David Silverman (animator)

Early life and career

Silverman was born to a Jewish family on Long Island, New York. His father, Joseph Silverman, was a chemical engineering professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, for over 30 years. He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, and attended the University of Maryland for two years before earning Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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

''The Simpsons''

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". 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 episode "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 during the production of its ninth season to direct additional sequences for The Road to El Dorado for DreamWorks Animation alongside Will Finn, ultimately returning for the series' thirteenth season in 2001. 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 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.

Episodes directed by Silverman

• "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"
• "Bart the Genius"
• "Bart the General"
• "Life on the Fast Lane"
• "Some Enchanted Evening" (with Kent Butterworth)
• "Bart Gets an 'F'
• "Treehouse of Horror" ("The Raven" segment only)
• "Bart vs. Thanksgiving"
• "The Way We Was"
• "Old Money"
• "Blood Feud"
• "Black Widower"
• "Homer's Triple Bypass"
• "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
• "Treehouse of Horror IV" (as David "Dry Bones" Silverman)
• "Another Simpsons Clip Show"
• "Homie the Clown"
• "Mother Simpson"
• "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" (as Pound Foolish)
• "Treehouse of Horror XIII"
• "Treehouse of Horror XV" (as "The Tell-Tale Silverman")
• "Treehouse of Horror XVI" (as "Godzilla vs. Silverman")
• "Treehouse of Horror XVII" (with Matthew Faughnan) (as David "Tubatron" Silverman)
• "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner"

Episodes written by Silverman

• "Lisa Gets the Blues" (with Brian Kelley)

Style

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".

Filmography

Television

Feature films

Short films

''Klutter!''

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 where he voiced John Heap. It lasted eight episodes from September 9, 1995, to April 14, 1996.

Campus tours

Silverman has toured many college campuses, speaking about his experiences as an animator and longtime Simpsons director and producer. 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.

Music

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. 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.

References

References

1. "David Silverman".
2. [https://www.jewishtampa.com/jews-in-the-news/jews-in-the-news-oscar-time Tampa Jewish Federation "Jews in the News: Oscar Time!"] retrieved March 19, 2017
3. Silverman, David. "Nominated for: Animated Short for "Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare' "". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
4. "Clark School of Engineering Professor Joseph Silverman Remembered".
5. "On Nov 6, 2019, 1 day after his 97th birthday, Prof. Joe Silverman exchanged this life for the next. A good long life, nearly a century, my dad was in pretty decent health - he just ran out of time. So long dear ol' Dad & thanks for the laffs and love.".
6. "TFTAN - UCLA School of The Theater, Film and Television Alumni Network".
7. [http://tttt.home.att.net/tttt90guide.html To Tell The Truth: 1990-91 Episode Guide] {{webarchive. link. (February 9, 2009)
8. Du Vernay, Denise. (February 14, 2012). "Best 'Simpsons' Moments: Castmembers Share Their Favorite Contributions to Celebrate the 500th Episode". OC Weekly.
9. {{IMDb name. 798899
10. (December 7, 2017). "Super Slackers: Exclusive Clip from Simpsons Animator's New Show on 420TV".
11. (January 7, 2004). "Film review: Confessions of a Burning Man". [[Deseret News]].
12. "Preserved Projects".
13. [http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/david.silverman.html The Simpsons Archive: David Silverman's Chat] {{webarchive. link. (September 26, 2007)
14. [http://www.boingboing.net/2006/06/22/flaming_tuba_guy_dav.html Flaming Tuba guy David Silverman on NBC Tonight Show 6/23 - Boing Boing] {{webarchive. link. (July 3, 2006)
15. [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4393995267364283884 David Silverman on The Tonight Show]