The Pinkfong Company appoints former Disney animation director to USA studio

David Levy, left, Pinkfong USA’s new head of studio, and new independent director Kim Seong-young [THE PINKFONG COMPANY]

The Pinkfong Company behind “Baby Shark” appointed former Disney animation director David Levy to Pinkfong USA’s head of studio, the educational entertainment firm said Thursday.

Pinkfong USA is the American subsidiary of The Pinkfong Company.

The firm aims to strengthen its content creation abilities with Levy, a renowned animation director who formerly worked at Disney who also led successful short-form content projects at Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel and Lucasfilm.

He also oversaw content production at Sesame Workshop, behind the beloved children’s program “Sesame Street.”

The Pinkfong Company also appointed Pixar animator Kim Seong-young as an independent director of the Korean headquarters. Kim has worked as Pixar’s lead layout artist for a decade.

Former Warner Brothers animator Justin Becker was also named Creative Executive of Pinkfong USA.

“We will aim to expand and strengthen our position in the content market as a global family entertainment company,” said The Pinkfong Company CEO Kim Min-seok.

The Pinkfong Company was founded in 2010 and its greatest hit music video “Baby Shark Dance” surpassed 1.2 billion views on YouTube.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]