Rob Minkoff
About
Biography
Filmography
Bibliography
Biography
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.
Minkoff was involved in theater since age ten and appeared in numerous productions for the Palo Alto Children's Theater and Theater Works. He decided to work for Disney after encountering art historian Christopher Finch's landmark study, "The Art of Walt Disney," while babysitting as a teen. Coincidentally the children he was minding were Finch's nieces and were mentioned in the book's dedication. (Minkoff would finally meet and work with Finch on the author's later book, "The Art of The Lion King"). Minkoff began his formal training as a student at CalArts majoring in character animation. He served a fateful summer internship at Disney in 1982 which allowed him to work with one of the company's revered "Nine Old Men," veteran animator Eric Larson, who helped him prepare a personal animation test. This led to Minkoff being hired by the feature animation department in 1983, making his feature debut as an in-betweener on the animated flop, "The Black Cauldron" (1985).
Minkoff proved to be a fast learner. He designed several characters for "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) including the hero, the Sherlockian Basil of Baker Street. By the time the production was over, Minkoff had advanced to supervising animator. Subsequent credits include co-writing a song for "Oliver & Company" (1988), character animation for "The Little Mermaid" (1989), and script development for "Beauty and the Beast." In addition to his duties on Roger Rabbit cartoons, Minkoff has helmed several projects for the Disney MGM Studio attraction in Florida.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Animation (Feature Film)
Art Department (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1978
With his high school's singing group, sang back-up for Joan Baez at the candlelight vigil for the slain San Francisco Mayor Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk
1982
Interned at the Disney Studio and worked with Eric Larson, one of the original nine Disney feature animators
1983
Hired by the feature animation division of Disney
1985
Feature debut as an in-between artist on "The Black Cauldron"
1986
Designed several characters for Disney's "The Great Mouse Detective"
1988
Co-wrote (with Ron Rocha) the song "Good Company" for the animated feature "Oliver & Company"
1989
Made directing debut with the Disney theatrical short, "Tummy Trouble" featuring Roger Rabbit
1990
Directed another Roger Rabbit cartoon short, "Roller Coaster Rabbit"
1993
Served as co-executive producer and story writer for his third Roger Rabbit short, "Trail Mix-Up"
1994
Feature directing debut (with Roger Allers), "The Lion King"
1999
First solo directing debut, "Stuart Little"; combined live-action and animation
2002
Directed the sequel, "Stuart Little 2"
2003
Directed the live-action, "The Haunted Mansion"
2008
Directed the martial arts-adventure, "The Forbidden Kingdom" starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li
