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Mark Dindal
Mark Dindal is an American filmmaker, effects animator and voice actor. Best known for his work at Disney, he directed the company's 2000 animated film The Emperor's New Groove (2000), as well as their 2005 film Chicken Little. Prior, he was credited with animation work on the Disney Renaissance films The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992), as well as Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992). In 1997, he briefly moved to Warner Bros. Animation and made his directorial debut with the film Cats Don't Dance, which won an Annie Award for Best Animated Film. Dindal directed the 2024 animated film The Garfield Movie for Sony Pictures and Alcon Entertainment, which was met with commercial success despite negative reviews.
Dindal was born in Columbus, Ohio.
Growing up, Dindal was influenced by Disney films and Warner Bros. Cartoons. One of his earliest influences was Disney's The Sword in the Stone, which he remembers his grandmother taking him to see when he was three years old. It also helped that his father took art as a hobby and taught Dindal to draw while growing up in Syracuse, New York.
During his teen years, Dindal attended Jamesville-DeWitt High School, where he attended most of the art classes that the school had to offer, along with making comic strips and short films. Dindal learned animation at CalArts. He began working at Disney in 1980.
His early work included The Fox and the Hound (1981), The Black Cauldron (1985), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and Oliver & Company (1988), each following a very similar animation style in all the films. This style consisted of similar backgrounds with delicate animation and complex character effects, which was well received.
After these projects, Dindal briefly left Disney to work on several projects for varying studios, including 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) and worked as an effects animator on the animated film Aladdin (1992).
Dindal’s first time in the director’s chair was for a short, 1940s style wartime propaganda segment for the 1991 superhero film, The Rocketeer. Working with a crew of 3 other animators, Dindal took inspiration from Disney wartime cartoons like Victory Through Air Power and Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series.
Dindal's feature-length 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 Disney musical feature called Kingdom of the Sun. However, the idea did not work out, so 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.
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Mark Dindal
Mark Dindal is an American filmmaker, effects animator and voice actor. Best known for his work at Disney, he directed the company's 2000 animated film The Emperor's New Groove (2000), as well as their 2005 film Chicken Little. Prior, he was credited with animation work on the Disney Renaissance films The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992), as well as Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992). In 1997, he briefly moved to Warner Bros. Animation and made his directorial debut with the film Cats Don't Dance, which won an Annie Award for Best Animated Film. Dindal directed the 2024 animated film The Garfield Movie for Sony Pictures and Alcon Entertainment, which was met with commercial success despite negative reviews.
Dindal was born in Columbus, Ohio.
Growing up, Dindal was influenced by Disney films and Warner Bros. Cartoons. One of his earliest influences was Disney's The Sword in the Stone, which he remembers his grandmother taking him to see when he was three years old. It also helped that his father took art as a hobby and taught Dindal to draw while growing up in Syracuse, New York.
During his teen years, Dindal attended Jamesville-DeWitt High School, where he attended most of the art classes that the school had to offer, along with making comic strips and short films. Dindal learned animation at CalArts. He began working at Disney in 1980.
His early work included The Fox and the Hound (1981), The Black Cauldron (1985), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and Oliver & Company (1988), each following a very similar animation style in all the films. This style consisted of similar backgrounds with delicate animation and complex character effects, which was well received.
After these projects, Dindal briefly left Disney to work on several projects for varying studios, including 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) and worked as an effects animator on the animated film Aladdin (1992).
Dindal’s first time in the director’s chair was for a short, 1940s style wartime propaganda segment for the 1991 superhero film, The Rocketeer. Working with a crew of 3 other animators, Dindal took inspiration from Disney wartime cartoons like Victory Through Air Power and Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series.
Dindal's feature-length 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 Disney musical feature called Kingdom of the Sun. However, the idea did not work out, so 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.