Mark Dindal

Mark Louis Dindal (born May 1960) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor, who is famous for having directed three animated films, 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 films, such as The Little Mermaid (1989) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Early life 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 remembers his grandmother taking him to see when he was three years old. It also helped that his dad 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.