American animator (born 1959)
David Feiss
is an American
animator
,
storyboard artist
, screenwriter, and director.
[3]
Feiss began his career working for
Hanna-Barbera
in the late 1970s. He received his first credit for the 1981
adult animated
film
Heavy Metal
. He gained notoriety throughout the late 1980s and 1990s as an animator for
Jetsons: The Movie
,
Once Upon a Forest
,
The Town Santa Forgot
and
The Ren & Stimpy Show
, among others.
In 1995,
Cartoon Network
, in search of aspiring creators of original programming, launched their animated series
What a Cartoon!
, which featured a showcase of animated shorts from up-and-coming animators, including
Craig McCracken
,
Genndy Tartakovsky
, and
Van Partible
. Feiss' pilot, "No Smoking", was among the first shorts broadcast on the network and follows the unconventional sibling rivalry between a young cow named Cow and her older brother, a chicken named Chicken, as well as their human parents. The pilot was approved by the network for a full series run,
Cow and Chicken
, which premiered on July 15, 1997, and ran for four seasons. A spin-off series,
I Am Weasel
, following the duo of I.M. Weasel and I.R. Baboon, two characters featured in intermediate segments of
Cow and Chicken
, premiered on June 10, 1999, as a standalone series and ran for one season.
Since
Cow and Chicken
and
I Am Weasel
, Feiss has continued to work in the animation industry on projects such as
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
,
Dave the Barbarian
,
Open Season
,
Despicable Me 2
,
The Grinch
,
The Willoughbys
,
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
, and
Minions: The Rise of Gru
.
Biography
[
edit
]
He joined
Hanna-Barbera
around 1978 while still a teenager after graduating
Casa Roble High School
.
[3]
[4]
He worked on the 1980s revival of
The Jetsons
, was a key animator on the
Jetsons
movie
, co-animated the
Ren and Stimpy
pilot "Big House Blues", was an animation director on
The Ren & Stimpy Show
during its first season and created the
Cartoon Network
original series
Cow and Chicken
and its
spin-off
,
I Am Weasel
. Feiss stated that
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
was the primary influence for his work.
[5]
On his shows, David directed every episode and also worked as a writer, his writing credits usually collaborated with Michael Ryan.
Feiss co-directed the animated segments of
The Adventures of Hyperman
, a computer game released in 1995 by IBM.
In issues #5 and #30 of his cousin
Sam Kieth
's comic book
The Maxx
, David showcased his work with The Crappon (which looks like the Warner Bros. frog mascot Michigan J. Frog), Fred Flower and Uncle Italian Moose, which had a very similar style to
Cow and Chicken
(they are reprinted in
WildStorm
's The Maxx Volumes 1 and 5 trades). Feiss also collaborated with Kieth on a story featured in Parody Press's 1992 one-shot comic book
Pummeler
, spoofing
Marvel Comics
' famous character
The Punisher
.
[6]
In 2006, he was the head of story for Sony's first CG animated film,
Open Season
.
Filmography
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1979
|
C.H.O.M.P.S.
|
|
assistant animator: title sequence
|
1981
|
Heavy Metal
|
|
animator: segment "Taarna"
|
1982
|
Heidi's Song
|
|
assistant animator
|
1985
|
The Body Electric
|
|
director
|
1987
|
The Chipmunk Adventure
|
|
animator
|
ALF: The Animated Series
|
|
animator: opening title sequence
|
1988
|
ALF Tales
|
|
director/producer
|
Kissyfur
|
|
director/producer (Season 2, with Marek Buchwald)
|
The Chipmunks
|
|
producer
|
Katy Meets the Aliens
|
|
animator
|
1990
|
Jetsons: The Movie
|
|
key animator
|
Rockin' Through the Decades
|
|
animator
|
1991
|
The Ren & Stimpy Show
|
|
animation director
|
1993
|
A Cool Like That Christmas
|
|
director (with
Swinton O. Scott III
)/storyboard artist
|
Once Upon a Forest
|
|
animator
|
Droopy, Master Detective
|
|
storyboard artist
|
The Town Santa Forgot
|
|
storyboard artist
|
A Flintstone Family Christmas
|
|
storyboard artist
|
1993?1995
|
The Pink Panther
|
|
storyboard artist
|
1994
|
Bobby's World
|
|
storyboard artist: 3 episodes
|
1996
|
All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
|
|
storyboard artist/character designer/directing animator
|
1997?1999
|
Cow and Chicken
|
|
creator/writer/story/storyboard artist/director
[7]
|
1997?2000
|
I Am Weasel
|
|
creator/story/storyboard artist/director/animation director
|
2000-2003
|
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
|
|
animation layout/storyboard artist: segments "Meet the Reaper" & "Smarten Up!"
