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Mark L. Dindal (born 1960) is an American effects animator, film director, and screenwriter who directed Cats Don't Dance (1997), The Emperor's New Groove (2000), Chicken Little (2005), The Adventures to the Treasure Island (2007), Rose is Rose (2009), Go City! (2014) and Miss Twenties (2020) He worked in many Disney projects as an effects animator, and also led the special effects for several classic films, such as The Little Mermaid (1989) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990).


Biography[]

Early Years/Effects Animator at Disney[]

Dindal was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1960.

Growing up, Dindal was influenced by Disney films and Warner Bros. Saturday cartoons. One of his earliest influence was Disney's The Sword in the Stone, which he saw with his grandmother at the age of three. It also helped him to go to a career in animation with help from his dad who took art as a hobby and taught Dindal to draw while growing up in Syracuse, New York.

As a high schooler, Dindal went to Jamesville-DeWitt High School, in which he attended most of the art classes that the school had offer. Dindal learned animation at CalArts. He began working at Disney in 1980. His work included The Fox & the Hound (1981), The Black Cauldron (1985), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), and The Great Mouse Detective (1986), each following a very similar animation style in all the films. This style consisted of similar backgrounds with delicate animation and complex character effects, and was well received.

Leaving and Returning to Disney[]

After these projects, Dindal left Disney around 1986 to briefly work on outside projects with Filmation and worked on projects like BraveStarr and The Brave Little Toaster. He returned to the studio in 1987 and got his first head role as a visual effects supervisor for The Little Mermaid (1989). He later worked as head animator for the film The Rescuers Down Under (1990). He directed the animated segment for the live-action film The Rocketeer (1991), and worked as an effects animator on the animated film Aladdin (1992).

Dindal as the Director[]

Dindal's directorial debut was Cats Don't Dance, which was released in 1997, three years before The Emperor's New Groove was released in 2000. In Cats Don't Dance Dindal voiced Max. The film won the Annie Award for Best Animated Film and Dindal was nominated for directing. The Emperor's New Groove was initially expected to be a classic Disney musical feature called Kingdom of the Sun. However, the idea didn't work out, and Dindal, along with Chris Williams and David Reynolds, changed the script to a comedy. During the six-year production, he started to work on Cats Don't Dance, a Turner Broadcasting (since merged into Warner Bros.) animated musical production.

Chicken Little[]

Dindal worked on Chicken Little (2005), another Disney production, which needed a large animation team. Dindal voiced Morkubine Porcupine and Coach in the film. The film was nominated to several Annies, though Dindal was not nominated as a director. During the film's production, DisneyToon Studios produced Kronk's New Groove as a direct-to-video feature. As Dindal was working on Chicken Little at the time, he did not have a position on the staff. Later, Dindal created the TV series The Emperor's New School (2006-2008).

Post-Disney time/Go City!/Royce & Meredith[]

In March 2006, a day after the DVD release of Chicken Little, Dindal and producer Randy Fullmer left the company because they were reportedly tired of dealing with then-WDFA head David Stainton. Dinal later join Paramount Animation to direct The Adventures to the Treasure Island, he also received story artist credit on most Paramount Animation films. In the next few years, Dindal was attached as a director to several live-action films, including Sherlock's Secretary, Kringle, and Housebroken. By December 2010, Dindal was directing at DreamWorks Animation an animated feature film titled Me and My Shadow, which would combine both computer and traditional animation. By January 2012, he was no longer directing the film, which went in 2013 back into development, and instead moved to JeremyWorks Studios to co-direct Go City!, which was released into theaters in July 2014. In 2014, he was credited as the illustrator for a documentary called Restrung, which is focused on Fullmer, a collaborator that worked with him at Disney and Filmation, with his career at Wyn Guitars from 2006.

On November 12, 2018, it was announced that Dindal will direct an animated Garfield feature for Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures, with pre-production beginning the following month in Los Angeles. In January 2019, Dindal left Go City!: Epic Mayhem. In March 2019, Dindal received story artist credit on the Nickelodeon film, Wonder Park.

