When Daniel Chong was asked to come back to Pixar Animation Studios to direct a movie, he really didn’t have to. Since 2014, he had been riding the wave of his successful comedic animated tv series for Cartoon Network, WE BARE BEARS. He was doing spinoffs of the popular show and was excited to continue his work elsewhere.

“That was until Pete [Docter] asked me to come make a movie here,” said Chong. “Who says ‘no’ to Pete Docter?”

Heeding his own suggestion, Chong began the journey of creating a movie from scratch in an ‘bare’ story room at Pixar’s studio in Emeryville, CA in 2020. “At a legacy studio like this, creating something isn’t done in a vacuum. It’s definitely done in collaboration, as well as pushing boundaries for the sake of story,” Chong said.

Now nearly five years later, Chong and Pixar is set to debut “Hoppers,” arguably its funniest movie ever.

Part of the boundary-pushing that Chong wanted to contribute and lead from was doing a movie at Pixar that was “comedy-forward,” which according to him meant that it would be “hilarious from beginning to end.”

While Pixar movies, including the legacy films like “Toy Story” and “Monsters Inc.”, have funny moments, they typically have only used comedic moments sparingly. Chong’s WE BARE BEARS was intentionally comedic, and he felt that there was a way to bring that ‘funny bone’ into his movie.

“Pete [Docter] showed the way with Monsters Inc. where a movie under the Pixar banner could also be super funny. I think there is something to be said about meaningful comedy, and we wanted to say something through it with “Hoppers,” Chong said.

As for the type and level of comedy that Chong was aiming for, he said that all it originated with him and his story team. “We honestly just pitched gags to each other and gauge what our reactions to them would be. If we laughed, it stayed. If it didn’t, it died. It was that simple.” Chong added that the comedy that ended up in the film would be for “everyone.”

Still, there were some at Pixar, including some of the creative leadership, that thought that the comedy was too much, Chong deferred to Pete Docter’s feedback again.

“People like Pete and Andrew Stanton (director of “Finding Nemo” and the upcoming “Toy Story 5”) said that it belonged. That meant a lot to me. Can you imagine getting defended by the director of “Up” and “Finding Nemo”?! It’s like getting defended by Pixar Jesus!,” Chong said.

We’ll have more behind-the-scenes and exclusive stories on Pixar’s “Hoppers” in the coming weeks leading up to its release in theaters on March 6!