# Daniel Chong

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's television series We Bare Bears (2015–2019). He also directed, wrote and executive produced We Bare Bears: The Movie (2020). He is also writing and directing the upcoming Pixar film Hoppers (2026).

## Early life

Chong was born in Fargo, North Dakota, to Singaporean Chinese immigrants. He grew up in Fountain Valley, California, 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. 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.
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 to be released on March 6, 2026.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Story Artist | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2008 | Bolt | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| 2011 | Cars 2 | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| 2012 | Dr. Seuss' The Lorax | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| 2013 | Free Birds | No | No | No | Additional | No |
| 2015 | Inside Out | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| 2020 | We Bare Bears: The Movie | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2022 | Turning Red | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| 2022 | Lightyear | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| 2023 | Elemental | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| 2024 | Inside Out 2 | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| 2025 | Elio | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| 2026 | Hoppers | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| 2026 | Toy Story 5 | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| TBA | Incredibles 3 | No | No | No | No | Yes |

### Television

| Year | Title | Creator | Writer | Executive Producer | Story Artist | Notes |
| 2010–2011 | Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales | No | Story | No | No | Episodes: "Moon Mater", "Mater Private Eye", "Air Mater" |
| 2013 | Toy Story of Terror! | No | No | No | Yes | TV specials |
| 2014 | Toy Story That Time Forgot | No | No | No | Yes | TV specials |
| 2015–2019 | We Bare Bears | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 141 episodes |
| 2022–present | We Baby Bears | No | No | Yes | No | |

## 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 | We Bare Bears | Nominated |