Filmography[]

Year Title Director Writer Animator Other Note
1981 The Fox and the Hound No No Yes No Effects animator (uncredited)
1982 Fun with Mr. Future No No Yes No
1983 Mickey's Christmas Carol No No Yes No Effects animator
1985 The Black Cauldron No No Yes No
1986 The Great Mouse Detective No No Yes No
1987 Sport Goofy in Soccermania No No Yes No
The Brave Little Toaster No No No Yes Effects animation consultant
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night No No Yes No Special effects animator
1988 BraveStarr No No Yes No
BraveStarr: The Legend No No Yes No Effects animator
Oliver & Company No No Yes No
1989 The Little Mermaid No No Yes No Visual effects supervisor
1990 The Prince and the Pauper No No Yes No Storyboard artist
The Rescuers Down Under No No Yes No Head effects animator
1991 The Rocketeer Yes No Yes No Director: Nazi Invasion segment
1992 Frozen Assets No No No Yes Animation sequence producer
Tom and Jerry: The Movie No No Yes No Effects animator
Aladdin No No Yes No
The Little Mermaid No No Yes Yes Effects consultant (1 episode), effects animator (2 episodes), storyboard artist (1 episode)
1993 Happily Ever After No No Yes No Special effects animator
1997 Cats Don't Dance Yes Yes Yes Yes Story, character designer, storyboard artist, storyboard supervisor, voice of Max
2000 The Emperor's New Groove Yes Yes No Yes Story, voice of Kitty Yzma (uncredited)
2005 Chicken Little Yes Yes Yes Yes Story, character designer, voice of Morkubine Porcupine & Coach
Kronk's New Groove No No No Yes Based on characters (uncredited)
2006-2008 The Emperor's New School No Yes No No Creator, writer
2007 The Adventures to the Treasure Island Yes Yes Yes Yes Story, character designer, storyboard artist, storyboard supervisor
2008 Candy Quest No No Yes Yes Character designer, storyboard artist
2009 Rose is Rose Yes No No Yes Story
2009 Virtual Journey No No Yes No Storyboard artist
2010 Twin, Duo, and Three Yes No Yes No
2011 The Flamingo Prince No No Yes Yes Effects animator, story artist character designer, storyboard artist
2013 Little Mattie No No No Yes Special thanks
Virtual Journey: Level Two No No Yes Yes Storyboard artist
2014 Restrung No No No Yes Illustrator
Go City! Yes Yes Yes Yes Story, character designer, storyboard artist, storyboard supervisor
Good Looking Road No No No Yes Executive producer
Dreamcast Boys No No No Yes
Double Trouble Dare No No No Yes
2015-present Go City!: Adventures with Jax and Cameron No No No Yes
2015 The Adventures in Medieval No No Yes Yes Storyboard artist, special thanks
2016 Pound Puppies 2 No No Yes Yes Story artist, character designer, storyboard artist, special thanks
Two Teenage Ghost No No No Yes Special thanks
2017 Virtual Journey: Next Dimensions No No No Yes
Go City!: World's Most Wanted Yes Yes Yes Yes Story, character designer, storyboard artist, storyboard supervisor
Blasting from the Past No No No Yes Executive producer
Cops, Robs, and Chase No No No Yes
Cool Side or Wild Side No No No Yes
The Legend of Magic Sword No No Yes Yes Effects animator, story artist character designer, storyboard artist
2018 Crawler, Liger and Ratty: The Three Animals No No Yes Yes
2019 Wonder Park No No Yes No Story artist
Jeremy: Ultimate Generations No No No Yes Special thanks
Puffy's Big Break No No Yes Yes Storyboard artist, special thanks
2020 Miss Twenties Yes No No Yes Character designer
Go City!: Epic Mayhem No No No Yes Executive producer, character designer
TBD Untitled animated Garfield film Yes No No No
Untitled Funko film Yes No No No

Awards and nominations[]

Nominations[]

  • Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a Feature Production for Cats Don't Dance (Annie) (1997)
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production for The Emperor's New Groove (Annie) (2001)
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production for The Emperor's New Groove (Annie) (2001)
  • Best Animated Feature for The Emperor's New Groove (Annie) (2001)
  • Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature for The Emperor's New Groove & Chicken Little (Satellite Award) (2000; 2005)
  • Best Animated Feature for Chicken Little (Critics' Choice Movie Awards) (2005)
  • Best Animated Feature for Go Ctiy! (Annie) (2014)

Won[]

  • Best Animated Feature for Cats Don't Dance (Annie) (1997)
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