Linda Woolverton’s place in film history cannot be overstated. From her humble beginnings in theatre, to the TV writing gig that launched her headfirst into being the first woman to write an animated feature for Disney (that being 1991’s Beauty and the Beast), she paved the way for women and girls to put their mark on an industry that has traditionally excluded them.
Beauty and the Beast, Maleficent, and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (the first female-written film to gross over $1 billion) are her best known works, but she also worked on the screenplay for The Lion King and Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, and had a (uncredited) hand in shaping the stories of Disney’s Aladdin and Mulan.
