Linda Woolverton

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 is the first woman to have written an animated feature for Disney, Beauty and the Beast, which is also the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. She also co-wrote the screenplay of The Lion King, 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.Her most recent works include the screenplay of Alice in Wonderland, a huge box office success, making her the first and only female screenwriter with a sole writing credit on a billion-dollar film, and the screenplay of Maleficent, as well as the screenplays of the sequels of those films.