Rob Minkoff

Animation whiz kid known both for his wildly comic sensibilities and his meteoric rise at Walt Disney Studios. A multi-talented cartoon maven, Minkoff swiftly amassed a background in animation, design, story development and direction before co-directing the ambitious feature, "The Lion King" (1994), with the more seasoned Roger Allers. Prior to that commercial and artistic triumph, Minkoff was best known for directing the first two Roger Rabbit cartoon shorts, "Tummy Trouble" (1989) and "Roller Coaster Rabbit" (1990). He also co-executive produced and provided the story for the third R.R. outing, "Trail Mix-Up" (1993). Though Minkoff had dreamed of working for Disney since childhood, these antic shorts also reveal the loony influence of legendary Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones, his mentor since his first year in the animation program at CalArts.