| Birth Date: | 15 March 1957 |
| Birth Place: | Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Television/film writer and director |
| Genre: | Comedy and fantasy |
| Education: |
David Silverman (born March 15, 1957)[1] is an American animator who has directed numerous episodes of the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as its 2007 film adaptation. Silverman was involved with the series from the very beginning, animating all of the original short Simpsons cartoons that aired on The Tracey Ullman Show. He went on to serve as director of animation for several years. He also did the animation for the 2016 film The Edge of Seventeen, which was produced by Gracie Films.
Silverman was born to a Jewish family[2] on Long Island, New York.[3] His father, Joseph Silverman, was a chemical engineering professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, for over 30 years.[4] [5] He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, and attended the University of Maryland for two years, focusing on art. He then attended UCLA and majored in animation.[6]
Early in his career with The Simpsons, he was a subject on the December 26, 1990, episode (#83) of To Tell the Truth.[7]
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".[8] 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 once credited as Pound Foolish as the director of the episodes "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular"
Silverman is also the director of The Simpsons Movie, which was released July 27, 2007. He originally left The Simpsons to direct additional sequences for The Road to El Dorado for DreamWorks Animation alongside Will Finn. Some of his other film work includes Monsters, Inc. for Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar, for which he was a co-director (alongside Lee Unkrich). He is currently a consulting producer and occasional director. He also worked on the animated films Ice Age, Robots, and .
In 2012, Silverman directed the theatrical short The Longest Daycare starring Maggie Simpson, released in front of . 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".
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Storyboard Artist | Animator | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Turbo Teen | |||||||
| 1987–89 | The Tracey Ullman Show | Segment Director: "The Simpsons" Shorts | ||||||
| 1989–1997, 2001–present | The Simpsons | Supervising Director (seasons 1–8, 16–17), Consulting Producer, Executive Consultant (season 9), Title Designer, Character Layout Artist, Storyboards, Storyboard Consultant, Storyboard Revisions, Main Title Designer, Background Designer, Additional Voices, Song Lyrics: "Spider-Pig" | ||||||
| 1994–95 | The Critic | Visual Design | ||||||
| 1995 | Eek! The Cat | Creator, Executive Producer, Voice of John Heap (Klutter! segment) | ||||||
| 1997 | Teen Angel | Creative Consultant | ||||||
| 2001 | Rugrats | |||||||
| 2014 | Family Guy | Special Thanks (Episode: "The Simpsons Guy") | ||||||
| 2015 | House of Lies | Himself | ||||||
| 2017 | Party Legends | |||||||
| 2018 | Super Slackers[9] | |||||||
| 2020–2022 | Duncanville | |||||||
| 2022 | Werewolf by Night | Actor (The Flaming Tuba) | ||||||
| Year | Title | Director | Story Artist | Animator | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | One Crazy Summer | |||||
| 1991 | The Dark Backward | Creator: "Blumps" concept | ||||
| 1993 | RoboCop 3 | Director: "Johnny Rehab" commercial | ||||
| 2000 | The Road to El Dorado | Additional Sequences Director | ||||
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | Additional Story Material, CDA | ||||
| 2002 | Ice Age | Story Consultant | ||||
| 2003 | Confessions of a Burning Man[10] | Additional Cinematographer; Documentary | ||||
| Animation Consultant | ||||||
| 2005 | Robots | |||||
| 2007 | The Simpsons Movie | |||||
| 2014 | Such Good People | Personal Thanks | ||||
| 2015 | Love | Grateful Thanks | ||||
| 2016 | The Edge of Seventeen | |||||
| 2021 | Extinct | Voices of Cyclops / Donut Store Clerk | ||||
