Roger Allers

Roger Allers (June 29, 1949 – January 17, 2026) was an American filmmaker, animator, storyboard artist and playwright. He was best known for co-directing Disney Animation's The Lion King, the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, and for writing the Broadway adaptation of the same name. He also directed Sony Pictures Animation's first feature-length animated film, Open Season (2006) and the animated adaptation of The Prophet.

Allers was born in Rye, New York and was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. He developed an interest in animation after he had watched Peter Pan (1953). Allers graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) with a fine arts degree. He lived in Greece for the next two years, and relocated to Boston where he attended animation courses at Harvard University. He next worked as an animator for Lisberger Studios on several projects, including Animalympics (1980) and Tron (1982). Allers also worked for Nelvana Studios in Canada and Toho in Japan.

In 1985, Allers was hired by Disney as a storyboard artist for Oliver & Company (1988). He later worked as a story artist for The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), and Aladdin (1992). He also served as story supervisor on Beauty and the Beast (1991). Afterwards, Allers and Rob Minkoff directed The Lion King (1994), which became a critical and commercial success. For his second directorial project, Allers intended to direct Kingdom of the Sun, in which he was teamed with Mark Dindal. However, in 1998, Allers left the project due to creative differences. The project was reworked into The Emperor's New Groove (2000).

Meanwhile, Allers collaborated with Julie Taymor and Irene Mecchi on the Broadway musical adaptation of The Lion King (1997). Both he and Mecchi were nominated for a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Later, Allers directed Open Season and The Little Matchgirl, both released in 2006. In 2014, he wrote and directed The Prophet. Allers died on January 17, 2026, at the age of 76.

Early life Roger Allers was born on June 29, 1949, in Rye, New York, When he was six years old, his family relocated in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Infuriated, Woolverton protested to Peter Schneider, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. Schneider suggested she and Allers worked together more closely in the same room. Throughout the storyboarding process, Woolverton arrived in Allers' office, which he shared with Brenda Chapman, to discuss the scenes that needed to be rewritten. From there, relations between Woolverton and the story team improved as she became more accustomed to the storyboarding process. When he reflected on the experience, Allers stated: "For the scriptwriter it must be frustrating to be reworking and reworking. I guess that's what's the storyboard process is. That's why we put our sketches up in little pins, because it all comes down, lots of times. You rework it, and rework it, and craft it."

1991–1994: The Lion King When Beauty and the Beast was nearly finished, Allers joined the King of the Jungle project as a director, alongside George Scribner. Allers attended brainstorming sessions with Scribner and Woolverton. However, Musker and Clements asked Allers to help storyboard sequences for Aladdin (1992). On April Fools' Day 1992, Rob Minkoff was added as a co-director. The Lion King became the highest-grossing film released in 1994 and was the highest-grossing animated film (at the time), in which it earned over $700 million worldwide.

Despite the praise, The Lion King was believed to have shared similarities with Osamu Tezuka's 1950 manga Jungle Emperor Leo, which became known in the United States as Kimba the White Lion. In 2015, Allers clarified he was made aware of the similarities as The Lion King was being completed. He further stated: "I could certainly understand Kimbas creators feeling angry if they felt we had stolen ideas from them. If I had been inspired by Kimba, I would certainly acknowledge my inspiration. All I can offer is my respect to those artists and say that their creation has its loyal admirers and its assured place in animation history." Their story shared similarities with Mark Twain's 1882 novel The Prince and the Pauper and Anthony Hope's adventure novel The Prisoner of Zenda.

Meanwhile, Disney Theatrical Group, headed by Schumacher and Peter Schneider, had found success with the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast (1994). Joe Roth, who had replaced Jeffrey Katzenberg as studio chairman, proposed another idea: "Why aren't you doing The Lion King? How can it miss?" Eisner agreed and pushed heavily for a Lion King stage musical, and Schneider and Schumacher eventually agreed. Schumacher hired Julie Taymor, whose work he had known at the Los Angeles Festival of the Arts, as the musical director. Allers and Mecchi were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical among eleven other nominations. The Lion King won six Tony Awards, including for Best Musical.

