Mark Dindal
| Mark L. Dindal | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 (age 56–57) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Residence | United States |
| Alma mater | CalArts |
| Occupation | Film director, voice actor, effects animator, character designer |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Notable work | |
Mark L. Dindal (born 1960) is an American animator and film director, who directed Cats Don't Dance (1997), The Emperor's New Groove (2000) and Chicken Little (2005). 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).
Dindal was born in Columbus, Ohio. 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 help 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 movies. This style consisted of similar backgrounds with delicated animation and complex character effects, and was well received.
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 movie 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).
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