Animation director Roger Allers, 76, died on Jan. 17. Allers directed (or co-directed) the animated films The Lion King, Open Season, The Prophet, and The Little Matchgirl. Allers started his career doing background, character design and animation for Dirty Duck, Rock & Rule, The Mind’s Eye, and 1989’s Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. He worked his way up at Disney as storyboard artist on The Little Mermaid, The Prince and the Pauper, The Rescuers Down Under, and Beauty and the Beast; he also co-wrote the libretto for the Broadway version of The Lion King, for which he was Tony-nominated. Of The Lion King, Allers said, “My father died a few years before I started work on The Lion King . . . I know one thing we wanted to do when we finished it was to dedicate it to our fathers. To all fathers, which I thought would have been a nice idea.” Allers was himself a father; one of his children is actress Leah Allers.
