Paul Dini
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Paul Dini is an American television producer of animated cartoons. He is best known as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros./DC Comics series, including Star Wars: Ewoks, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman/Superman Adventures, Batman Beyond and Duck Dodgers. He also developed and scripted Krypto the Superdog and contributed scripts to Animaniacs (he created Minerva Mink), Freakazoid, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. After leaving Warner Bros. in early 2004, Dini went on to write and story edit the popular ABC adventure series Lost.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Paul Dini was born in New York City. He attended the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California on an art scholarship. He attended Emerson College in Boston, where he earned a BFA degree in creative writing. (He also took zoology classes at Harvard University.)
During college, he began doing freelance animation scripts for Filmation, and a number of other studios. In 1984, he was hired to work for George Lucas on several of his animation projects.
The episodes of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon that were written by Dini have become favorites amongst the show's fans over the internet, although despite this as well as contributing to interviews on the released box sets of the series, Dini has made no secret of his distaste for Filmation and the He-Man concept.[1] He also wrote an episode of the Generation One Transformers cartoon series and contributed to various episodes of the Ewoks animated series, several of which included rare appearances from the Empire.
[edit] Professional career
In 1989, he was hired at Warner Brothers Animation to work on Tiny Toon Adventures. Later, he moved onto Batman: The Animated Series, where he worked as a writer, producer and editor, later working on Batman Beyond. He continued working with WB animation, working on a number of internal projects, including Krypto the Superdog and Duck Dodgers, until 2004.
He has earned five Emmy awards for his animation work. In a related effort, Dini was also the co-author (with Chip Kidd) of Batman Animated, a 1998 non-fiction coffee table book about the animated Batman franchise.
Dini has also written several comics stories for DC Comics, including an acclaimed oversized graphic novel series illustrated by painter Alex Ross. (A hardcover collection of the Dini and Ross stories was published in late summer 2005 under the title The World's Greatest Superheroes.) Other books written by Dini for DC have featured his Batman Animated creation Harley Quinn as well as classic characters Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Zatanna.
Best known among Dini's original creations is Jingle Belle, the rebellious teen-age daughter of Santa Claus. Dini also created Sheriff Ida Red, the super-powered cowgirl star of a series of books set in Dini's mythical town of Mutant, Texas.
His series of animated cartoons starring DC Comics characters is sometimes known to fans as the Diniverse.
In 2001 Dini made a cameo appearance in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back during the scene were Jay and Silent Bob wear ridiculous looking costumes for a film being directed by Chris Rock, in which Dini says to them "you guys look pretty bad ass".
In 2006, Dini became the writer for DC Comics' Detective Comics. In 2007, he was announced as the head writer of that company's weekly series, Countdown. [2]
[edit] Hobbies
Paul Dini is an active cryptozoologist, hunter and wildlife photographer. On a 1985 trip to Tasmania, he had a possible sighting of a Thylacine. He has also encountered a number of venomous snakes, a Komodo Dragon and a charging Sumatran Rhinoceros and once kept a wild coyote as a pet. Paul Dini is also an amateur stage magician, and an active member of the Academy of Magical Arts. Appropriately enough, one of his favorite DC Comics characters is Zatanna, and he is married to magician Misty Lee. He has also performed several minor roles in films by Kevin Smith.
Paul Dini lives in Los Angeles, California. Together, he and his wife have created a popular on-line interview feature called Monkey Talk that runs at Kevin Smith's QuickstopEntertainment.com.
[edit] Awards
- Paul Dini has won Emmy awards as part of the creation team for various award-winning programs:
- 1995, Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less): "Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toons Night Ghoulery", FOX, Rich Arons, Director/Writer; Paul Dini, Writer; Michael Gerard, Producer; Michael Gerard, Director; Peter Hastings, Producer; Peter Hastings, Writer; Rusty Mills, Director; Greg Reyna, Director; Tom Ruegger, Senior Producer; Paul Rugg, Writer; Steven Spielberg, Executive Producer
- 1991, Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less): "Tiny Toon Adventures: The Looney Beginning - CBS - RICH ARONS, Director; Paul Dini, Writer; GLEN KENNEDY, Director; DAVE MARSHALL, Director; TOM RUEGGER, Writer/Producer; STEVEN SPIELBERG, Executive Producer; SHERRI STONER, Writer" [3]
- Dini has won five Emmy awards for his writing on Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond.
- He received the Writer's Guild Animation Writing award in 2000 and a second WGA award for dramatic television writing in 2006 as a member of the writing team for Lost.
- Dini is also a three time winner of the animation industry's Annie Awards and has won seven comics industry Eisner Awards and three Harvey Awards. Dini has received nominations for the Comics' Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1999 and 2000.
- In September 2006, Dini was awarded the Dragon*Con "Julie Award", bestowed for "universal achievement spanning multiple genres."
[edit] References
- Academy of Television Arts & Sciences [4]
- Write Now! issue 4 (June 2003) and issue 5 (July 2003), TwoMorrows Publishing [5]
- Paul Dini at the Internet Movie Database
- "Morrison, Dini rejuvenate Batman comics", August 6, 2006, Lansing State Journal
[edit] External links
- JingleBelle.com, the official homepage for Jingle Belle and Paul Dini
- "The Adventures of Little Rashy" by Paul Dini and Misty Lee
- Monkey Talk with Paul Dini and Little Rashy
- Paul Dini's Blog
- Paul Dini at the Internet Movie Database
- Comic Book Awards Almanac
- HoboTrashcan.com interview with Paul Dini
- Sequential Tart interview
- Silver Bullet Comics interview
- list of TV work as writer/producer
