Peter Chung facts for kids

Peter Chung (born April 19, 1961) is a talented American animator and director. He is famous for his unique animation style. He created and directed the popular animated series Æon Flux and Reign: The Conqueror.

Who is Peter Chung?

Peter Chung was born on April 19, 1961. His father worked for the South Korean government. Because of this, Peter lived in many different cities around the world. These included Seoul, London, Nairobi, Washington, D.C., New York, and Tunis.

Later, his parents moved to the United States, and they lived in McLean, Virginia. Peter studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) from 1979 to 1981. He spent time learning both character animation and experimental animation.

His Early Career in Animation

Peter Chung started his animation journey at just 18 years old. He worked at a small animation studio in Maryland. There, he learned from animator Salvador Bru.

By age 19, he was already designing characters for the well-known studio Hanna-Barbera. Around this time, he also worked on the movie Fire and Ice. Soon after, Disney hired him to help develop their feature films.

Amazing Animation Work

Peter Chung has directed many exciting projects. His most famous work is Æon Flux, which had three seasons (1991, 1992, 1995). He also directed the "Matriculated" part of The Animatrix movie. Another one of his directing jobs was The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury.

Character Design Genius

Peter Chung was the main character designer for several animated TV shows. These include:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
• C.O.P.S. (1988)
• Phantom 2040 (1994–1996)
• Reign: The Conqueror (1999)

His character designs are very special. They often feature lean, angular characters. This unique look was inspired by the art of Egon Schiele. It has become Peter Chung's signature style.

He also helped design the characters for the Nickelodeon series Rugrats. He co-directed the pilot episode, "Tommy Pickles and The Great White Thing", and the show's opening sequence. In 2007, he directed the first three episodes of Revisioned: Tomb Raider for GameTap.

Peter Chung has even directed TV commercials. One famous ad he directed was for Diet Pepsi, starring Cindy Crawford and Malcolm McDowell.

Future Projects

As of 2009, Peter Chung was working on a full-length animated movie called Luvula. He also directed the TV movie Firebreather for Cartoon Network. Peter Chung has also mentioned that he would like to create a new Æon Flux animated movie for home video.

Peter Chung's Unique Style

Peter Chung's animation style is very artistic and often experimental. You can see this clearly in Æon Flux and "Matriculated".

What Influences His Art?

Peter Chung gets his ideas from many different places. He is influenced by:

• Japanese animation
• German expressionism (a style of art that shows feelings)
• European comics

He especially likes art that uses expressive drawings instead of lots of small details. He names artist Egon Schiele and comic artist Moebius as big influences.

For storytelling, he looks up to many creators, including:

• Kazuo Umezu
• Sanpei Shirato
• Osamu Tezuka
• Jack Kirby
• Alejandro Jodorowsky
• Schuiten and Peeters
• Tatsuya Egawa
• Geof Darrow
• Frank Miller

He also admires filmmakers like David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, and Alfred Hitchcock. In animation, he respects Yoshinori Kanada, Koji Morimoto, and Igor Kovalyov.

Ralph Bakshi, who hired Peter early in his career, said that one of Peter's favorite artists is Toulouse-Lautrec.

Impact on Others

Peter Chung's work has inspired many. For example, Diego Molano, the creator of Victor & Valentino, was fascinated by Aeon Flux. He loved how Peter Chung used movement to tell stories, even without words. Molano even traced Chung's drawings to learn from them. Later, Peter Chung became the animation director on Victor & Valentino, which Molano was very grateful for.

Life Outside of Work

Peter Chung has also talked with fans online. He has answered questions about his work and how he creates his art on forums like ILX and Monican Spies.

Since Spring 2013, Peter Chung has been teaching a Master Class. This class is at the Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Filmography

Here are some of the projects Peter Chung has worked on:

• Fire and Ice (1983) (film) - Animator, layout artist
• The Transformers (1984) (TV series) - Storyboard artist
• The Transformers: The Movie (1986) (film) - Storyboard artist
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) (TV series) - Art direction, opening title design
• C.O.P.S. (1988) (TV series) - Character design, opening title direction
• Ring Raiders (1989) (TV series) - Character design
• Rugrats (1991) (TV series) - Animator: main title animation, pilot, character design
• Phantom 2040 (1994) (TV series) - Character design
• Æon Flux (1995) (TV series) - Creator, director, producer, scripts, character design
• The Rugrats Movie (1998) (film) - Storyboards
• Alexander Senki (1999) (TV series) - Character design
• Party 7 (2000) (film) - Animator: credit sequence
• The Animatrix (2003) (short) (Matriculated segment) - Director, script, design
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004) (OVA) - Director, character designer
• Revisioned: Tomb Raider (2007) (web series) - Director, script, design
• Firebreather (2010) (film) - Director
• Diablo III: Wrath (2012) (film) - Director
• Victor & Valentino (2019) (TV series) - Main title

See also

In Spanish: Peter Chung para niños