Steve Loter

Loter's earliest works were as a character designer for Disney Consumer Products and at Jim Henson Productions.[1][2] He started his work as a director directing episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show, where he learned from the team about helming an animated production.[3] He later worked as a director and producer on Kim Possible starting on season 2, as well as on Brandy & Mr. Whiskers and American Dragon: Jake Long. Loter also directed the Happy Monster Band, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Disney's The Legend of Tarzan series, as well as episodes of Duckman and Stressed Eric.[4][3] In 2001, he was hired as an additional director for Kevin Smith's Clerks The Animated Series. Unusual for a 6-episode series for a time to have more than two directors, Loter was hired due to fellow directors Chris Bailey and Nick Fillipi being too busy with their episodes to focus on episodes 4 and 6, which he ended up directing. Loter applied his experience on Ren & Stimpy and Duckman for his work on the show.[5]

In 2008, he directed a music video for the song "Hidden in the Sand", for the indie rock band Tally Hall.[6] He was also an animation director for The Penguins of Madagascar, which won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2012 for Outstanding Animated Program.[7]

Loter announced he was directing the feature film Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast from DisneyToon Studios, at the D23 Expo on August 9, 2013. The film is from the Tinker Bell film series and is executive produced by John Lasseter. It was released direct-to-video on March 3, 2015.[8] Loter, who was approached by Lasseter to pitch a Tinker Bell film, drew inspiration for the film's story on his daughter's love for animals and his own experiences as a father.[4] Accordimg to himself, Loter practiced pitchimg the project to his wife.[4] He worked with the production teams for Secret of the Wings and The Pirate Fairy to ensure continuity within the films.[4]

Starting on 2021, Loter works as an executive-producer on The Ghost and Molly McGee, having joined the series due to long time collaborators Bill Roth and Bob Motz serving as showrunners.[9] As of 2023, Loter serves as an executive producer on Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, based on the comic book characters of the same name. Loter was contacted by actor Laurence Fishburne to serve as an executive-producer on the series due to his work on Kim Possible. Having been a fan of Marvel comics since childhood and excited at the idea of working with Fishburne, Loter accepted.[10][11][12] Loter and the team pitched the series to Disney with a roller-skating sequence featuring Childish Gambino's "Sweatpants", which was approved by Disney.[13] From this position, he approached musician Raphael Saadiq to compose the score and provide songs for the series, being a fan of his; the two were previously set to collaborate on the cancelled Cars spin-off film Metro.[14][15]

Loter is married, and has a daughter and a son.[4] He took his daughter to the premiere of Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast, their relationship having influenced the film.[4] Loter was born and raised in New York City during the period before gentrification, but later moved to Los Angeles.[16][1] Loter has a fear of large dogs, as he is not used to them due being forbidden within the building where he lives.[17] As a child, he used to watch Looney Tunes shorts and "a very poorly subtitled" bootleg of My Neighbor Totoro, which he credited as inspirations for his work on animation.[1] He also cited Lilo & Stitch as a personal inspiration.[18]

Loter often references anime in his animation work, something he described as "one of the things [he's] known for".[5]

• Steve Loter at IMDb
• Steve Loter on Twitter