David Feiss (born April 16, 1959) is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and director. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network animated series Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel. In directing, he is known for directing the episodes of Armorsaurs.
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, The Pink Panther, 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, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.
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 served as the head of story and character designer for Sony Pictures Animation’s first animated film, Open Season and would later direct the fourth film in the series, Open Season: Scared Silly.
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 animatorALF: The Animated Seriesanimator: opening title sequence 1988ALF 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 1993A 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 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 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 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 artistSanta's Little Helpers storyWonder Parkco-director (uncredited) 2020 The Willoughbys storyboard artist 2022 Hotel Transylvania: Transformania story artist, end credits animation director and designerFor Gunter's Eyes Only director (with David Pellé)Minions: The Rise of Gru story artist 2024 Despicable Me 4 story artist Hitpig! director (with Cinzia Angelini) 2025 The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants story artist Armorsaurs director
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 1994 Annie Awards Best Individual Achievement for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation A Flintstone Family Christmas 1996 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) Cow and Chicken Buzz Potamkin, Larry Huber, Pilar Menendez, Sam Kieth 1998 National Cartoonists Society NCS Division Award TV Animation Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) Cow and Chicken Davis Doi, Vincent Davis, Steve Marmel, Richard Pursel, Michael Ryan 2017 Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production Open Season: Scared Silly
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