'The Lion King' co-director Roger Allers dead at 76

Roger Allers, the filmmaker and animator best known for co-directing the 1994 Disney classic "The Lion King," and writing the Tony Award-winning Broadway adaption of the movie, has died, according to a Disney Animation spokesperson via The Hollywood Reporter. He was 76.

Allers started at Disney developing pre-production concepts for the 1982 science fiction action-adventure film "Tron" and worked as a storyboard artist for the animated films, 1988's "Oliver & Company and 1989's "The Little Mermaid" before becoming head of story on 1991's "Beauty and the Beast."