Mark Kirkland is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of The Simpsons since 1990, more than any other director.
Mark Kirkland is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of The Simpsons since 1990, more than any other director.
At the age of 13, Kirkland began making super 8 films and working for his father, noted photographer and filmmaker Douglas Kirkland, [1] creating “making of” films for major production companies. This exposure to Hollywood sparked Kirkland's desire to seek a career in the entertainment industry. Kirkland developed an interest in drawing at an early age. At the age of 17, he began studying in the Experimental Animation Program at the California Institute of the Arts for four years, earning a BFA degree. [2] There, he was mentored by people such as Jules Engel (serving as his teaching assistant), A. Kendall O'Connor, Ollie Johnston and Moe Gollub. [1] In 1976, he won the Student Academy Award for animation along with fellow student, Richard Jefferies, for their graphically animated film made to the song "Fame" by David Bowie. [1] [3] After finishing up his degree, he applied to Disney, but he was not accepted and instead began working for Hanna-Barbera. [1] He began working on The Simpsons from season two onwards and has directed 82 episodes, more than any other director. [1] [4] [5] In season 18, he became the show's supervising director, [1] although he would relinquish this position to Mike B. Anderson as of season 20. In 2021, Kirkland left The Simpsons to become supervising director on HouseBroken .
Kirkland has won three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Environmental Media Awards and a Pioneer in Television Animation Award from the Burbank International Film Festival for his work on The Simpsons.
An active member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, Kirkland served as the Animation Peer Group Governor from 2012 to 2013.
As an independent filmmaker, Kirkland has written, directed, and produced award-winning short films which have been shown at film festivals around the world and screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. During a 5-year period, Kirkland participated in 25 festivals screening his films: "A Letter from Home," "The Moving Picture Co. 1914," "The Audition," and "Bud's Odyssey." Kirkland is an accomplished still photographer whose images have been published in the US and People magazines. He created photo essays on the behind-the-scenes making of The Simpsons, and A Visit with Ollie about legendary Disney animator Ollie Johnston.
| Media | Episode | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Man vs. Art ManVsArt.com | Episode #54: Interview with 3 Time Emmy Award Winning Director of The Simpsons Mark Kirkland | 2011-07-19 |
| Actors Reporter (wiki) ActorsReporter.com | Exclusive Interview at home with Mark Kirkland, a director of The Simpsons | 2011-07-07 |
| Toon In! ToonInAnimation.net | Show #25: Mark Kirkland | 2008-05-26 |
| International | |
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| National | |
Lionel Hutz is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman, and his first appearance was in the season two episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". Hutz is a stereotypical shady ambulance chasing lawyer in Springfield, with questionable competence and ethics. Nevertheless, he is often hired by the Simpsons. Following Hartman's death on May 28, 1998, Hutz was retired; his final speaking role was five months earlier, in the season nine episode "Realty Bites", and has since occasionally cameoed in the background.
Songs in the Key of Springfield is a soundtrack/novelty album from The Simpsons compiling many of the musical numbers from the series. The album was released in the United States on March 18, 1997, and in the United Kingdom in June 1997. This was the second album released in association with the Simpsons television series; however, the previous release, The Simpsons Sing the Blues, contained original recordings as opposed to songs featured in episodes of the series.
"Treehouse of Horror II" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 31, 1991. It is the second annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments, told as dreams of Lisa, Bart and Homer and is the only Treehouse of Horror episode to date where each segment name is not stated inside the episode. In the first segment, which was inspired by W. W. Jacobs's short story The Monkey's Paw and The Twilight Zone episode "A Small Talent for War", Homer buys a Monkey's Paw that has the power to grant wishes, although all the wishes backfire. In the second part, which parodies the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life", Bart is omnipotent, and turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box, resulting in the two spending more time together. In the final segment, Mr. Burns attempts to use Homer's brain to power a giant robotic laborer.
