David Bowers
Bowers at the 2006 BAFTAs in 2007
Born1970 (age 53–54)
Cheshire, England
Occupation(s)Animator, storyboard artist, film director, screenwriter, voice actor
Years active1988–present

David Bowers (born 1970)[1] is an English animator, storyboard artist, film director, screenwriter and voice actor.

Early life

Bowers studied fine art at Chester School of Art and animation at West Surrey College of Art and Design. His first job was on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as an inbetweener, under director Richard Williams.

Career

After Roger Rabbit, Bowers worked at Cosgrove Hall on the cult favourite television shows Danger Mouse and Duckula before moving to London to work for Steven Spielberg's Amblimation studio. He worked as an animator on An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, before going freelance to work on advertisements and features. Bowers later returned to Amblimation, to work on early story development, and as a supervising animator on Balto.

With the closing of Amblimation, and the founding of DreamWorks Animation, Bowers moved to Glendale, California in 1997, to work as a story artist on The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado. It was during this period that he met Aardman's Nick Park and Peter Lord, who asked him to help storyboard Aardman's first feature length film, the critically acclaimed Chicken Run. He was ultimately credited as storyboard supervisor.

After Chicken Run, Bowers moved between Los Angeles and Bristol, working on several DreamWorks and Aardman projects, including the hit 3D animated comedy Shark Tale and the Oscar winning film from Wallace and Gromit, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, before directing Aardman's first CGI feature, Flushed Away, with Sam Fell.

He wrote/directed a CGI adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic Astro Boy for Imagi Animation Studios and Summit Entertainment, that was released in October 2009.[2] Bowers directed Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, his first live action film, which was released in cinemas on 25 March 2011.[3][4]

He also directed the third film in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012), as well as the fourth film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017). Bowers was developing a live action film adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon show, Rugrats for Paramount Pictures, under the production of Paramount Players in April 2019, for a January 2021 release, before being pulled from the schedule in November 2019.[5][6]

Filmography

Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer		 Notes
2006 Flushed Away Yes No No Co-directed with Sam Fell;
Also additional screenplay material and additional voices
2009 Astro Boy Yes Yes No Also voice of Mike the Fridge
2011 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules Yes No No
2012 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Yes No No
2017 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul Yes Yes Yes
2022 The Brilliant World of Tom Gates Yes Yes Yes Co-directed with Liz Pichon and Simon Wells[7]

Short films based on the film Astro Boy

Year Title Notes
2010 The RRF in New Recruit Also voice of Mike the Fridge
Astro Boy vs. The Junkyard Pirates

Animator

Storyboard artist

Year Title Notes
1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Inbetween artist
1995 Balto Also supervising animator: "Rosy"
1998 The Prince of Egypt Additional storyboard artist
2000 The Road to El Dorado
Chicken Run
2004 Shark Tale
2005 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Senior storyboard artist

References

  1. ↑ "Bowers, David 1970-". WorldCat. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  2. ↑ Frater, Patrick (10 October 2009). "Imagi hitches rocket to 'Astro Boy'". The Hollywood Reporter. e5 Global Media. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  3. ↑ Kit, Borys (23 June 2010). "David Bowers to direct 'Wimpy' sequel". The Hollywood Reporter. e5 Global Media. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  4. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (23 June 2010). "Bowers in talks for 'Wimpy' sequel". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  5. ↑ Kit, Borys. "'Rugrats' Live-Action Movie Lands 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' Director (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  6. ↑ Pedersen, Erik (12 November 2019). "Paramount Grounds 'Rugrats' Movie, Moves WWE's 'Rumble' Back Six Months & Titles Next 'SpongeBob' Pic". Deadline.
  7. ↑ "The Brillant World of Tom Gates DVD Release Date & Blu-ray Details". DVD Releases. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
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