Yarrow Cheney
Yarrow Cheney (born June 27, 1973) is an American director, artist, designer, author, illustrator and animator. He was a production designer in Despicable Me 2 (2013), The Lorax (2012), and Despicable Me (2010), for which he received Primetime Emmy and Annie Awards nominations. In 2016, Cheney co-directed Illumination Entertainment's The Secret Life of Pets with Chris Renaud, that received positive reviews and became the sixth highest grossing-film of 2016.
Yarrow Cheney

Boungawa · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Yarrow Cheney
- Born
- June 27, 1973 (age)
- Education
- California Institute of the Arts
- Occupation
- Director, artist, designer, author, illustrator, animator
- Spouse
- Carrie Cheney
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- film direction · design · animation
- Languages
- English
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Yarrow Cheney (born June 27, 1973) is an American director, artist, designer, author, illustrator and animator. He was a production designer in Despicable Me 2 (2013), The Lorax (2012), and Despicable Me (2010), for which he received Primetime Emmy and Annie Awards nominations. In 2016, Cheney co-directed Illumination Entertainment's The Secret Life of Pets with Chris Renaud, that received positive reviews and became the sixth highest grossing-film of 2016.
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wikidata · Q24951590 · wikipedia · Yarrow Cheney
In this article
Biography
Biography
In 2018, he directed The Grinch with Scott Mosier. His debut children's book, Superworld: Save Noah, the first in a middle-grade series written by his wife Carrie Cheney, was published on October 4, 2022. An animated film adaptation of the book series is in development by Paramount Animation and Temple Hill Entertainment.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Yarrow Cheney • Born — June 27, 1973 (age) • Education — California Institute of the Arts • Occupation — Director, artist, designer, author, illustrator, animator • Years Active — 1995–present • Spouse — Carrie Cheney • Website — www.yarrowcheney.com
Early life
Early life
Cheney was born to Jack Cheney and Caryn Brady in 1973. He attended California Institute of the Arts from 1992 to 1995.
Animation
Animation
• The Iron Giant (1999): CGI animator • Quest for Camelot (1998): Animator • Cats Don't Dance (1997): Animator
Director
Director
• The Grinch (2018) also character designer • The Secret Life of Pets (co-director) (2016) • Puppy (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
Production designer
• Despicable Me 2 (2013) • The Lorax (2012) • Despicable Me (2010) • The Very First Noel (2006): Video short • Curious George (2006) • The ChubbChubbs! (2002): Short
Other
Other
• Dilbert (1999): main title designer • Mummies Alive! (1997): concept artist • The Maxx (1995): TV Mini-Series, background layout artist, 7 episodes
Identity
Identity
Yarrow Cheney is recorded as animator, special effects artist, film director, screenwriter and designer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1966
Yarrow Cheney born.
Awards and nominations
• 2014: Outstanding Achievement in Production Design in an Animated Feature Production - Despicable Me 2 (nom) (shared with Eric Guillon) • 2013: Annie Award for Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production -The Lorax (nom) (shared with Eric Guillon and Colin Stimpson) • 2011: Annie Award for Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production - Despicable Me (nom) • 1999: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design - Dilbert (shared with Carrie Cheney)
Citations
References
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reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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