Dan Kuenster (born December 29, 1955, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is an American character animator and director, who worked for

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

, BrainPower Studio and

Sullivan Bluth Studios Don Bluth Entertainment (formerly Sullivan Bluth Studios) was an Irish-American animation studio established in 1979 by animator Don Bluth. Bluth and several colleagues, all of whom were former Disney animators, left Disney on September 13, 1979, ...

, before pursuing educational multimedia projects. He is also formerly Executive Vice President of Design and Animation at Istation in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Career

While working on ''

The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the st ...

'', he met animator

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including ''The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), ''An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...

, and later left Disney for Bluth's newly formed independent studio. He continued to work through the growth of Sullivan Bluth studios, and when production facilities moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, he relocated to co-direct two of its most ambitious films, ''

All Dogs Go to Heaven ''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' is a 1989 animated musical fantasy adventure comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and co-directed by Gary Goldman (his directorial debut) and Dan Kuenster. It tells the story of Charlie B. Barkin (voiced by Burt Re ...

'' and '' Rock-a-Doodle''. He returned to Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, to focus on the budding interactive and multimedia industry, where he designed games and animated for software developer

7th Level 7th Level was a video game development company based in Dallas, Texas and founded in 1993. Notable game titles by the company include: the three Monty Python games (with the aid of Python member Eric Idle); '' G-Nome'' (1997), a '' MechWarrior'' ...

. He has also worked on many live action projects as a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mark ...

, and he has voice acted in many of his films. The Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation was presented to him in 2004, for storyboarding the PBS show ''

Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks ''Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks'' (or simply ''Jakers'' in Europe) is a computer-animated children's television series. The series was broadcast on PBS Kids in the United States, and on CBBC and CBeebies in the United Kingdom. It was a ...

''. He recently retired from his role as Executive Vice President of Design and Animation at Istation (Imagination Station), a critically acclaimed software developer and publisher of integrated reading and math intervention programs. In 2017, He gains to be a 2D animator and a storyboard artist for the HBO Show, A Little Curious for "The Mop Mambo", "Terrible Terrible", "Sweet Soda" and "Hot or Cold".

Selected filmography

* ''

The Small One ''The Small One'' (also known as ''A Christmas Miracle'' in the UK) is a 1978 American animated featurette produced by Walt Disney Productions and released theatrically by Buena Vista Distribution on December 16, 1978 with a re-issue of ''Pinocch ...

'' (assistant animator: The Donkey, Boy's Father, Auctioneer) (uncredited) * ''

Banjo the Woodpile Cat ''Banjo the Woodpile Cat'' is a 1979 animated short film directed by Don Bluth. It follows the story of Banjo, an overly curious and rebellious kitten who, after getting into trouble for falling from a house to see if he could land on his feet, run ...

'' (special thanks) * '' Xanadu'' (assistant animator: animated sequence) * ''

'' (assistant animator: Big Mama, Vixey, Widow Tweed) (uncredited) * ''

The Secret of NIMH ''The Secret of NIMH'' is a 1982 American animated fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's novel, '' Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH''. The film features the voices ...

'' (animator) * ''

Dragon's Lair ''Dragon's Lair'' is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer and Don Bluth. The series is famous for its Western animation-style graphics and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms and being remade into television a ...

'' (animator) * ''

An American Tail ''An American Tail'' is a 1986 American Animated film, animated musical film, musical adventure film directed by Don Bluth from a screenplay by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss and a story by David Kirschner, Freudberg and Geiss. The film features t ...

'' (directing animator, uncredited voice of Jake) * ''

The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous '' The Land Bef ...

'' (directing animator: Littlefoot's mother) * ''

All Dogs Go To Heaven ''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' is a 1989 animated musical fantasy adventure comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and co-directed by Gary Goldman (his directorial debut) and Dan Kuenster. It tells the story of Charlie B. Barkin (voiced by Burt Re ...

'' (co-director, voice of Doberman Bookie) * '' Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp'' (animation staff) * '' Rock-A-Doodle'' (co-director, uncredited voice of Rhino Waiter) * '' FernGully: The Last Rainforest'' (character animation lead: Batty Koda) * '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie'' (animator: Creative Capers Cartoons) * ''

Once Upon A Forest ''Once Upon a Forest'' is a 1993 animated musical adventure film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Based on the ''Furlings'' characters created by Rae Lambert, the film was directed by Charles Grosvenor a ...

'' (animator: The Hollywood Cartoon Company) (uncredited) * ''

A Troll in Central Park ''A Troll in Central Park'' (released in some countries as ''Stanley's Magic Garden'') is a 1994 American animated musical fantasy comedy film co-directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voice talents of Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leach ...

'' (storyboard artist) * ''

Felidae Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the ...

'' (director and producer: Kuenster Bros. Animation) (uncredited) * ''

The Pagemaster ''The Pagemaster'' is a 1994 American live-action/animated fantasy adventure film starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Frank Welker, Ed Begley Jr., and Mel Harris. The film was produced ...

'' (additional animator) (uncredited) * ''

Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games ''Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games'' is a 1995 party video game developed by 7th Level and published by Disney Interactive Studios. The game was released in 1995 for Microsoft Windows under the "Disney Gamebreak" brand. A Super Nintendo Entertainment ...

'' (game designer, animation director:

) * ''

The Pebble and the Penguin ''The Pebble and the Penguin'' is a 1995 Irish-American independent animated film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voices of Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Tim Curry, and Annie Golden. Based on the true life mating rituals o ...

'' (additional character animator) * '' The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue'' (storyboard artist) * ''

'' (storyboard artist)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuenster, Dan 1954 births Living people Artists from Chicago Animators from Illinois Animators from Texas American film directors American male voice actors American storyboard artists American video game designers American animated film directors People from Illinois Walt Disney Animation Studios people Video game writers