"Treehouse of Horror III" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 29, 1992. The third annual Treehouse of Horror episode, it features segments in which Homer buys Bart an evil talking doll, Homer is a giant ape which is captured by Mr. Burns in a parody of the 1933 version of King Kong, and Bart and Lisa inadvertently cause zombies to attack Springfield.
"Treehouse of Horror VI" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the sixth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 29, 1995, and contains three self-contained segments. In "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores", an ionic storm brings Springfield's oversized advertisements and billboards to life and they begin attacking the town. The second segment, "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace", is a parody of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, in which Groundskeeper Willie attacks schoolchildren in their sleep. In the third and final segment, "Homer3", Homer finds himself trapped in a three-dimensional world, Earth. It was inspired by the 1962 The Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost". The segments were written by John Swartzwelder, Steve Tompkins, and David X. Cohen and were directed by Mark Kirkland, Bob Anderson, and Jim Reardon, respectively.
"Treehouse of Horror VIII" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 26, 1997. In the eighth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer Simpson is the last Springfieldian left alive when a neutron bomb destroys Springfield until a gang of mutants come after him, Homer buys a transporter that Bart uses to switch bodies with a housefly, and Marge is accused of witchcraft in a Puritan rendition of Springfield in 1649. It was written by Mike Scully, David X. Cohen and Ned Goldreyer, and was directed by Mark Kirkland.
"Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 249th episode overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales Can Come True" and "Night of the Dolphin" and was written by Rob LaZebnik, John Frink and Don Payne and Carolyn Omine and directed by Matthew Nastuk.
The Simpson family are the fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town of Springfield, United States, and they were created by cartoonist Matt Groening, who conceived the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. The family debuted on Fox on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" and were later spun off into their own series, which debuted on Fox in the U.S. on December 17, 1989.
Jim Reardon is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15. He has been described by Ralph Bakshi as "one of the best cartoon writers in the business".
Joseph Stewart Burns, better known as J. Stewart Burns or simply just Stewart Burns is a television writer and producer most notable for his work on The Simpsons, Futurama, and Unhappily Ever After.
Steven Dean Moore is an American animation director. His credits include 65 episodes of the animated television series The Simpsons and several episodes of the Nickelodeon series Rugrats (1991–2004). Moore was also one of four sequence directors on The Simpsons Movie (2007). He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2002.
"Treehouse of Horror XVI" is the fourth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 6, 2005. In the sixteenth annual Treehouse of Horror, the Simpsons replace Bart with a robot son after Bart falls into a coma, Homer and various other characters find themselves on a reality show where Mr. Burns hunts humans for sport, and costumed Springfieldians become whatever they are wearing, thanks to a witch who was disqualified from a Halloween costume contest.
"The War of the Simpsons" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 2, 1991. In the episode, Homer gets drunk at a dinner party and embarrasses Marge, so she enrolls them in marriage counseling at a lakeside retreat with Reverend Lovejoy.
Bob Anderson is an American animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie.
The seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 17, 1995, and May 19, 1996. The show runners for the seventh production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein who would executive produce 21 episodes this season. David Mirkin executive produced the remaining four, including two hold overs that were produced for the previous season. The season was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program and won an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Program. The DVD box set was released in Region 1 on December 13, 2005, Region 2 on January 30, 2006, and Region 4 on March 22, 2006. The set was released in two different forms: a Marge-shaped box and also a standard rectangular-shaped box in which the theme is a movie premiere.
The sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994, and May 21, 1995, and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition.
Matthew Nastuk is an animation director on The Simpsons. He started directing during the tenth season, and has since directed over two dozen episodes and continues to direct today.
"Treehouse of Horror XXIV" is the second episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 532nd episode of the series. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 6, 2013. The episode was written by Jeff Westbrook and directed by Rob Oliver.
"Simprovised" is the twenty-first episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 595th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk and written by John Frink. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 15, 2016, and includes a three-minute live-animated segment in which viewers were able to ask Homer Simpson questions.
"Treehouse of Horror XXX" is the fourth episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 666th episode overall as well as the thirtieth Treehouse of Horror episode. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 20, 2019. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns, and was directed by Timothy Bailey.
