Roger Allers, co-director of The Lion King, has died at age 76.
The Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger remembered Allers in a social media post on Sunday.
“Roger Allers was a creative visionary whose many contributions to Disney will live on for generations to come,” Iger shared in a statement posted to Instagram.
“He understood the power of great storytelling – 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,” Iger’s statement continued, finishing, “Our hearts are with his family, friends, and collaborators.”
Beyond 1994’s The Lion King, Allers worked on several Disney classics, Tron, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and more.
Allers’ Disney colleague Dave Bossert shared news of Allers’ death on Facebook along with a photo of him and Allers.
“Roger was an extraordinarily gifted artist and filmmaker, a true pillar of the Disney Animation renaissance,” wrote Bossert in part. “He began at Disney doing pre-production concepts for Tron. He then became a story artist on Oliver & Company and The Little Mermaid and other films, eventually becoming head of story on Beauty and the Beast.”
“He was, without question, one of the kindest people you could hope to know and work alongside,” wrote Bossert, who added that even after The Lion King‘s monumental success, “it never went to his head.”
The Lion King, made in 1994, which Allers co-directed with Rob Minkoff, is one of the most popular movies of all time, spawning $988,389,726 in worldwide box office, according to The Numbers.
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