In 1997, Mark Dindal, who had directed Warner Bros.' Cats Don't Dance, joined Kingdom of the Sun as a co-director, alongside Allers. Both him and Dindal had known each other while working on The Little Mermaid (1989). During the summer of 1998, it became apparent that Kingdom of the Sun was not far along enough in production to be released in 2000 as planned. During test screenings, Dindal's sequences took a lighthearted, comedic approach opposite of Allers' more serious, straightforward vision. Allers reflected: "I was thrilled with the idea because it was a favorite story of mine. The idea of doing it as a musical piece and to do it justice was a thrill." According to co-producer Baker Bloodworth, the project was intended for a Fantasia sequel, which was envisioned as a "compilation of shorts that featured music and was to be representative of different sounds and cultures." Allers stated, "My Celtic story, Tam Lin had ultimately been rejected. It was evidently too passionate. They were really looking for a comedy. The market was just driven by comedies at the time. Audiences were responding very well."

A year later, Allers was recruited as an additional director on Open Season (2006) alongside director Jill Culton and co-director Anthony Stacchi. The film featured the voice talents of Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher. Based on an original pitch from Steve Moore, Open Season centers on the unlikely friendship between Boog, a domesticated grizzly bear, and Elliott, a one-antlered mule deer. After Open Season was released, Allers expressed he had grown "weary of big studio politics and was ready to develop something on my own outside of the context of a big studio." That same year, Salma Hayek sought to adapt Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet into an 2D animated film. Allers was contacted through a mutual friend about the project and reflected he had read Gibran's writings as a college student. He told Variety: "I had been profoundly affected by the book when I was in college, so when that offer popped up I was very excited to do it."

In January 2012, it was announced that Allers would oversee the narrative structure, as well as supervise the production of an animated adaptation of The Prophet. In May 2014, a work-in-progress version of The Prophet (2014) was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. The film later premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2014. It was released in select theaters throughout the United States on August 7, 2015.

In 2023, Allers wrote the book and lyrics for an original stage musical called The Grasshopper based on the life of Jean de la Fontaine. A table reading of the musical premiered at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, California on October 7.

Personal life and death Allers married Leslee Hackenson in 1977. In March 2020, Allers filed for divorce from Hackenson. They had a daughter, Leah, and a son, Aidan.

Allers died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on January 17, 2026, at the age of 76. He is interred at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery. At the time of Allers' death, his daughter Leah was filming a documentary about her father's career.

Filmography Year Title Credits Notes 1980 Animalympics Character Design / Story Artist / Animator Television film 1982 Tron Storyboard Artist 1983 Rock & Rule Animator 1988 Oliver & Company Storyboard Artist1989 The Little Mermaid Storyboard Artist Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland Animation, Animation Direction, Character Design, Production, Story Development Uncredited, his daughter Leah was also the model for Princess Camille 1990 The Rescuers Down Under Storyboard Artist The Prince and the Pauper 1991 Beauty and the Beast Head of Story 1992 Aladdin Story 1994 The Lion King Director (with Rob Minkoff) 2000 The Emperor's New Groove Story: Kingdom of the Sun (with Matthew Jacobs) 2002 Lilo & Stitch Additional Story Artist The Sweatbox Himself Documentary Return to Never Land Storyboard Artist 2004 The Lion King 1½ Additional screenplay material 2006 The Little Matchgirl Director / Story Adaptation Open Season Director (with Jill Culton) 2007 Surf's Up Special Thanks 2010 Waking Sleeping Beauty Himself / Caricaturist Artist Documentary 2014 The Prophet Director / Screenplay 2018 Howard Himself Documentary 2019 The Lion King Special Thanks