David Feiss | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, director |
Years active | 1978–present |
Known for | Cow and Chicken I Am Weasel YooHoo & Friends |
Spouse(s) | Pilar Menendez (m. 1984;div. 2007)Annmarie Ashkar Feiss (m. 2009) |
Relatives | Sam Kieth (cousin) |
David Feiss (born April 16, 1959 [3] ) is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter and director. [4] 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 .
David Feiss was born on April 16, 1959 in Sacramento, California. He spent his teenage years making films, and at age 19 in 1978 he animated a short music film of Maxwell's Silver Hammer; this got him a job at Hanna-Barbera while still a teenager after graduating Casa Roble High School. [4] [5] [6]
He worked on the 1980s revival of The Jetsons , where he was acquainted with John Kricfalusi; the duo became friends, and Feiss helped animate "Big House Blues" as a favor. He would then work as an animation director on The Ren & Stimpy Show during its first season. Kricfalusi spoke highly of Feiss's animation skills and talent. [7] [8]
Feiss later returned to Hanna-Barbera 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. [9] 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. [10]
In 2006, he was the head of story for Sony's first CG animated film, Open Season .
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 (Season 2) | |
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 [11] | |
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 [12] | 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 [13] | 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 Pellé) | ||
Minions: The Rise of Gru | story artist | ||
2024 | Despicable Me 4 | story artist | |
Hitpig! [14] | director (with Cinzia Angelini) |
David Feiss has received an array of critical accolades since his entrance to the animation industry.
Year | Award | Category | Program | Shared with | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Title Design | ALF: The Animated Series | Kevin Altieri and Richard Raynis | Nominated |
1994 | Annie Awards | Best Individual Achievement for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation | A Flintstone Family Christmas | — | Nominated |
1996 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) | Cow and Chicken for "No Smoking" | Buzz Potamkin, Larry Huber, Pilar Menendez, Sam Kieth | Nominated |
1998 | National Cartoonists Society | NCS Division Award | TV Animation | — | Won |
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) | Cow and Chicken for "Free Inside/Journey to the Center of Cow" | Davis Doi, Vincent Davis, Steve Marmel, Richard Pursel, Michael Ryan | Nominated | |
2017 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Open Season: Scared Silly | — | Nominated |
The Ren & Stimpy Show, commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy, is an American comedy animated television series created by John Kricfalusi and developed by Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, Jim Smith and Lynne Naylor for Nickelodeon. Originally produced by Spümcø, the series aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, with its last episode airing on MTV on October 20, 1996, spanning for a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotionally unstable and psychotic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy, a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat. It is the third to be aired of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as "Nicktoons", alongside Doug and Rugrats, and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand.
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. was an American production company, which was active from 1957 until its absorption into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001. Founded on July 7, 1957 by Tom and Jerry creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera along with George Sidney, it was headquartered in Los Angeles at the Kling Studios from 1957 to 1960, then on Cahuenga Boulevard from 1960 to 1998 and subsequently at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks from 1998 to 2001.
Modern animation in the United States from the late 1980s to 2004 is frequently referred to as the renaissance age of American animation. During this period, many large American entertainment companies reformed and reinvigorated their animation departments, following the dark age, and the United States had an influence on global and worldwide animation.
2 Stupid Dogs is an American animated television series created and designed by Donovan Cook and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. It originally ran from September 5, 1993, to February 13, 1995, on TBS as a part of their Sunday Morning in Front of the TV block and in syndication. The show's main segments feature two unnamed dogs, called the "Little Dog" and the "Big Dog" in the credits. The show entirely used digital ink and paint in every episode.
Spümcø, Inc. was an American animation studio that was active from 1989 to 2005 and based in Los Angeles, California. The studio was best known for working on the first two seasons of The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon and for various commercials. The studio won several awards, including an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject for the music video of the song "I Miss You" by Björk.
Michael John Kricfalusi, known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show, which was highly influential on televised animation during the 1990s. From 1989 to 1992, he was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the show in virtually every aspect of its production, including providing the voice of Ren Höek and other characters. In 2009, he won the Inkpot Award.
What a Cartoon! is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by the end of the run, a Cartoon Network Studios production tag was added to some shorts to signal they were original to the network. The project consisted of 48 cartoons, intended to return creative power to animators and artists, by recreating the atmospheres that spawned the iconic cartoon characters of the mid-20th century. Each of the shorts mirrored the structure of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist or creator. Three of the cartoons were paired together into a half-hour episode.
Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio founded by Fred Seibert in January 1997. It is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc., itself apart of Kartoon Studios' Canadian holding company Wow Unlimited Media. The studio's slogan is "Original Cartoons since 1998."
Charles Michael Adler is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on Tiny Toon Adventures, the Bigheads on Rocko's Modern Life, Ickis on Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Doctor Doom, Wrecker, Sabertooth and others in The Super Hero Squad Show, MODOK in various Marvel media, Cobra Commander in GI Joe: Resolute and Renegades, Starscream in the Transformers films, Mr. Whiskers in Brandy & Mr. Whiskers, Cow, Chicken and the Red Guy in Cow and Chicken, Professor Monkey-for-a-Head in Earthworm Jim, I.R. Baboon in I Am Weasel, T-Bone in SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron and Tex Hex in Bravestarr.
Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name used by Cartoon Network for their original animated television series from July 14, 1997, to June 14, 2004, and produced in majority by Hanna-Barbera and/or Cartoon Network Studios. The first Cartoon Cartoon, Dexter's Laboratory, premiered in 1996, a year before the moniker's introduction. Further original series followed: Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Mike, Lu & Og, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Sheep in the Big City, Time Squad, Grim & Evil, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Evil Con Carne.
Christopher Mason Savino is an American writer, comic book artist and former animator. He is well-known as the creator of the animated series The Loud House. Savino has also worked on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Mickey Mouse and Johnny Test.
Robert Frank Camp is an American animator, writer, cartoonist, comic book artist, storyboard artist, director, and producer. He is best known for his work for developing and serving as a showrunner for The Ren & Stimpy Show. He has been nominated for two Emmys, a CableACE Award, and an Annie Award for his work on The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Cow and Chicken is an American animated comedy television series created by David Feiss for Cartoon Network. It is the third of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. It follows the surreal adventures of two talking animal siblings, Cow and Chicken. They are often antagonized by the Red Guy, a cartoonish version of the Devil who poses as various characters to scam them.
I Am Weasel is an American animated television series created by David Feiss for Cartoon Network. It is the fourth of the network's Cartoon Cartoons and the final to be produced solely by Hanna-Barbera. The series centers on I.M. Weasel, a smart, noble and successful weasel, I.R. Baboon, an unintelligent and rude baboon who is envious of Weasel and acts as both his rival and friend, and the mischievous, flamboyant Red Guy, who returns from Cow and Chicken to antagonize the duo.
Lynne Rae Naylor is a Canadian animator, artist, designer, director, and producer for television. She is best known for co-creating DreamWorks' The Mighty Ones, co-founding the animation studio Spümcø with John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, and Jim Smith, and co-developing The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon. She also worked on Batman: The Animated Series, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and Wander Over Yonder.
Open Season: Scared Silly is a 2015 American animated comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation, with animation provided by Mainframe Studios. It is the fourth installment of the Open Season film series, following Open Season (2006), Open Season 2 (2008), and Open Season 3 (2010). It also serves as a direct sequel to the second film while taking place between the second and third installments. The film features the voices of Donny Lucas, Will Townsend and Melissa Sturm.
David got that idea from his wife, Pilar, who is Spanish.
...Pilar Feiss, director,...
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)