# David Feiss

David Feiss (born April 16, 1959) is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter and director. 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.

## Biography

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 The Beatles' song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"; this got him a job at Hanna-Barbera 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; 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.
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. 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.
In 2006, he was the head of story for Sony's first CG animated film, Open Season.

## Filmography

| 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 |
| 1987 | ALF: The Animated Series | | animator: opening title sequence |
| 1988 | ALF Tales | | director/producer (Season 2) |
| 1988 | Kissyfur | | director/producer (Season 2, with Marek Buchwald) |
| 1988 | The Chipmunks | | producer |
| 1988 | Katy Meets the Aliens | | animator |
| 1990 | Jetsons: The Movie | | key animator |
| 1990 | 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 |
| 1993 | Once Upon a Forest | | animator |
| 1993 | Droopy, Master Detective | | storyboard artist |
| 1993 | The Town Santa Forgot | | storyboard artist |
| 1993 | 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 |
| 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 |
| 2011 | Thriller Night | | writer |
| 2011 | 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 |
| 2013 | Free Birds | | storyboard artist |
| 2014 | Super Manny, Earl Scouts, Steve's First Bath, and Attack of the 50 Ft. Gummy Bear | | director |
| 2014 | The Boxtrolls | | additional story artist |
| 2014 | Penguins of Madagascar | | storyboard artist |
| 2015 | Minions | | additional story artist |
| 2015 | Hotel Transylvania 2 | | story artist |
| 2015 | Open Season: Scared Silly | | director |
| 2017 | Smurfs: The Lost Village | | story artist |
| 2017 | Despicable Me 3 | | additional story artist |
| 2017 | The Emoji Movie | | story artist (uncredited) |
| 2018 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | | storyboard artist |
| 2018 | The Grinch | | additional story artist |
| 2019 | UglyDolls | | storyboard artist |
| 2019 | The Secret Life of Pets 2 | | story artist |
| 2019 | Santa's Little Helpers | | story |
| 2020 | The Willoughbys | | storyboard artist |
| 2022 | Hotel Transylvania: Transformania | | story artist, end credits animation director and designer |
| 2022 | For Gunter's Eyes Only | | director (with David Pellé) |
| 2022 | Minions: The Rise of Gru | | story artist |
| 2024 | Despicable Me 4 | | story artist |
| 2024 | Hitpig! | | director (with Cinzia Angelini) |

## Accolades

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 |
| 1998 | 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 |