|
2000
|
Lost Cat
|
|
writer/storyboard artist/director/character designer
|
2002
|
Poochini's Yard
|
|
storyboard artist: segments "The Skunk" & "Queen Bee"
|
2002
|
No Prom for Cindy
|
|
writer
|
2004?2005
|
Dave the Barbarian
|
|
main title storyboard artist/storyboard artist: segment "The Way of the Dave"
|
2006
|
Open Season
|
|
head of story
|
2007
|
The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas
|
|
writer
|
2008
|
El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
|
|
storyboard artist: segment "The Return of Plata Peligrosa"
|
2009
|
Astro Boy
|
Cowboy Robot
|
storyboard artist
|
2011
|
Rango
|
|
storyboard artist
|
Thriller Night
|
|
writer
|
Gift of the Night Fury
|
|
story artist
|
2012
|
YooHoo & Friends
|
Santa Claus
|
creator, director, executive producer, writer, character designer, storyboard artist
|
2013
|
Despicable Me 2
|
|
additional story artist
|
Free Birds
|
|
storyboard artist
|
2014
|
Super Manny
,
Earl Scouts
,
Steve's First Bath
, and
Attack of the 50 Ft. Gummy Bear
[8]
|
|
director
|
The Boxtrolls
|
|
additional story artist
|
Penguins of Madagascar
|
|
storyboard artist
|
2015
|
Minions
|
|
additional story artist
|
Hotel Transylvania 2
|
|
story artist
|
2015
|
Open Season: Scared Silly
[9]
|
|
director
|
2017
|
Smurfs: The Lost Village
|
|
story artist
|
Despicable Me 3
|
|
additional story artist
|
The Emoji Movie
|
|
story artist (uncredited)
|
2018
|
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
|
|
storyboard artist
|
The Grinch
|
|
additional story artist
|
2019
|
UglyDolls
|
|
storyboard artist
|
The Secret Life of Pets 2
|
|
story artist
|
Santa's Little Helpers
|
|
story
|
2020
|
The Willoughbys
|
|
storyboard artist
|
2022
|
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
|
|
story artist, end credits animation director and designer
|
For Gunter's Eyes Only
|
|
director (with David Pelle)
|
Minions: The Rise of Gru
|
|
story artist
|
2023
|
Hitpig
|
|
director (with Cinzia Angelini)
|
Accolades
[
edit
]
David Feiss has received an array of critical accolades since his entrance to the animation industry.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Fritz, Steve (November 13, 2000).
"Meet Charlie Adler, The New King of Voice Actors"
.
Mania.com
. Archived from
the original
on December 12, 2013
. Retrieved
March 8,
2013
.
David got that idea from his wife, Pilar, who is Spanish.
- ^
"August Issue News Section"
. Animation World Network. August 1996
. Retrieved
December 31,
2016
.
...Pilar Feiss, director,...
- ^
a
b
Lenburg, Jeff,
Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television
(Applause Theater & Cinema Books, 2006), 80.
- ^
"Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel by David Feiss - Creators"
.
kurtwillmon.com
. Retrieved
2020-09-14
.
- ^
"From 'Cow & Chicken' to 'Open Season': Q&A with David Feiss"
. Cartoon Brew. November 2016
. Retrieved
1 November
2016
.
- ^
"David Feiss"
. Comic Book Database. Archived from
the original
on 21 February 2014
. Retrieved
14 February
2014
.
- ^
"Animator Profile - David Feiss"
. Cartoon Network. Archived from
the original
on May 16, 2006
. Retrieved
December 31,
2016
.
- ^
"David Feiss"
. Sony Pictures Animation. Archived from
the original
on December 2, 2013
. Retrieved
November 22,
2013
.
- ^
Sony Pictures Animation (June 10, 2015).
"OPEN SEASON is Back with a Brand New Comedy Adventure!"
(Press release). PR Newswire
. Retrieved
June 10,
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Artists
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