Cary and Michael Huang
American twin animators (born 1997)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cary Huang and Michael Huang (born March 18, 1997) are American twin brothers, YouTubers, and animators who created the interactive online visual tool The Scale of the Universe and the animated web series Battle for Dream Island, both released in 2010.
Cary and Michael Huang | |
|---|---|
Cary (left) and Michael (right) in February 2025 | |
| Education | Campolindo High School |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Notable work | |
| Website | htwins |
| Cary Huang | |
| Born | March 18, 1997 |
| Education | Stanford University (BS) |
| YouTube information | |
| Channels | |
| Michael Huang | |
| Born | March 18, 1997 |
| Other names | Yoyle Cake[‡ 1] |
| Education | University of California Berkeley |
| YouTube information | |
| Channels | |
Early life and education
The Huang brothers were both born on March 18, 1997, with Cary arriving two minutes before Michael, and grew up in Moraga, California.[‡ 2][1] While attending elementary school, they began using the multimedia software program Adobe Flash. Cary "started using Flash when he was 10 years old",[2] and won an award for an animated video he made in 5th grade.[3]
They graduated from Campolindo High School in June 2015.[4] Cary later studied computer science at Stanford University where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 2020.[5][‡ 3] Michael studied film at the University of California, Berkeley.[5][6]
Projects
In 2005, the twins created the website htwins.net, where they released and hosted several Flash games,[7] including the visualization tool The Scale of the Universe in 2010 and its sequel The Scale of the Universe 2 in 2012.[8][9][1]
On January 1, 2010, the first episode of the animated web series Battle for Dream Island was posted to the YouTube channel, jacknjellify.[6]
On June 21, 2014, Cary launched Abacaba, a YouTube channel where he uploaded data visualization videos, a few of which have received external coverage, including the ones about computer chess, internet memes, and the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11][12]
Impact
The Huangs' web series Battle for Dream Island inspired a genre of similar animated web series called "object shows".[13][14] As of 2026, it has about 3.5 million subscribers.[5]
The Scale of the Universe was featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day in 2018[15] and inspired the Kurzgesagt app The Universe in a Nutshell, which was released in 2020.[16] On June 16, 2021, the International Astronomical Union gave the main-belt asteroid (10003) 1971 UD1 the name Caryhuang after Cary Huang, in part for his involvement in The Scale of the Universe.[17]