Yarrow Cheney (born 1973) is an American artist, film director, designer, author, illustrator, and animator. He is best known for his works as a production designer in ''

Despicable Me 2 ''Despicable Me 2'' is a 2013 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to ''Despicable Me'' (2010), it is directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, and wr ...

'' (2013), ''

The Lorax ''The Lorax'' is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the titular character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who cause ...

'' (2012), and ''

Despicable Me ''Despicable Me'' is a computer-animated media franchise centering on Gru, a reformed super-villain (who later becomes a father, husband, and secret agent), and his yellow-colored Minions. It is produced by Illumination and distributed by ...

'' (2010) for which he received

Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...

and

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desig ...

nominations. In 2016, Cheney co-directed

Illumination Entertainment Illumination (formerly known as Illumination Entertainment) is an American computer animation studio, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. Illumination is owned by Meledandri and the Illumination brand is co-owned by Universal Pictures, a divisi ...

's ''

The Secret Life of Pets ''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney (in his feature directorial d ...

'' with

Chris Renaud Chris Renaud (born December 1966) is an American film producer, director, illustrator, designer, animator, and voice actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short ''No Time for Nuts'', which featured the character Scrat ...

, that received positive reviews and became the sixth highest grossing-film of 2016. He directed ''

The Grinch The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many different actors, including Boris Karloff, ...

'' (2018), with

Scott Mosier Scott A. Mosier (born March 5, 1971) is an American film producer, director and editor best known for his work with director Kevin Smith, with whom he occasionally co-hosts the weekly podcast, ''SModcast''. Early life Mosier was born in Vanco ...

. His debut children's book ''Superworld: Save Noah'', the first in a middle grade series written by his wife Carrie Cheney, publishes on October 4, 2022.

Early life

Cheney was born to Jack Cheney and Caryn Brady in 1973. He attended

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

from 1992-1995.

Filmography

Animation

* ''

The Iron Giant ''The Iron Giant'' is a 1999 American animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Brad Bird in his directorial debut. It is based on the 1968 novel '' The Iron Man'' by Ted Hughes (which was publish ...

'' (1999): CGI animator * ''Quest for Camelot'' (1998): Animator * ''

Cats Don't Dance ''Cats Don't Dance'' is a 1997 American animated musical comedy-drama film directed by Mark Dindal (in his feature directorial debut). It is the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Feature Animation, which was merged during the post- ...

'' (1997): Animator

Director

* ''

'' (2018) also character designer * ''

'' (co-director) (2016) * ''

Puppy A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies can weigh , while larger ones can weigh up to . All healthy puppies grow quickly after birth. A puppy's coat color may change as the puppy grows older, as is commonly seen in breeds such as the Yorksh ...

'' (2013): Short, also writer * ''The Very First Noel'' (2006) (re-released in 2020 as ''The Three Wise Men''): Video Short, also editor, art director and producer

Production designer

* ''

'' (2013) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2010) * ''The Very First Noel'' (2006): Video short * ''

Curious George Curious George is a fictional monkey who is the title character of a series of popular children's picture books written by Margret and H. A. Rey. Various media, including films and TV shows, have been based upon the original book series. Geor ...

'' (2006) * ''

The ChubbChubbs! ''The ChubbChubbs!'' is a 2002 American computer-animated short film by Sony Pictures Imageworks. It was directed by Eric Armstrong, produced by Jacquie Barnbrook, and written by Jeff Wolverton. ''The ChubbChubbs!'' won the Academy Award for Be ...

'' (2002): Short

Other

* ''

Dilbert ''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title characte ...

'' (1999): main title designer * ''

Mummies Alive! ''Mummies Alive!'' is an animated series from DIC Productions L.P. and Northern Lights Entertainment. It originally aired for one season in 1997. The show was part of a general trend of "mummymania" in 1990s pop culture. Plot In ancient Egypt, an ...

'' (1997): concept artist * ''

The Maxx ''The Maxx'' is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth in 1993 and originally published monthly until 1998 by Image Comics for 35 issues, before being collected in trade paperback by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. The first appearance ...

'' (1995): TV Mini-Series, background layout artist, 7 episodes

Awards and nominations

* 2014: Outstanding Achievement in Production Design in an Animated Feature Production - ''

'' (nom) (shared with Eric Guillon) * 2013: Annie Award for Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production -''

'' (nom) (shared withEric Guillon and Colin Stimpson) * 2011: Annie Award for Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production - ''

'' (nom) * 1999:

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design presented for the best main title sequence in television programming. Prior to 1997, the award was presented for Outstanding Individ ...

- ''

'' (shared with Carrie Cheney)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Yarrow 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American animators American graphic designers American film directors American animated film directors Illumination (company) people