David Silverman (animator)

Silverman was born to a Jewish family[1] on Long Island, New York.[2] He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended the University of Maryland, College Park for two years,[2] focusing on art. He then attended UCLA and majored in animation.[3]

Early in his career with The Simpsons, he was a subject on the December 26, 1990 episode (#83) of To Tell the Truth.[4]

Silverman is largely credited with creating most of the "rules" for drawing The Simpsons. He is frequently called upon to animate difficult or especially important scenes, becoming go-to in Season 2 when he animated the first of Homer's many "rants, freak-outs, and heart attacks".[5] He appeared during the end credits of the Simpsons episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan" giving a quick method of drawing Bart, and is a frequent participant on the Simpsons DVD audio commentaries. A cartoon rendering of him can be seen in "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", where he is the animator who draws Poochie (along with renderings of other Simpsons staffers). He was credited as Pound Foolish as the director of the episodes "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" and "Another Simpsons Clip Show."[6]

Silverman is also the director of The Simpsons Movie, which was released July 27, 2007. He originally left The Simpsons to direct additional sequences in The Road to El Dorado for DreamWorks Animation. Some of his other film work includes Monsters, Inc. for Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar, for which he was a co-director. He is currently a consulting producer and occasional director. He also worked on the animated films Ice Age, Robots, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

In 2012, Silverman directed the theatrical short The Longest Daycare starring Maggie Simpson, released in front of Ice Age: Continental Drift. The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He also directed the follow-up theatrical short Playdate with Destiny in 2020, released in front of Onward.

Silverman's direction and animation is known for its energy, sharp timing, adventurous use of design elements and often complex acting, involving expressions and poses which are often quixotic, emotionally specific or highly exaggerated. It frequently recalls the works of Ward Kimball, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones. His most prolific period of work on The Simpsons can be roughly categorized as beginning with the "Tracey Ullman" episodes and ending in or around season eight of the series, for which he animated Homer's psychedelic dream in "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)". Other representative examples of Silverman's work on The Simpsons include Homer's histrionic, spasmodic heart attack in "Homer's Triple Bypass", Homer's demented hysterics over the iconic painting of poker-playing canines in "Treehouse of Horror IV" and subsequent turn as an even-more-deranged appropriation of Jack Nicholson's character from "The Shining" in "Treehouse of Horror V", and Homer's over-the-top sugar diatribe from "Lisa's Rival".

• Tom Waits for No One (1979) (animator)
• The Strange Case of Mr. Donnybrook's Boredom (1982) (director, animator, background artist, ink artist, and layout artist) (This film was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.)[7]
• Mister T (1983) (layout artist) uncredited
• Turbo Teen (1984) (animator)
• One Crazy Summer (1986) (animator)
• Propagandance (1987) (assistant animator)
• The Tracey Ullman Show (1987-1989) (animator)
• The Dark Backward (1991) (creator: Blumps concept)
• RoboCop 3 (1993) (director: "Johnny Rehab" commercial)
• The Critic (1994-1995) (visual designer)
• Teen Angel (1997) (creative consultant)
• The Road to El Dorado (2000) (additional sequences)
• Rugrats (2001) (animator)
• Monsters, Inc. (2001) (co-director with Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, CDA, additional story material)
• Ice Age (2002) (story consultant with Jon Vitti)
• Mike's New Car (2002) (special thanks)
• Confessions of a Burning Man (2003) (additional cinematographer)
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) (animation consultant)
• Xiaolin Showdown (2003) (producer)
• Robots (2005) (storyboard artist)
• Family Guy (2014) (special thanks)
• House of Lies (2015) as himself
• Love (grateful thanks)
• The Edge of Seventeen (2016) (animation)
• Super Slackers (2018) (executive producer)
• Duncanville (2020) (consulting producer)
• Extinct (2021) (director with Raymond S. Persi)

Silverman worked with Savage Steve Holland to create Klutter! for Fox Kids. It was produced by Fox Kids Company, Savage Studios Ltd, and Film Roman. It was part of Eek! Stravaganza in the fourth season of the 1995–96 season. It lasted eight episodes from September 9, 1995, to April 14, 1996.

Silverman has toured many college campuses, speaking about his experiences as an animator and longtime Simpsons director and producer.[8] He describes his early experiences in the animation field, working on shows such as Turbo Teen and Mister T. He goes on to say that at the point he considered leaving animation to devote his time to cartoon illustration, he took a job animating on The Tracey Ullman Show. He has pointed out that he and his fellow animators Wes Archer and Bill Kopp first started animating The Simpsons shorts on March 23, 1987.

Silverman then elaborates on Simpsons production, the evolution of the show and its characters, and various show facts and trivia. He may show animatics, deleted scenes, and favorite scenes and sequences, while giving background information. He closes by hand-drawing character sketches before the audience.

Silverman plays the tuba and has performed at events like Burning Man with the Transformational All Star Fire Conclave Marching Band and on June 23, 2006, he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he played his flaming sousaphone.[9][10] Silverman was a member of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band Sousaphone Section in the early 1980s. He is currently a member of Los Trancos Woods Community Marching Band. In January 2009, Silverman joined the LA band Vaud and the Villains.

• David Silverman 2007 Video interview with InterviewingHollywood.com
• David Silverman at IMDb
• An interview with David Silverman
• David Silverman - Speaker Profile on APBSpeakers.com
• The Simpsons Archive interview
• Video interview, Treehouse Of Horror XVII
• David Silverman presentation at the PICNIC07 conference in Amsterdam, September 2007