Roger Allers

{{Infobox person

| image = Roger Allers, 34th Annie Awards, 2007.jpg

| image_size =

| name = Roger Allers

| caption = Allers at the 34th Annie Awards in 2007

| birth_place = Rye, New York, U.S.

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|6|29}}

| alma_mater = Arizona State University (BFA)

| children = 2

| years_active = 1974–present

| occupation = {{hlist|Film director|writer|animator|storyboard artist|playwright}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Leslee Hackenson|1977|2020|reason=divorced}}

| known_for = The Lion King
Open Season
The Prophet

}}

Roger Allers (born June 29, 1949) is an American film director, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, and playwright. He is best known for co-directing Disney's The Lion King (1994), 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.

Life and career

=Early life=

Born in Rye, New York, but raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Allers became a fan of animation, at the age of five, after seeing Disney's Peter Pan (1953). Deciding that he wanted to pursue a career in animation, and even work alongside Walt Disney himself, a few years later, he sent off to Disneyland for a do-it-yourself animation kit. However, Allers, by then a high school student, grew discouraged about achieving his dream of being an animator when he had heard of Disney's death in 1966.{{cite web|url=http://www.tribute.ca/people/roger-allers/5713/|title=Roger Allers biography and filmography|publisher=Tribute Entertainment Media Group|access-date=December 29, 2015}}

Despite not getting the chance to meet Walt Disney, Allers still pressed on to receive a Fine Arts degree from Arizona State University. However, when he attended a class at Harvard University, he realized that his interest in animation had been revitalized. After receiving his degree in Fine Arts, he spent the next two years traveling and living in Greece. While there, he spent some time living in a cave, and eventually met Leslee, whom he later married.{{cite web|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070128132148/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1803249288/bio|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1803249288/bio|title=Roger Allers Biography|work=Yahoo! Movies|archive-date=January 28, 2007|access-date=December 29, 2015}} As a young adult, Allers accepted a job with Lisberger Studios, where he worked as an animator for projects such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Make a Wish, and various other commercials.

In 1978, he relocated to Los Angeles with Steven Lisberger to work on a feature film titled Animalympics (1980) to which he provided story work, character design and animation for the film. Three years later, Allers found work serving as part of the storyboard team for Tron, which was the first theatrical feature film he worked on. In 1980, Allers and his family moved to Toronto, Canada, where he worked for Nelvana Studios as an animator on a feature titled Rock & Rule (1983). Following a brief return to Los Angeles, Allers provided character design, preliminary animation, and story development for the Japanese-American co-produced animated feature, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989). For the next two years, he resided in Tokyo to serve as an animation director overseeing the Japanese artists.

=Disney=

Returning to Los Angeles in 1985, he heard that Disney was looking for a storyboard artist to work on Oliver & Company (1988). When he applied for the job, Allers was asked to draw some sample character model sheets as a tryout, and worked on a portfolio. He was hired shortly thereafter. Since then, he served as a storyboard artist on The Little Mermaid (1989), The Prince and the Pauper (1990), and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). For Beauty and the Beast (1991), he was appointed as Head of Story, leading a team of story artists to illustrate sketches from Linda Woolverton's screenplay.{{cite book|last=Thomas |first=Bob |year=1991 |title=Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast |url=https://archive.org/details/disneysartofanim00thom |url-access=registration |publisher=Hyperion |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/disneysartofanim00thom/page/148/mode/2up 149–150] |isbn=1-56282-899-1}} When Beauty and the Beast was nearly finished, Allers joined the King of the Jungle project as a director alongside George Scribner.{{cite interview|last=Fiamma|first=Andrea|url=http://www.fumettologica.it/2014/12/intervista-roger-allers-re-leone/2/| title=Intervista a Roger Allers, il regista de Il Re Leone|work=Fumettologica|date=12 December 2014|access-date=29 December 2015}} He temporarily left the project to help storyboard sequences for Aladdin (1992).{{cite press release|url=http://www.lionking.org/text/FilmNotes.html|title=The Lion King: Film Notes|agency=Walt Disney Pictures|via=LionKing.org|date=May 25, 1994|access-date=December 29, 2015|archive-date=December 3, 2017|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20171203132726/http://www.lionking.org/text/FilmNotes.html|url-status=live}}

