Toward the end of the Spring semester, Daniel Chong (Film/Video 04)—CalArts alum and director of Pixar’s animated feature Hoppers—stopped by the Character Animation space to do a lunchtime Q&A with students over pizzas. The animators were in the middle of finishing their films for the year—with plenty of late nights, coffee, and energy drinks standing between them and their final cuts.
It’s a feeling that Chong knows all too well as not too long ago once stood in the students’ shoes.
In this interview before the meet-and-greet with students, Chong discusses his journey from student filmmaker to director of Hoppers. He reflects on landing internships at Cartoon Network and Disney Animation, breaking into feature animation, the importance of authentic representation in storytelling, and the lessons he learned while making films at CalArts.
Hoppers topped the box office its opening weekend, earning an estimated $46 million domestically and $88 million worldwide in its debut. The film’s opening marked the biggest launch for an original animated film since Pixar’s Coco in 2017. The film finished its theatrical run grossing approximately $166 million domestically and $389.5 million worldwide.
