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 ==