Roger Allers, the animator, storyteller, and director who helped shape Disney’s modern renaissance and co-directed the 1994 animated landmark “The Lion King,” died January 17, 2026, at his home in Santa Monica, California. He died after a short illness at the age of 76.
Allers was born June 29, 1949, in Rye, New York, and grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a child, he was enchanted by Disney movies like “Peter Pan” and dreamed of working for the animation giant one day. He studied fine arts at Arizona State University. Later, an animation class at Harvard reignited his interest in the medium.
Before joining Disney’s orbit, Allers worked with Lisberger Studios, contributing to TV shows and movies like “Sesame Street,” The Electric Company,” and “Tron.” But by the mid-1980s, he had found his way back to his childhood dream, hired by Disney as a storyboard artist for “Oliver & Company.”
Allers’ Disney credits came to span many of the studio’s defining late-’80s and early-’90s films. He worked on “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Aladdin” in story roles that helped establish the era’s tone and momentum.
In 1994, he reached a career peak as co-director, alongside Rob Minkoff, of “The Lion King,” a film that became one of animation’s best-known global hits. Allers also helped extend “The Lion King” beyond the screen. He was credited as a writer on the Broadway stage adaptation’s Tony Award-nominated book.
After his years at Disney, Allers continued to direct and develop animated projects. He co-directed Sony Pictures Animation’s “Open Season” and later directed “Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet,” an animated feature based on Gibran’s classic work. His filmography also included the Oscar-nominated short “The Little Matchgirl.”
Colleagues remembered a filmmaker who combined craft with generosity. Dave Bossert, a Disney colleague and friend, called Allers “an extraordinarily gifted artist and film-maker, a true pillar of the Disney Animation renaissance.” Disney CEO Bob Iger praised him as “a creative visionary,” adding that Allers’ contributions “will live on for generations to come.”
Allers married Leslee Hackenson in 1977, and they later divorced. He is survived by their two children, Leah and Aidan.
