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| Mark Dindal | |
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| Full name | Mark L. Dindal |
| Born | Columbus, Ohio |
| Gender | Male |
| Ocupation | Animator, director |
| Worked in | Chicken Little Cats Don't Dance |
Mark L. Dindal is an American animator and director, who created The Emperor's New Groove. He worked in many Disney classic projects as an effects animator, and also leaded the special effects for several classic movies such as The Little Mermaid and The Rescuers Down Under.
Biography[]
Dindal studied his craft at CalArts, where he learnt the art of animation. This leaded him to get his first step on career, at Disney, in 1980. His first job at there was The Fox and the Hound, and after he made the animated effects for this movie, he went to work in several Disney productions, following a very similar animation style in all movies. This style consisted mainly in paint-similar backgrounds with delicated animation and complex character effects, and made a good repercussion at the time.
After these jobs, he made a brief pause in Disney career to work in other projects outside. He returned to the studio in 1987 and got his first head role as an animator for Disney's The Little Mermaid. Years later, he worked again as a head animator for the movie The Rescuers Down Under. He later directed the animated effects for the live-action 1991 film The Rocketeer, and got a job in the 1992 movie Aladdin.
After a couple of years, Dindal got his first role as a movie director. In The Emperor's New Groove, he came up with the original idea and worked there as a director, initially expecting the movie to be a classic Disney musical feature called Kingdom of the Sun. However, this first idea didn't work at the production and and Dindal, along with Chris Williams and David Reynolds, drastically changed the script to the gagful comedy movie that is seen today. During the six-year production, he started to work on the Turner (currently merged into Warner Bros.) animated musical production Cats Don't Dance, which was his actual debut as a director being released in 1997, three years before The Emperor's New Groove. In the movie, Dindal voiced a minor character debuting in this kind of role. Although the film didn't make public sucess, it won the Annie Award for Best Animated Film and Mark was then nominated for directing the movie.
Years later, Dindal went to work on Chicken Little, another Disney production, which needed a huge animation team. This team had, of course, Mark Dindal. He made the character animation in the first 3D animated movie he worked in. The movie was a great public sucess, and recieved some positive critics even through it was made for young public. There, Dindal even made cameo voice roles as two small characters. The movie was nominated to several Annies, however, Dindal wasn't nominated as a director. During the movie's production, Kronk's New Groove was produced by Disney as a direct-to-video feature, however, as Mark was working on Chicken Little, he didn't get a position in the staff. Later on, Dindal created The Emperor's New School. He left Disney and is currently interested in his own projects that mix live-action and animation.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Visual Effects | ||
| 1981 | The Fox and the Hound | Effects animator |
| 1983 | Mickey's Christmas Carol | Effects animator |
| 1985 | The Black Cauldron | Special effects animator |
| 1986 | The Great Mouse Detective | Effects animator |
| 1987 | Sport Goofy in Soccermania | Effects animator |
| The Brave Little Toaster | Effects animator consultant | |
| Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night | Special effects animator | |
| 1988 | BraveStarr (1 episode) | Special effects animator |
| BraveStarr: The Legend | Special effects animator | |
| Oliver & Company | Effects animator | |
| 1989 | The Little Mermaid | Visual effects supervisor |
| 1990 | The Rescuers Down Under | Head effects animator |
| 1992 | The Little Mermaid (TV series) (1 episode) | Effects consultant |