Dan McLaughlin was an animator best known for his work as head of the Animation Workshop at UCLA from 1970 until his retirement in 2007. He took over the program from Dumbo animator Bill Shull and in 1971, founded the school’s M.F.A. Animation Program.

In 1968, McLaughlin’s student film from UCLA, "God Is Dog Spelled Backwards," which featured 3,000 years of art in three minutes, aired on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The experimental film was set to the instrumental piece “Classical Gas,” penned by Mason Williams, a staff writer for the CBS variety series. The guitarist asked McLaughlin to adjust his film, previously set to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, to the newly Top Ten hit.

McLaughlin also did animation for Sesame Street, and contributed to the series Cartoon Sushi. Additionally, his 1963 film Claude was honored at the Chicago International Film Festival.