Roger Allers, Lion King Co-Director, Dies at 76

Roger Allers, the co-director of Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King and a co-writer of its Broadway adaptation, died on Jan. 17 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 76; his daughter, Leah Allers, said the cause was a heart aneurysm. Allers joined Disney in the mid-1980s and made his studio debut as head of the story team on Oliver & Company (1988).

He worked on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, and was praised by colleagues for being "extraordinarily visual" with a strong story and design sense, Thomas Schumacher said. Allers and his co-director Rob Minkoff acted out storyboards and songs during production of The Lion King; the film, which features Mufasa, Scar and Simba, grossed more than $1 billion after its 1994 release.

Irene Mecchi recalled calling the two directors "the Don Hahn Players," and Minkoff said Allers restructured the intro to Elton John’s demo of "Hakuna Matata." Allers said he and Minkoff divided scenes that "really spoke" to them, with his sequences including those for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "I Just Can’t Wait to Be King." After the film’s success, Allers helped adapt The Lion King for Broadway.

The musical opened in 1997 at the New Amsterdam Theater, won six Tony Awards including best musical and best direction, and Allers and Irene Mecchi were nominated for best book for a musical.

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