Steven Edward Loter is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and producer. His work includes Kim Possible and developing Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
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] According to himself, Loter practiced pitching 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 showrunner[10] and an executive producer on Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, based on the comic book characters of the samename. 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.[11][12][13] Loter and the team pitched the series to Disney with a roller-skating sequence featuring Childish Gambino's "Sweatpants", which was approved by Disney.[14] 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.[15][16]
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 is a fan of anime, particularly Cowboy Bebop,[19] and often references it in his animation work, something he described as "one of the things [he's] known for".[5] He is a fan of Marvel Comics, and noted some Inhumans to be among his favorite characters.[13]
