{"id":377611,"date":"2026-01-18T23:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/377611\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T23:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:14:08","slug":"the-lion-king-director-was-76","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/377611\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Lion King’ Director Was 76"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRoger Allers<\/a>, the Disney<\/a> Animation filmmaker known for The Lion King<\/a>, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and more, has died. He was 76.<\/p>\n

\n\tProducer and frequent collaborator Dave Bossert shared the news of Allers\u2019 death in a statement on Sunday morning. \u201cI am deeply saddened by the news that our friend Roger Allers has passed on to his next journey,\u201d he started in the Facebook post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe were just trading emails this past week while he was traveling in Egypt, which makes this loss feel all the more unreal,\u201d added Bossert. \u201cRoger was an extraordinarily gifted artist and filmmaker, a true pillar of the Disney Animation renaissance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBossert noted that Allers got his start at Disney as part of the storyboard team on Tron (1982), also working on Oliver & Company (1988) and The Little Mermaid (1989) before becoming head of story on Beauty and the Beast (1991).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had the privilege of being part of the crew with Roger on many films in the late \u201980s and throughout the \u201990s,\u201d noted Bossert. \u201cAnd he was, without question, one of the kindest people you could hope to know and work alongside. He went on to co-direct The Lion King, a phenomenal success, yet it never went to his head. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018The Lion King\u2019 co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (Photo by Chris Polk\/FilmMagic)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cRoger treated everyone with genuine kindness and respect, regardless of title or position. I worked very closely with him on The Little Matchgirl, and it was nothing short of a joy\u2014he carried a sense of wonder, generosity, and enthusiasm that lifted everyone around him. Roger had a joyful, luminous spirit, and the world is dimmer without him. Rest in peace, my friend. Until we meet again on the other side,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n\tDisney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement, \u201cRoger Allers was a creative visionary whose many contributions to Disney will live on for generations to come. He understood the power of great storytelling \u2014 how unforgettable characters, emotion, and music can come together to create something timeless. His work helped define an era of animation that continues to inspire audiences around the world, and we are deeply grateful for everything he gave to Disney. Our hearts are with his family, friends, and collaborators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn June 29, 1949 in Rye, New York, Allers grew up in Arizona, where he received a fine arts degree from Arizona State University before getting a job with Lisberger Studios, working on Sesame Street and other projects.<\/p>\n

\n\tAllers relocated to Los Angeles to work on the 1980 animated feature Animalympics with director Steven Lisberger, before working on Tron. He also spent time in Tokyo while working on Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989).<\/p>\n

\n\tUpon his 1985 return to LA, Allers got his start with Disney as a storyboard artist on films like Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under and The Prince and The Pauper, before serving as a co-director with Rob Minkoff on The Lion King (1994), earning them the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture \u2014 Musical or Comedy. Allers also wrote The Lion King\u2018s 1998 Tony-winning Broadway adaptation.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso during his Disney tenure, Allers worked on The Emperor\u2019s New Groove, Lilo & Stitch and The Little Matchgirl. He then co-directed Open Season with Jill Culton for Sony, also helming 2014\u2019s The Prophet.<\/p>\n

\n\tAllers is survived by ex-wife Leslee Hackenson, their daughter Leah and son Aidan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roger Allers, the Disney Animation filmmaker known for The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and more, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6460,96,59,143577,143578,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-377611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-disney","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-roger-allers","12":"tag-the-lion-king","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}