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David Firth (animator)

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David Firth
Born1982 or 1983 (age 41–42)
Doncaster, England
Occupations
  • Animator
  • filmmaker
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2006–present
Subscribers1.7 million[1]
(June 2022)
Total views250 million[1]
100,000 subscribers2011[2]
1,000,000 subscribers2018[3]
Websitefat-pie.com

David Firth (born 1982 or 1983) is an English animator. He created the animated web series Salad Fingers (2004–present) and co-wrote the horror comedy film Kuso (2017).

Early life

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Firth was born in Doncaster[4] in 1982 or 1983,[5] the son of artists Rosemary and Graham Firth.[6] He began creating stop-motion animation when he was 13 years old, using Lego and other toys.[7] He studied animation at the Hull campus of the University of Lincoln and further studied television and film.[8] He also had a strange connection to internet phenomenon Smartschoolboy9 in the 1990's while in Milton Keynes.[9]

Career

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In July 2004, Firth created the animated web series Salad Fingers, which was released on Newgrounds.[10][11] The series was created using Adobe Flash, and David became a notable figure in the medium of Flash animation.[12] Ten episodes were released from 2004 to 2013,[13] and an eleventh episode was released in 2019.[14] Having accumulated roughly 110 million video views on YouTube as of 2020,[4] the series is considered to have a cult following.[8]

In September 2005, Firth made the web series Jerry Jackson, with an alternative Newgrounds account. These were short clips, around two-three minutes, made with intentionally poorly done drawings and animation.[citation needed] Eventually an episode of Jerry Jackson was made for the BBC YouTube channel,[15] as well as their own website.[16] In 2023 Firth announced he was making a short game based on the Jerry Jackson series.[17]

Since his start on Newgrounds, Firth released several different flash animations,[18] contributed animation to the BBC television series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe,[19] and voiced the character Shrimp in the third episode of the Adult Swim animated series Smiling Friends.[20] Firth also co-created the comedy rapper character MC Devvo, a dimwitted chav performed by his friend Christian Webb, for a series of videos that satirised the music scene of Doncaster's white working class.[21][22] In 2022, he contributed an animated segment to Justin Roiland's The Paloni Show! Halloween Special on Hulu.[23]

In 2014, he created the animated music video for the Flying Lotus song "Ready Err Not", which Pitchfork described as disturbing and highly graphic. Flying Lotus referred to Firth as one of his favourite animators.[24] Firth also co-wrote the 2017 body horror feature film Kuso, which was co-written and directed by Flying Lotus.[25][19] In 2016, he created the animated short film Cream, which tells the story of a scientist who creates a miracle cream that solves all of the world's problems until it gets out of control. It screened at Regent Street Cinema in London on 16 November that year and featured the voice of Flying Lotus.[26][27] The two also co-directed the video for Flying Lotus' song "Fire Is Coming" featuring David Lynch.[28]

Style

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Ryan Ball, writing for Animation Magazine, describes his animations as "a brilliant and original hodgepodge of hilarity, stupidity and unshakable creepiness".[7] Firth says that he "[takes] inspiration from the unpredictability of dreams", and describes applying this style as difficult because of the lack of spontaneity in producing animation.[29]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About David Firth". YouTube.
  2. ^ "Doki66's Channel". Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "David Firth". Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2022 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ a b "David Firth's Salad Fingers Is Coming To Manchester For A Live Show". Secret Manchester. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  5. ^ Henry, Ryan (4 August 2015). "I spoke to the creator of our worst nightmares, David Firth". CXS. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  6. ^ Rolls, Debbie (2021). "Rosemary Firth entered Sky Landscape Painter of the Year 2020". Yorkshire Art. p. 9. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022 – via Issuu.
  7. ^ a b Ball, Ryan (June 2007). "Rising Stars of Animation and VFX Class of 2007. David Firth: Animator, www.Fat-Pie.com". Animation Magazine. Vol. 21, no. 6. p. 32. ISSN 1041-617X. EBSCOhost 505211778.
  8. ^ a b Ramsey, Will (13 April 2009). "The little green man". Hull Daily Mail. p. 18. ProQuest 333617394.
  9. ^ "Salad Fingers creator reveals shocking memory of smartschoolboy9". Dexerto. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  10. ^ Watson, Elijah (30 November 2018). "'Salad Fingers' was viral before viral was a thing—and it's returning". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  11. ^ O'Connor, Roisin (1 February 2019). "Salad Fingers: New episode of creepy animation appears on YouTube". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  12. ^ Fox, David (1 January 2021). "Adobe Flash Player is finally laid to rest". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  13. ^ Grealish, Racheal (25 January 2019). "Salad Fingers Is Back With New Episode Dropping Soon". LADbible. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  14. ^ Hintz, Charlie (4 February 2019). "Salad Fingers Returns in 11th Installment of Nightmarish Series". Cult of Weird. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Jerry Jackson gets messy at Scunthorpe music festival - BBC Comedy Extra". YouTube. 21 July 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  16. ^ "BBC - David Firth, Jerry Jackson - Drugs". BBC. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  17. ^ Harvey Randall (18 July 2023). "Salad Fingers creator is making a bizarre side-scroller beat'em up, which will be priced at 'a fiver or something'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  18. ^ Gaudino, Elena (8 December 2005). "Salad Fingers Stream of Consciousness Entertains Viewers". The Daily Campus. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Flying Lotus reacts to walkouts at Kuso's Sundance screening: 'I tried to warn folks'". The Guardian. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  20. ^ Featherstone, Gabriel (6 March 2022). "Salad Fingers Creator Teases First New Episode in 3 Years". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  21. ^ Sturdy, Gareth (13 August 2019). "In defence of MC Devvo". Spiked. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  22. ^ Usher, Tom (13 March 2018). "A Chat with MC Devvo, One of Britain's YouTube Rap Satire OGs". Vice. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  23. ^ Shumam, Sean (29 October 2022). "Hulu's the Paloni Show! Halloween Special: Who Are the Artists Behind the Shorts?". MovieWeb. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Flying Lotus Shares Graphic Animated Video For 'Ready Err Not'". Pitchfork. 30 October 2014. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  25. ^ Kim, Kristen Yoonsoo (20 July 2017). "Flying Lotus' Kuso Is the Most Vile Body Horror Film Ever Made". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  26. ^ Lee, Morgan (27 October 2016). "News I By Morgan Lee Flying Lotus launches Brainfeeder Films with November London screenings". Fact. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  27. ^ Minsker, Evan (30 May 2017). "Flying Lotus Appears in David Firth's Creepy New Short Film: Watch". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  28. ^ Baines, Josh (18 April 2019). "Flying Lotus and David Lynch drop an impressively surreal music video by Salad Fingers' David Firth". It's Nice That. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  29. ^ Hornsby, Samuel (30 March 2021). "Where comedy meets creepy: inside the mind of David Firth". Spotlight Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
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