Mark Dindal

 ( American Animated Film Directors ) 

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. In Cats Don't Dance Dindal voiced Max. The film won the Annie Award for Best Animated Film and Dindal was nominated for directing. The Emperor's New Groove was initially expected to be a Disney musical feature called Kingdom of the Sun. However, the idea did not work out, so Dindal, along with Chris Williams and David Reynolds changed the script to a comedy. During the six-year production, he started to work on Cats Don't Dance, a Turner Broadcasting (since merged into Warner Bros.) animated musical production.

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 hell 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.

• 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 executive producers 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).