Allers, Roger

The directorial debut of Roger Allers was The Lion King, but before that he had worked in animation for many years. He took an active part in developing scripts for Disney Studios, including The Little Mermaid, The Prince and the Pauper, Rescuers in Australia, and Aladdin.

Born in Paradise, New York, Roger grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. He got addicted to animation at the age of 5 when he saw the Peter Pan cartoon. A few years later, he decided that he would work at Disney, went to Disneyland for a set of a young animator and began to study, drew Donald Duck and read a lot about animation. But at school, he abandoned this dream, he was greatly influenced by the news of the death of Walt Disney.

At Arizona University, Allers studied painting. Having received a diploma, he traveled to Greece for several years, where he met his future wife. Soon he and his wife returned to Boston and again wanted to return to the animation. He graduated from courses at Harvard, and got a job at the studio of Stephen Leesberger (director of the Throne and producer of its continuation, Tron: Legacy). There he worked on animated series (including on Sesame Street), screen savers for television shows and commercials.

In 1978, Allers, together with the Lisberger studio, moved to Los Angeles, and there began work on the full-length project Animalympics. He was the director’s right-hand man, and was involved in scripting, character development, and animation.

In 1985, Allers found out that Disney was looking for a screenwriter for the animated film Oliver and Company, and immediately decided to try his luck. Soon he became the main screenwriter of this film. Then he took part in work on The Little Mermaid, The Prince and the Pauper, and Rescuers in Australia, until Allers was commissioned to lead the screenwriting team of Beauty and the Beast.

• Roger Allers on the Internet Movie Database