In October 1991, Allers rejoined King of the Jungle, in which he recruited Brenda Chapman, who would become the film's Head of Story. Afterwards, several of the lead crew members, including Allers, Scribner, Chapman, and production designer Chris Sanders, took a safari trip to Kenya, in order to study and gain an appreciation of the environment for the film. After six months of story development work, Scribner decided to leave the project, as he disagreed with the decision to turn the film into a musical, as Scribner's intention was to make a documentary-like film more focused on natural aspects.{{cite AV media|title=The Lion King: A Memoir|location=The Lion King Diamond Edition|medium=Blu-Ray|year=2011|publisher=Walt Disney Home Entertainment}} Following Scribner's departure, and dissatisfied with the original story, Allers along with Don Hahn, Sanders, Chapman, and Beauty and the Beast directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale conceived a new story outline for the film over the course of two days in February 1992.{{cite interview|title=Roundtable Interview: The Lion King|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=7433|website=Blu-ray.com|date=September 28, 2011|access-date=December 29, 2015}} In April 1992, Rob Minkoff was added as a co-director, and the title was changed to The Lion King (1994).

Following the release of The Lion King (1994), Allers and writer Matthew Jacobs conceived the idea of Kingdom of the Sun,{{cite book |last=Laporte |first=Nicole |date=May 24, 2011 |title=The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks |publisher=Mariner Books |pages=208–209 |isbn=978-0-547-52027-8}} and development on the project went underway in 1994.{{cite news|last=Kuklenski|first=Valerie |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2000-12-13-0012120542-story.html|title=Finding the Groove|work=Los Angeles Daily News|publisher=The Sun Sentinel|date=December 13, 2000|access-date=December 29, 2015}} Meanwhile, Disney Theatrical Group had begun production on the Broadway musical adaptation of The Lion King as they had done with Beauty and the Beast (1994).{{cite interview|last=Armstrong|first=Josh|url=http://animatedviews.com/2011/allers-and-minkoff-egacy-of-the-lion-king/|title=Allers & Minkoff: The Legacy of The Lion King|work=Animated Views|date=October 8, 2011|access-date=December 29, 2015}} At first skeptical,{{cite video|title=Musical Origins|location=The Lion King Platinum Edition |medium=DVD|publisher=Walt Disney Home Entertainment|date=October 7, 2003}} Allers joined the Broadway production team, and together with Lion King co-screenwriter Irene Mecchi, they wrote the libretto. At the 52nd Tony Awards, both Allers and Mecchi were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. The musical itself won the Tony Award for Best Musical.{{cite news|last=Shirley|first=Don|title='Ragtime,' 'Lion' Top Tony Nods|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-05-ca-46323-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 5, 1998|access-date=December 29, 2015}}

After nearly four years on Kingdom of the Sun, Allers decided to leave the project due to creative differences with Mark Dindal and Peter Schneider, then-president of animation at Disney.{{cite web|last=Hill|first=Jim|url=http://www.laughingplace.com/News-PID115140-115142.asp|title=The Long Story Behind the Emperor's New Groove|website=The Laughing Place|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020112125603/http://www.laughingplace.com/News-PID115140-115142.asp|url-status=live|date=May 8, 2001|archive-date=January 12, 2002|access-date=December 29, 2015}} Ultimately, the project was reworked into The Emperor's New Groove (2000), and Allers left to work on Lilo & Stitch (2002) as a story artist. In 2001, he was approached by Hahn to direct the short film, The Little Matchgirl (2006).{{cite web|url=http://www.film-festival.org/pdf/NEEDAugust06JumpCut%20copy.pdf|last=Marshall|first=George T.|title=Jump Cut|agency=Rhode Island International Film Festival|date=August 2006|access-date=December 29, 2015}} The project underwent about two years of work, as it was planned to be attached with the proposed Fantasia 2006 film. It was however included as a bonus feature on The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD. At the 79th Academy Awards, The Little Matchgirl was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.{{cite web|last=Barbagallo|first=Ron|url=http://www.animationartconservation.com/the-little-matchgirl.html|title=Shedding Light on The Little Matchgirl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604163639/http://www.animationartconservation.com/the-little-matchgirl%2c-page-one.html|website=Animation Art Conservation|url-status=live|date=2006|archive-date=June 4, 2016|access-date=December 29, 2015}}{{cite interview|last=Armstrong|first=Josh|url=http://animatedviews.com/2007/director-roger-allers-on-the-little-matchgirl/|title=Director Roger Allers on The Little Matchgirl|website=Animated Views|date=March 5, 2007|access-date=December 29, 2015}}

