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 (2015–2019), and as the director, writer, and executive producer of We Bare Bears: The Movie (2020). He has worked as a member of Pixar's senior creative team and wrote and directed Hoppers (2026).
Career Chong began his career as an intern for Cartoon Network Studios, and went on to work as a storyboard artist for numerous animation studios, including Walt Disney Animation Studios, Illumination Entertainment, and Pixar Animation Studios. He worked as a storyboard artist on the animated films Bolt (2008), Cars 2 (2011), Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012), Free Birds (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.
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 was released on March 6, 2026.
Filmography Film YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutiveProducerStoryArtistPixar SeniorCreative Team2008Bolt2011Cars 22012Dr. Seuss' The Lorax2013Free Birds2015Inside Out2020We Bare Bears: The Movie2022Turning RedLightyear2023Elemental2024Inside Out 22025Elio2026HoppersToy Story 52028
Television YearTitleCreatorWriterExecutiveProducerStoryArtistNotes2010–2011Cars Toon: Mater's Tall TalesShort films: "Moon Mater", "Mater Private Eye", "Air Mater"2013Toy Story of Terror!TV specials2014Toy Story That Time Forgot2015–2019We Bare Bears140 episodes2022–presentWe Baby Bears63 episodes
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Work Result2014Annie AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast ProductionToy Story of Terror2016BAFTA Children's AwardsBest InternationalWe Bare Bears2018Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Short Form Animated Program
References
External links