David Feiss (born April 16, 1959) is an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mar ...

, screenwriter and director. Feiss began his career working for

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

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 ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

'', among others. In 1995,

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

, 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 Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971) is an American cartoonist, animator, director, writer, and producer known for creating Cartoon Network's ''The Powerpuff Girls'' and ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'', Disney Channel and Disney XD's ''W ...

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky (; born January 17, 1970) is a Soviet-born American animation, animator, screenwriter, film producer, and film director, director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on ...

, 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

David Feiss was born on April 16, 1959, in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

. He spent his teenage years making films, and at age 19 in 1978 he animated a short music film of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' song " Maxwell's Silver Hammer"; this got him a job at

while still a teenager after graduating Casa Roble High School. He worked on the 1980s revival of '' The Jetsons'', where he was acquainted with

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), 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 ...

; the duo became friends, and Feiss helped animate " Big House Blues" as a favor. He would then work as an animation director on ''

'' during its first season. Kricfalusi spoke highly of Feiss's animation skills and talent. Feiss later returned to Hanna-Barbera and created the

original series '' Cow and Chicken'' and its spin-off, '' I Am Weasel''. Feiss stated that ''

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the American Broadca ...

'' was the primary influence for his work. 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 ''The Maxx'' is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth in 1993 and originally published monthly until 1998 by Image Comics for 35 issues, before being collected in trade paperback by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. The first appearanc ...

'', 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 Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

'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 Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' famous character The Punisher. In 2006, he was the head of story for Sony's first CG animated film, '' Open Season''.

Filmography

Accolades

David Feiss has received an array of critical accolades since his entrance to the animation industry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feiss, David 1959 births American animated film directors American graphic designers American male screenwriters American male television writers American male voice actors American storyboard artists American television directors American television writers Animators from California Cartoon Network Studios people Hanna-Barbera people Illumination (company) people Living people People from Sacramento, California Showrunners of animated series Sony Pictures Animation people