Irene Mecchi

Irene Mecchi is an American screenwriter and playwright, whose prominent works include screenplays for several Disney animated films. She co-authored the screenplays for The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Hercules (1997). With co-author Roger Allers, she received a 1998 Tony nomination for writing the book for The Lion King stage musical.

Biography Mecchi was born in the third generation of her family that lived in San Francisco, California. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in theater.

Her first work began when she wrote a series of children's programs for Nickelodeon such as By the Way. Mecchi's first network writing assignment was on the Emmy Award-winning Lily Tomlin special, Lily: Sold Out. Several months later, she was joined by Jonathan Roberts during the rewriting process of the screenplay. She would later re-team again with Allers to contribute additional screenplay material to The Lion King 1½.

Mecchi served as the co-screenwriter for the Pixar film, Brave, which was co-directed by Brenda Chapman. In June 2013, Chapman stated she and Mecchi were developing Rumblewick at DreamWorks Animation, which went unproduced. In November 2014, it was announced Mecchi was co-writing the screenplay for Lucasfilm's animated musical film, Strange Magic. That same year, she wrote the teleplay for NBC's Peter Pan Live!, in which she revised the characterization of Captain Hook.

Filmography Films Year Title Notes 1994 The Lion King With Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton 1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame With Tab Murphy, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White, and Jonathan Roberts 1997 Hercules With Ron Clements, John Musker, Don McEnery, and Bob Shaw 1999 Fantasia 2000 Live-action segmentsWith Don Hahn and David Reynolds 2004 The Lion King 1½ Additional screenplay material 2005 Chicken Little Uncredited rewrite, special thanks 2012 Brave With Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, and Brenda Chapman 2014 The Prophet Additional dialogue 2015 Strange Magic With Gary Rydstrom and David Berenbaum

Television