Rob Minkoff

Minkoff was born to a Jewish family in Palo Alto, California to Jack Robert Minkoff (1922–1998) and Tola Fay Minkoff (née Stebel).

When he was 15, during a babysitting job, he discovered the book The Art of Walt Disney by Christopher Finch on a coffee table.

Minkoff recalled, "I cracked it open and it was filled with so much incredible artwork from the golden age of animation."

Enamored with the art of animation, he asked his parents for a copy, which he received for his next birthday.

Robert Ralph Minkoff (born August 11, 1962) is an American director, animator, and producer.

He studied at Palo Alto High School and graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1980s in the Character Animation department.

During his studies, Minkoff met Chuck Jones and credited him as an inspiration.

He remembered, "I met Chuck during my first year at CalArts and he became a mentor to me ... I had always been a big fan of his and having the opportunity to learn from him has really meant a great deal to me professionally as well as personally."

During the summer of 1982, Minkoff received an internship at Walt Disney Productions, and was apprenticed by Eric Larson, a senior animator who was one of the "Nine Old Men".

The following year, he was employed as an in-between artist for The Black Cauldron (1985).

He was then a supervising animator for The Great Mouse Detective (1986) for the character Olivia, before working as a character designer for The Brave Little Toaster (1987).

He also wrote the song "Good Company" for Oliver & Company (1988), and subsequently served as a character animator for The Little Mermaid (1989).

On the film, he provided character designs and early animation tests for the villain Ursula.

In 1988, Who Framed Roger Rabbit had become a critical and commercial success, which revived a new interest in theatrical cartoon shorts.

To produce further Roger Rabbit media, Disney opened the Feature Animation Florida studio in Orlando, located within the Disney-MGM Studios theme park.

Minkoff then became a director for Tummy Trouble (1989) accompanied with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989).

He directed the next cartoon short Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990), which was attached with Dick Tracy (1990).

Simultaneously, Minkoff was approached to direct The Rescuers Down Under (1990) but turned down the offer because he wanted to be the sole director.

He was also offered to direct Beauty and the Beast (1991), but was turned down because he wanted creative control.

He later directed a Mickey Mouse short, which was shown at the Disney-MGM Studios, titled Mickey's Audition (1992).

Eager to direct a live-action film, Minkoff was handed the script for a feature-length Roger Rabbit sequel, and was hired to develop the project.

However, after a year in development, the project was cancelled.

On April 1, 1992, he became the co-director for The Lion King (1994) alongside Roger Allers.

On the film, the directorial process began with several sequences divided between Allers and Minkoff.

Each director brought their own vision to the sequences, but there was a constant exchange of viewpoints to better ensure a stylistic uniformity.

The project went unproduced, in which Minkoff explained: "I had told Jeffrey [Katzenberg] before he left Disney that I wanted to do a live-action picture, and he was trying to get me to commit to doing an animated picture before that ... We were in the middle of figuring out what was the right step to take when he resigned [in 1994]."

Sometime later, he worked briefly with Robert Zemeckis on a film project with Universal Pictures and a version of Mr. Popper's Penguins with producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

In January 1995, it was reported he was to direct an untitled "fantasy feature" film that was meant to be his first live-action project.

In 1997, Minkoff re-teamed with Zadan and Meron on a film adaptation of Into the Woods for Columbia Pictures.

When development had stalled, Minkoff learned from the studio's production head about Stuart Little.

After subsequently reading M. Night Shyamalan's script for the film, he agreed to direct.

In 1998, Sony Pictures had announced Minkoff was directing Stuart Little (1999).

Principal photography had spanned 12 weeks before wrapping in mid-November 1998.

He is best known for co-directing The Lion King (along with Roger Allers), and live-action films including Stuart Little (1999), Stuart Little 2 (2002), The Haunted Mansion (2003), and The Forbidden Kingdom (2008).

Released in December 1999, Stuart Little was a commercial success, grossing $300 million worldwide.

In November 2000, Minkoff, along with his producing partner Jason Clark, had signed a three-year first-look deal at Columbia Pictures, in which he also agreed to direct the sequel, Stuart Little 2 (2002).

Soon after, Minkoff was attached to direct a live-action Jetsons film and a remake of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which both went unproduced.

In a 2011 interview, Minkoff stated he had directed the "Circle of Life" sequence while Allers directed the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" sequence.

In recent decades, he returned to feature animation with Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022).

His wife, Crystal Kung Minkoff, is a cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.