Happy 71st Birthday, Roger Allers! Born today in 1949 as Roger Charles Allers, this American storyboard artist, playwright, animator, screenwriter and film director became a fan of animation at the age of five.
This was after seeing Disney's 1953 American animated musical fantasy adventure-drama family film 'Peter Pan'.
Deciding that he wanted to pursue a career at Disney and even work alongside Walt Disney himself, a few years later, Allers was 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 when he heard of Walt Disney's death on December 15, 1966.
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.
Returning to Los Angeles, California in 1985, Allers heard that Disney was looking for a storyboard artist to work on the 1988 American animated musical family film 'Oliver & Company'.
When he applied for the job, Allers was asked to draw some sample character model sheets as a tryout, and worked on a portfolio and was hired shortly thereafter.
Since then, Allers served as a storyboard artist. Beginning in the late 1980s, he started on the 1989 Animated musical romantic fantasy film 'The Little Mermaid.
In the early 1990s, Allers stated on the twenty-five-minute 1990 American animated family film 'The Prince and the Pauper', as well as the 1991 American animated adventure film 'The Rescuers Down Under'. It is the first feature film to be completely created digitally and not use a camera.
These three films were all before Allers was appointed as Head of Story on the 1991 American animated musical romantic fantasy film 'Beauty and the Beast'.
The following year, when story work on the film was finished, Allers assisted as a storyboard artist during the re-writing of the 1992 American animated musical fantasy film 'Aladdin'.
Two years later, Allers co-directed the highest-grossing 2D animated film of all time for which he best known.
This was the Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1994 American animated musical drama family film 'The Lion King'. Allers had co-directed the film alongside American filmmaker Rob Minkoff.
'The Lion King' is the 32nd Disney animated feature film, and is also the fifth animated film produced during a period known as the Disney Renaissance.
The film features an ensemble voice cast that includes Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Moria Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Rowan Atkinson, Robert Guillaume, Madge Sinclair (in her last film role), Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings.
The story takes place in a kingdom of lions in Africa and was influenced by the biblical stories of Joseph and Moses, and William Shakespeare's 1609 tragedy drama play Hamlet.
On a budget of $45 million, 'The Lion King' was an initial worldwide gross of $968.5 million at the box office. It finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing release of 1994, the highest-grossing animated film and the second-highest grossing film of all time.
It is also the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, as well as the best-selling film on home video, having sold over thirty million VHS tapes.
The following year, 'The Lion King' garnered three Golden Globe Awards.
These included Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Music, Original Score (Hans Zimmer) and Best Original Song - Motion Picture (Elton John [music], Tim Rice [lyrics] for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight"). This occurred at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards in late January 1995.
Two months later, 'The Lion King' won two Oscars for its achievement in Best Music, Original Song (for the song "Can You Feel The Love Tonight) and Best Music, Original Score (Hans Zimmer). This occurred at the 67th Academy Awards in late March 1995.
The film has led to many derived works. This included direct-to-video follow-ups. The first was the 1998 American animated direct-to-video romantic musical 'The Lion King II: Simba's Pride', and the prequel/parallel being the 2004 American animated adventure comedy film 'The Lion King 1½'.
It also led to two television series, being the American animated buddy children's television series Timon and Pumbaa (1995–1999) and The Lion Guard (2016–2019).
In 2011, a 3D re-release was made, as well as a photorealistic remake in the late 2010s. This was the 2019 American musical computer-animated musical drama family film 'The Lion King'. It was directed by American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Jon Favreau.
Three years prior, he had directed the 2016 American computer-animated fantasy adventure/family film 'The Jungle Book'.
Allers is also known for writing the 1994 Broadway musical adaptation of 'The Lion King'. Today, the show has been staged around the world, but its home base is at the Minskoff Theatre.
The musical has been going strong for more than two decades, with six Tony Awards (including Best Musical) to its name.
In the late 2000s, Allers co-directed Sony Pictures Animation's first feature-length animated film. This was the 2006 American computer-animated/comedy film 'Open Season'.
In 2016, 'The Lion King' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
It is, as of December 2019, the only Disney film to have been dubbed in Zulu, the only African language aside from Arabic to have been used for a feature-length Disney dub.
Allers has been active from 1970–present.
#borntodirect
#borntoanimate
@Disney
@WaltDisneyStudios
@Disneyland
@WaltDisneyWorld
@ThLionKing
@Broadway
@SonyPicturesAnimation
@librarycongress
@getFANDOM
No comments:
Post a Comment