Meanwhile, Allers pitched the Celtic folk ballad tale Tam Lin to Michael Eisner, who at the time was in a corporate struggle with Roy E. Disney. Once Eisner recognized the project was Disney's "baby", he declined to green-light the project.

=Post-Disney=

In May 2003, it was announced that Allers and Brenda Chapman would direct Tam Lin for Sony Pictures Animation.{{cite magazine|last=Harris|first=Dana|url=https://variety.com/2003/film/news/sony-tooning-new-animation-unit-1117885891/| title=Sony tooning new animation unit|magazine=Variety|date=May 8, 2003|access-date=December 29, 2015}} However, one year later, Allers was recruited as an additional director on Open Season (2006) alongside director Jill Culton and co-director Anthony Stacchi, and featuring the voice talents of Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher.{{cite web|last=DeMott|first=Rick|url=http://www.awn.com/news/lion-king-director-open-season-writers-surf-s|title=Lion King Director Up for Open Season, Writers for Surf's Up|work=Animation World Network|date=October 1, 2004|access-date=December 29, 2015}}

In January 2012, it was announced that Allers will oversee the narrative structure, as well as supervise the production of an animated adaptation of The Prophet.{{cite web|first=Tom|last=McLean|url=http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/lion-kings-roger-allers-joins-animated-prophet/|title='Lion King's' Roger Allers Joins Animated 'Prophet'|publisher=Animation|date=January 16, 2012|access-date=December 29, 2015}}{{cite web|author=C. Edwards|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/lion-king-director-roger-allers-pushes-forward-on-kahlil-gibrans-the-prophet-with-salma-hayek-84657.html|title="Lion King" Director Roger Allers and Salma Hayek Push Forward on "The Prophet"|website=Cartoon Brew|date=June 22, 2013|access-date=December 29, 2015}} In May 2014, a work-in-progress version of The Prophet (2014) was screened at the Cannes Film Festival,{{cite magazine|last=Setoodeh|first=Ramin|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/cannes-salma-hayeks-the-prophet-is-a-passion-project-1201183871/| title=CANNES: Salma Hayek On Producing 'Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet' (Exclusive)|magazine=Variety|date=May 14, 2014|access-date=December 29, 2015}} and was given a limited release in August 2015.{{cite news|last=King|first=Darryn|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/kahlil-gibrans-the-prophet-gets-us-release-date-110679.html|title='Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet' Gets US Release Date|website=Cartoon Brew|date=March 26, 2015|access-date=December 29, 2015}}

Personal life

Allers married Leslee Hackenson in 1977. In March 2020, Allers filed for divorce from Hackenson.{{cite web |url=https://unicourt.com/case/ca-la23-allers-roger-vs-hackenson-leslee-525752 |title=Allers, Roger vs Hackenson, Leslee |website=UniCourt |access-date=January 19, 2022}} They have a daughter, Leah, and a son, Aidan.

Filmography

class="wikitable" sortable" ! Year ! Title ! Credits ! Notes
1980	Animalympics	Character Development / Story / Animator	Television film
1982	Tron	Pre-production concepts	rowspan="4" \|
1983	Rock & Rule	Animator
1988	Oliver & Company	Story
rowspan="2"\|1989 \| The Little Mermaid	Storyboard Artist
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland	Animator	Uncredited
rowspan="2"\| 1990 \| The Rescuers Down Under	rowspan="2" \| Storyboard Artist	rowspan="7" \|
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)
rowspan="3"\|2002 \| Lilo & Stitch	Additional Story Artist (with John Sanford)
The Sweatbox	Himself	Documentary
Return to Never Land	Storyboard Artist	rowspan="5" \|
2004	The Lion King 1½	Additional screenplay material
rowspan="2"\|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	Thanks / The filmmakers would like to thank