David Maxwell Kirschner (born May 29, 1955) is an American film and television producer and screenwriter. His producing credits include

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...

's ''

An American Tail ''An American Tail'' is a 1986 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and written by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss from a story by David Kirschner, Freudberg and Geiss. The film stars the voices of Phi ...

'' (also wrote) and ''

Titan A.E. ''Titan A.E.'' is a 2000 American animated post-apocalyptic science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Ba ...

'' animated features as well as the '' Child's Play'' horror franchise.

Career

After studying at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, Kirschner began his career designing album cover art for

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

, most notably

's ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...

'', and illustrating characters for the '' Muppets'' and ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. In 1983, Kirschner created and released children's book series '' Rose Petal Place'', which spawned two Television specials, toys, clothing, and a wide array of licensed consumer products. In 1986, Kirschner created and executive produced ''

'', which was co-executive produced by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

, and, at its release, was the highest-grossing non-Disney produced animated feature of all time. It was followed by its theatrical sequel '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991), the television series '' Fievel's American Tails'', and two direct-to-video sequels. In 1986, David Kirschner signed a deal with United Artists Pictures and MGM/UA Television for development, production and distribution of major motion picture and television projects for a two-year deal. Kirschner was appointed chairman of

Hanna-Barbera Productions 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 1989, where he wrote / created and executive produced many films, specials and shows, including '' Wake, Rattle & Roll'', '' Gravedale High'' and ''

The Pirates of Dark Water ''The Pirates of Dark Water'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by David Kirschner and produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as a five-part miniseries on Fox Kids early 1991, simply entitled ''Dark Water''. The ...

''. Kirschner is also creator of the Chucky

animatronic An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

doll which is featured in the '' Chucky'' series. He has produced all seven films in the original franchise, including the recent '' Curse of Chucky'' and '' Cult of Chucky'', direct-to-video films made by Universal 1440 Entertainment. Other notable productions include 1997's '' Cats Don't Dance'', winner of the 25th annual

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

for Best Animated Feature, 2006's ''

Curious George Curious George is a fictional monkey who is the title character of a series of popular children's picture books written and illustrated by Margret and H. A. Rey. Various media, including films and TV shows, have been based upon the original ...

'', based upon the book series of the same name, '' Martian Child'', and Golden Globe-nominated '' Miss Potter''. His 2010s/2020s work includes executive producer on ''

'', '' Hocus Pocus 2'' (

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

), '' Cult of Chucky'' (for Universal 1440 Entertainment), ''Random'' (In Pre-Production for

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company, LLC (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein on March 10, 2005. TWC was one of the larg ...

) and ''Garden District'' (In-Development for

Dimension Films Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...

). Kirschner is currently head of his own production company, David Kirschner Productions.

Filmography

Films

Television films and specials

Television series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirschner, David 1955 births American animated film producers American illustrators American male screenwriters American television producers Animation screenwriters Film producers from California Hanna-Barbera people Universal Animation Studios people Living people