David Silverman
Silverman at 2023 SPARKCG
Born	(1957-03-15) March 15, 1957 (age 67) Long Island, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Television/film writer and director
Education	University of Maryland (attended) University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Genre	Comedy and fantasy

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.

Early life and career

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,^[3] 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]

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".^[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"^[9]

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 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

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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.^{[citation needed]} It frequently recalls the works of Ward Kimball, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones.^{[citation needed]} 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