Animated Program | Nominated |
References
- "Interview with Daniel Chong, creator of We Bare Bears". Animac Magazine. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
- http://annieawards.org/41st-annie-awards/
- DeVoe, Elise (July 23, 2015). "A Q&A with We Bare Bears Creator Daniel Chong". Time Warner.
- "We Bare Bears The Movie will now be available starting Tuesday 6/30... Available on Apple, Google Play, Amazon! (USA and CA only)". Twitter. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- https://twitter.com/threebarebears/status/1337202378144006148