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David Kirschner

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American producer and screenwriter
David Kirschner
Kirschner at the 2024 WonderCon
Born (1955-05-29) May 29, 1955 (age 69)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUSC School of Cinematic Arts
Occupations
  • Film producer
  • television producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1983–present

David Maxwell Kirschner (born May 29, 1955) is an American film and television producer and screenwriter. His producing credits include Don Bluth's An American Tail (also wrote) and Titan A.E. animated features as well as the Child's Play horror franchise.

Career

After studying at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, Kirschner began his career designing album cover art for Neil Diamond, most notably Neil Diamond's The Jazz Singer, and illustrating characters for the Muppets and Sesame Street. In 1983, Kirschner created and released children's book series Rose Petal Place, which spawned two Television specials, toys, clothing, and a wide array of licensed consumer products. In 1986, Kirschner created and executive produced An American Tail, which was co-executive produced by Steven Spielberg, and, at its release, was the highest-grossing non-Disney produced animated feature of all time. It was followed by its theatrical sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), the television series Fievel's American Tails, and two direct-to-video sequels. In 1986, David Kirschner signed a deal with United Artists Pictures and MGM/UA Television for development, production and distribution of major motion picture and television projects for a two-year deal. Kirschner was appointed chairman of Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1989, where he wrote / created and executive produced many films, specials and shows, including Wake, Rattle & Roll, Gravedale High and The Pirates of Dark Water.

Kirschner is also creator of the Chucky animatronic doll which is featured in the Chucky series. He has produced all seven films in the original franchise, including the recent Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky, direct-to-video films made by Universal 1440 Entertainment. Other notable productions include 1997's Cats Don't Dance, winner of the 25th annual Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, 2006's Curious George, based upon the book series of the same name, Martian Child, and Golden Globe-nominated Miss Potter. His 2010s/2020s work includes executive producer on Curious George, Hocus Pocus 2 (Disney+), Cult of Chucky (for Universal 1440 Entertainment), Random (In Pre-Production for The Weinstein Company) and Garden District (In-Development for Dimension Films). Kirschner is currently head of his own production company, David Kirschner Productions.

Filmography

Films

Title Year Functioned as Notes
Producer Executive
producer 		Writer
An American Tail 1986 No Yes Creator / Story Animated
Child's Play 1988 Yes No No Also created dolls
Child's Play 2 1990 Yes No No Also created dolls
Child's Play 3 1991 No Yes No Also created dolls
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West 1991 No Yes Creator Animated
Once Upon a Forest 1993 Yes No No Animated
Hocus Pocus 1993 Yes No Story
The Flintstones 1994 No Yes No
The Pagemaster 1994 Yes No Yes Live action / animated
Cats Don't Dance 1997 Yes No No Animated
Bride of Chucky 1998 Yes No No Also created dolls
Titan A.E. 2000 Yes No No Animated
Frailty 2001 Yes No No
Secondhand Lions 2003 Yes No No
Seed of Chucky 2004 Yes No No Also created dolls
Thru the Moebius Strip 2005 Yes No No Animated
Curious George 2006 Yes No No Animated
Miss Potter 2006 Yes No No
Martian Child 2007 Yes No No
Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! 2009 No Yes No Animated / Direct-to-DVD
Curse of Chucky 2013 Yes No No Also created dolls / Direct-to-DVD
Kristy 2014 Yes No No
Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle 2015 No Yes No Animated / Direct-to-DVD
Cult of Chucky 2017 Yes No No Also created dolls / Direct-to-DVD
Curious George: Royal Monkey 2019 No Yes No Animated / Direct-to-DVD
Curious George: Go West, Go Wild 2020 No Yes No Animated / Direct-to-streaming
Curious George: Cape Ahoy 2021 No Yes No Animated / Direct-to-streaming
Hocus Pocus 2 2022 No Yes Story Direct-to-streaming

Television films and specials

Title Year Functioned as Notes
Producer Executive
producer 		Writer
Rose Petal Place 1984 Yes No Creator Animated special
Rose Petal Place: Real Friends 1985 Yes No Creator Animated special
...Where's Rodney? 1990 Yes No No Unsold pilot
Poochinski 1990 No Yes Story Unsold pilot
The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story 1990 No Yes Story
The Last Halloween 1991 No Yes No Live action / animated special
Monster in My Pocket: The Big Scream 1992 No Yes No Animated special
The Halloween Tree 1993 No Yes No Animated
The Town Santa Forgot 1993 No Yes No Animated special

Television series

Title Year(s) Functioned as Notes
Creator Executive
producer 		Writer
Gravedale High 1990 Yes Yes No Animated (13 episodes)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures 1990 No Yes No Animated (13 episodes)
Wake, Rattle and Roll 1990–1991 Yes Yes No Live action / animated (50 episodes)
The Pirates of Dark Water 1991–1993 Yes Yes No Animated (21 episodes)
Fievel's American Tails 1992 Yes No No Animated (13 episodes) / Also creative consultant
Fish Police 1992 No Yes No Animated (6 episodes)
The Addams Family 1992–1993 No Yes No Animated (21 episodes)
Capitol Critters 1992–1996 No Yes No Animated (13 episodes)
Earth: Final Conflict 1997–2002 No Yes Yes Executive producer (110 episodes) / Teleplay (Episode: "Law & Order")
Five Days to Midnight 2004 No Yes No Mini-series (5 episodes)
Curious George 2006–2022 No Yes No Animated (198 episodes + 3 specials)
Chucky 2021–2024 No Yes No 24 episodes / Also created dolls

References

  1. "Kirschner Pacts At UA For Pictures, MGM/UA To Work On Television". Variety. 1986-09-03. p. 4.
  2. "25th Annual Annie Award Nominess and Winners". Archived from the original on 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2007-04-10.

External links

Works by David Kirschner
Films produced
Films written
TV series created
Franchises created
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