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David Bowers | |
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 Bowers at the 2006 BAFTAs in 2007 | |
| Born | 1970 (age 53–54) Cheshire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Animator, storyboard artist, film director, screenwriter, voice actor |
| Years active | 1988–present |
David Bowers (born 1970) [1] is an English animator, storyboard artist, film director, screenwriter and voice actor.
Bowers studied fine art at Chester School of Art and animation at West Surrey College of Art and Design. His first job was on Who Framed Roger Rabbit , as an inbetweener, under director Richard Williams.
After Roger Rabbit, Bowers worked at Cosgrove Hall on the cult favourite television shows Danger Mouse and Duckula before moving to London to work for Steven Spielberg's Amblimation studio. He worked as an animator on An American Tail: Fievel Goes West , before going freelance to work on advertisements and features. Bowers later returned to Amblimation, to work on early story development, and as a supervising animator on Balto .
With the closing of Amblimation, and the founding of DreamWorks Animation, Bowers moved to Glendale, California in 1997, to work as a story artist on The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado . It was during this period that he met Aardman's Nick Park and Peter Lord, who asked him to help storyboard Aardman's first feature length film, the critically acclaimed Chicken Run . He was ultimately credited as storyboard supervisor.
After Chicken Run, Bowers moved between Los Angeles and Bristol, working on several DreamWorks and Aardman projects, including the hit 3D animated comedy Shark Tale and the Oscar winning film from Wallace and Gromit, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit , before directing Aardman's first CGI feature, Flushed Away , with Sam Fell.
He wrote/directed a CGI adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic Astro Boy for Imagi Animation Studios and Summit Entertainment, that was released in October 2009. [2] Bowers directed Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules , his first live action film, which was released in cinemas on 25 March 2011. [3] [4]
He also directed the third film in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012), as well as the fourth film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017). Bowers was developing a live action film adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon show, Rugrats for Paramount Pictures, under the production of Paramount Players in April 2019, for a January 2021 release, before being pulled from the schedule in November 2019. [5] [6]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Flushed Away | Yes | No | No | Co-directed with Sam Fell; Also additional screenplay material and additional voices |
| 2009 | Astro Boy | Yes | Yes | No | Also voice of Mike the Fridge |
| 2011 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules | Yes | No | No | |
| 2012 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | Yes | No | No | |
| 2017 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Short films based on the film Astro Boy
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The RRF in New Recruit | Also voice of Mike the Fridge |
| Astro Boy vs. The Junkyard Pirates |
Animator
Storyboard artist
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Inbetween artist |
| 1995 | Balto | Also supervising animator: "Rosy" |
| 1998 | The Prince of Egypt | Additional storyboard artist |
| 2000 | The Road to El Dorado | |
| Chicken Run | ||
| 2004 | Shark Tale | |
| 2005 | Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | Senior storyboard artist |
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is a 1991 American animated Western comedy film directed by Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells, with producer Steven Spielberg for Amblin Entertainment and animated by his Amblimation animation studio and released by Universal Pictures. A sequel to 1986's An American Tail, the film follows the story of the Mousekewitzes, a family of Russian-Jewish mice who emigrate to the Wild West. In it, Fievel is separated from his family as the train approaches the American Old West; the film chronicles him and Sheriff Wylie Burp teaching Tiger how to act like a dog.
Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment. It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth, due to creative differences. It was stationed in what was originally the D. Napier & Son factory in Acton, London and had 250 crew members from 15 different nations. It only produced three feature films: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), and Balto (1995), all three of which were composed by James Horner and distributed by Universal Pictures. The company's mascot, Fievel Mousekewitz, appears in its production logo.
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA) (also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The studio has released a total of 48 feature films, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. Its first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film was Kung Fu Panda 4 on March 8, 2024; their upcoming theatrical slate of films includes The Wild Robot on September 20, 2024, Dog Man on January 31, 2025, and The Bad Guys 2 on August 1, 2025. Additionally, DreamWorks has reserved a release date for an untitled animated film on September 26, 2025
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while all direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Clifford the Big Red Dog is an American children's book series about the adventures of a girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a giant, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by Norman Bridwell. Clifford is Scholastic's official mascot.
Flushed Away is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film directed by Sam Fell and David Bowers, produced by Cecil Kramer, David Sproxton, and Peter Lord, and written by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and Will Davies. It was the third and final DreamWorks Animation film co-produced with Aardman Features following Chicken Run (2000) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), and was the first Aardman project mostly made in CGI animation as opposed to starting with their usual stop-motion – this was because using water on plasticine models could damage them, and it was complex to render the effect in another way. The film stars the voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Shane Richie, Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis and Jean Reno. In the film, a pampered fancy rat named Roddy St. James (Jackman) is flushed down the toilet in his Kensington apartment by a sewer rat named Sid (Richie), and befriends a scavenger named Rita Malone (Winslet) in order to get back home while evading a sinister toad (McKellen) and his hench-rats.
Simon Finlay Wells is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing The Prince of Egypt with Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner.
Astro Boy is a 2009 animated superhero film loosely based on the manga series of the same name by the Japanese writer and illustrator Osamu Tezuka. Produced by the Hong Kong-based company Imagi Animation Studios, it was directed by David Bowers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Timothy Hyde Harris. The film stars Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Samuel L. Jackson, Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron, and Nicolas Cage. In the film, Dr. Tenma (Cage) creates Astro (Highmore), a teenage robot implanted with the memories of his son after he is killed in an accident. The pair face Stone (Sutherland), the president of Metro City who is running for re-election, for their betrayal.
Phil Nibbelink is an American animator and film director as well as comic book writer and illustrator known for his work on films as the Academy Award-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the 1991 cult animated sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
Thomas McGrath is an American voice actor, animator and filmmaker. He is known for the DreamWorks animated film Madagascar, which he co-wrote and directed with Eric Darnell while voicing the character of Skipper the Penguin. The film spawned two direct sequels. along with a spin-off animated series and film based on the penguins in which McGrath reprised his role as Skipper. McGrath has also directed other DreamWorks animated films such as Megamind and The Boss Baby and its 2021 sequel.
Zachary Adam Gordon is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Greg Heffley in the first three films of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, based on the namesake book series. Gordon was then cast as Tate Wilson in Good Trouble, and Jason Cohen in Dead of Summer.
United Kingdom Animation began at the very origins of the art form in the late 19th century. British animation has been strengthened by an influx of émigrés to the UK; renowned animators such as Lotte Reiniger (Germany), John Halas (Hungary), George Dunning and Richard Williams (Canada), Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton have all worked in the UK at various stages of their careers. Notable full-length animated features to be produced in the UK include Animal Farm (1954), Yellow Submarine (1968), Watership Down (1978), and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is a 2011 American comedy film directed by David Bowers in his live-action directorial debut and based on Jeff Kinney's 2008 book of the same name. It stars Zachary Gordon and Devon Bostick. Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, and Peyton List also have prominent roles.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a series of family comedy films based on the book series of the same name by Jeff Kinney. The series consists of four live action films and three animated films.
Barry Cook is an American film director who has worked in the animated film industry since the 1980s. Cook and Tony Bancroft directed Mulan (1998), for which they won the 1998 Annie Award for Best Animated Feature. Cook was also the co-director for Arthur Christmas (2011), directed by Sarah Smith. Cook also directed Walking with Dinosaurs (2013) with Neil Nightingale.
Steve Hickner is an American animator and director at DreamWorks Animation. He is best known for directing DreamWorks animated films such as The Prince of Egypt and Bee Movie. He won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature and was also nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature for his work on The Prince of Egypt.
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