Mark Louis Dindal (born May 31st, 1960) is an American animator, voice actor and film director known for directing The Emperor's New Groove and Cats Don't Dance. He also directed Chicken Little. He collaborated with Don Knotts (Cats) and Patrick Warburton (Groove), in which all three of them teamed up in Chicken Little. He also provided the voice of Max in Cats Don't Dance and Kitty Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove. His directing style has a Looney Tunes sense of flair, given that the first film he directed was made for Warner Bros..
Filmography:
- Cats Don't Dance (1997)
- The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
- Chicken Little (2005)
- The Garfield Movie (2024)
Tropes that relate to Dindal:
- Acclaimed Flop: The first two films he directed didn't do well at the box office but got great reviews.
- Author Appeal: Zany, wacky, Looney Tunes-like humor appeals to him if you've seen his work.
- Creator Killer: After directing Chicken Little, Dindal didn't have much to do until announcing a Garfield movie.
- Descended Creator: Mark voices at least one character in every film he directs.
- Permanent Placeholder: He voiced Max in Cats Don't Dance because the budget couldn't afford another actor and his scratch track for Kitty Yzma was used in The Emperor's New Groove.
- Pigeonholed Director: All the animated films he directed have a form of comedy in them.
- Production Posse: While Don Knotts and Patrick Warburton voiced in two separate projects, they collaborated together in Chicken Little.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: His first two films were idealist and Chicken Little is somewhat cynical.
- Troubled Production: He helped retool Kingdom of the Sun into The Emperor's New Groove to help end a troubled production.
