Linda Woolverton (born December 19, 1952) is an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist, whose most prominent works include the screenplays and books of several acclaimed Disney films and stage musicals.
She also co-wrote the screenplay of The Lion King (1994), provided additional story material for Mulan (1998), and adapted her own Beauty and the Beast screenplay into the book of the Broadway adaptation of the film, for which she received a Tony Award nomination and won an Olivier Award.
[2][3] Her recent work includes the screenplays for Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Maleficent (2014), both of which were significant box office successes.
She attended California State University, Long Beach, graduating with a BFA in Theater Arts in 1973.
After quitting her job in 1984 and starting working as a substitute teacher, she wrote her second novel, the also young adult Running Before the Wind.
From 1986 to 1989, she wrote episodes for animated series as Star Wars: Ewoks, Dennis the Menace, The Real Ghostbusters, The Berenstain Bears, My Little Pony and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers.
Not agreeing with it, Woolverton went over to Disney offices in Burbank, California, and dropped off a copy of Running Before the Wind to a secretary, asking her to "give it to somebody to read.
[1] From early 1985 to 1988, two different teams of writers had taken a turn at adapting Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont's tale into a feature film, but Woolverton succeeded by incorporating her own ideas into the story, such as making the protagonist a bookworm.
[2][3] She provided additional story material for Mulan, released in 1998, and co-wrote the book of the stage musical Aida, which opened on Broadway in 2000 to critical acclaim.
[4] In 2010, Disney invited her to write the screenplay of Maleficent, a retelling of the animated film Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of the titular villain.
[12][13] Woolverton wrote the book of the Broadway musical Lestat, an adaptation of The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, which pre-debuted in 2005 in San Francisco to become the highest-earning pre-Broadway play in the city's history.
She co-wrote the narration script of the National Geographic theatrical documentary film Arctic Tale, released in 2007.
[14][15][16] It was later announced that Lifetime had decided to adapt the novel The Clan of the Cave Bear with Woolverton as executive-producer of the series and writer of the pilot episode.
For this, Elle said: "In her version of Wonderland, she [Woolverton] gave audiences a female character that was not dependent on a man for happiness or commercial success.