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.
Early life
Dindal was born in Columbus, Ohio. 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.
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. Over the span of three years, Dindal was attached to direct several live-action films, including Sherlock's Secretary and Housebroken, both for Walden Media, and a film adaptation of the children's book Kringle for Paramount Pictures.
In December 2010, Dindal was directing at DreamWorks Animation the animated film Me and My Shadow, based on his own pitch that would've combined both computer and traditional animation. In January 2012, he was no longer directing the film and was replaced by story artist Alessandro Carloni as director, and the film has been in development limbo since 2013.
In July 2014, he provided illustrations for the documentary film Restrung, centering on colleague Randy Fullmer on 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, with pre-production beginning the following month in Los Angeles. In March 2019, Dindal was involved as a story artist and helped design the characters, Gus and Cooper, for the 2019 Nickelodeon film, Wonder Park. That same year, it was announced that Dindal, along with Pixar veteran Teddy Newton, would develop a film based on the Funko toys for Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, with the former serving as director.
In November 2021, it was announced that The Garfield Movie was picked up by Sony Pictures Releasing for a worldwide release (excluding China), and would star Chris Pratt as the titular role. The film also reunited Dindal with New Groove screenwriter David Reynolds, who wrote the script. In September 2022, the film was scheduled to be released on May 24, 2024. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics but was a commercial success. In July 2025, a sequel was announced with Dindal possibly returning as director.
Unrealized projects
- Kingdom of the Sun - an epic retelling of The Prince and the Pauper in the vein of The Lion King. Dindal served as co-director and reworked the project into The Emperor's New Groove (for Walt Disney Feature Animation; 1994).
- Sherlock's Secretary - a live-action film about a man who resides at the infamous home of Sherlock Holmes, who receives a letter requesting the help of Holmes. The man's life changes when he decides to take on a case himself (for Walden Media; 2006).
- Kringle - a film adaptation of the book under the same name that tells the untold story of Santa Claus (for Paramount Pictures; 2007).
- Housebroken - a live-action comedy film about a newlywed couple's talking pets, who must adjust to living together under one roof. Along with directing, Dindal would also polish the script, originally written by Made of Honor screenwriter Adam Sztykiel. The last update was in 2011 when the film would be rewritten by George Lopez writers Paul Kaplan and Mark Torgove (for Walden Media and 20th Century Fox; 2009).
- Me and My Shadow - (for DreamWorks Animation; 2010)
- Unannounced film - according to editor Mark Keefer, Dindal was helming an animated feature at Disneytoon Studios before the studio’s closure on June 28, 2018 (2018).
Personal life
Dindal is the father of two daughters, who were the inspiration for his original Chicken Little pitch.
| rowspan=4 | Himself
|-
|2015
| Lights, Camera, Austin
|-
|2020
| Happily Ever After Hours
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|2022
|The Mouse Watch (book trailer)
| Effects animator
|-
|}
Reception
Critical, public and commercial reception to films Dindal has directed as of March 27, 2025.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Film
! Rotten Tomatoes
! Metacritic
! CinemaScore
! Budget
! Box office
|-
| Cats Don't Dance || 71% (24 reviews) || 62 (21 reviews) || B || $32 million || $3.5 million
|-
| The Emperor's New Groove || 86% (135 reviews) || 70 (28 reviews) || A || $100 million || $169.7 million
|-
| Chicken Little || 37% (161 reviews) || 48 (32 reviews) || A− || $150 million || $314.4 million
|-
| The Garfield Movie || 36% (137 reviews) || 31 (29 reviews) || B+ || $60 million || $257.2 million
|}
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 & Chicken Little (Annie) (2001; 2006)
- 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)
Won
- Best Animated Feature for Cats Don't Dance (Annie) (1997)
References
</references>
External links
- Mark Dindal's Place in the Sun by Joe Strike at Animation World Network.
- Mark Dindal on Tumblr