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Irene Mecchi

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Irene Mecchi
Born(1949-09-21)September 21, 1949(age 74)
San Francisco,California, United States
OccupationScreenwriter, playwright, television writer
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley[1]
American Conservatory Theater[1]
Notable works

Irene Mecchi(born September 21, 1949) is an American screenwriter and playwright, whose prominent works include screenplays for severalDisneyanimated films. She co-authored the screenplays forThe Lion King(1994),The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1996), andHercules(1997). With co-authorRoger Allers,she received a 1998Tonynomination for writing the book forThe Lion Kingstage musical.

Biography

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Mecchi was born in the third generation of her family that lived in San Francisco, California. She attended theUniversity of California, Berkeley,graduating with aBachelor of Artsin theater.[1]Early into her career, her aspirations to direct theater led her to study at theAmerican Conservatory Theater,where her instructor, Joy Carlin, was impressed with her writing and encouraged her to pursue it on a full-time basis. She agreed.[2]

Her first work began when she wrote a series of children's programs forNickelodeonsuch asBy the Way.[3]Mecchi's first network writing assignment was on the Emmy Award-winningLily Tomlinspecial,Lily: Sold Out.[2]Her later television credits also includeValerie,The Popcorn Kid,andMy Sister Sam.Along with that, Mecchi researched and wrote a play drawn from newspaper columnistHerb Caen's witty observations of San Francisco. The play was "work-shopped" at the American Conservatory Theater that led Mecchi to edit two books of Caen's writings, which were published in 1992 and 1993.[2]

In March 1992, Mecchi began her association with Disney, when she wrote an animated educational short calledRecycle Rex.The short film encouraged younger viewers to "recycle, reduce and reuse" waste materials. During the summer of 1992, Mecchi was brought on board to polish the script forThe Lion King,which was pitched to her as "Bambiin Africa ".[4]Several months later, she was joined byJonathan Robertsduring the rewriting process of the screenplay.[2]Together, both writers tackled the unresolved emotional issues in the script, and brought additional comedy with Timon, Pumbaa, and the hyenas.[2]

Following her work onThe Lion King,she co-wrote the screenplays ofThe Hunchback of Notre DameandHercules.Also, she re-teamed withRoger Allersto co-write the book for theBroadway musical adaptationofThe Lion King,to which they were nominated aTony Award for Best Book of a Musical.[5]She would later re-team again with Allers to contribute additional screenplay material toThe Lion King 1½.

Mecchi served as the co-screenwriter for the Pixar film,Brave,which was co-directed byBrenda Chapman.In June 2013, Chapman stated she and Mecchi were developingRumblewickatDreamWorks Animation,which went unproduced.[6][7]In November 2014, it was announced Mecchi was co-writing the screenplay forLucasfilm's animated musical film,Strange Magic.[8]That same year, she wrote the teleplay for NBC'sPeter Pan Live!,[9]in which she revised the characterization ofCaptain Hook.[10]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Notes
1994 The Lion King WithJonathan RobertsandLinda Woolverton
1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame With Tab Murphy,Bob Tzudiker,Noni White,and Jonathan Roberts
1997 Hercules WithRon Clements,John Musker,Don McEnery, and Bob Shaw
1999 Fantasia 2000 Live-action segments
WithDon HahnandDavid Reynolds
2004 The Lion King 1½ Additional screenplay material
2005 Chicken Little Uncredited rewrite[further explanation needed],special thanks
2012 Brave WithMark Andrews,Steve Purcell,andBrenda Chapman
2014 The Prophet Additional dialogue
2015 Strange Magic WithGary RydstromandDavid Berenbaum

Television

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Year Title Notes
1979 By the Way
1986 Valerie Episode: "One of The Kind"
1987 The Popcorn Kid Episode: "There She Is, Vic Damone"
1988 My Sister Sam Episode: "It's My Party and I'll Kill If I Want To"
1992 Hi Honey, I'm Home Episode: "Elaine Takes a Wife"
1999 Annie Television film
2014 Peter Pan Live!

References

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  1. ^abc"Irene Mecchi".Stanford Center on Longevity.RetrievedJanuary 17,2013.
  2. ^abcde"The Lion King: Production Notes".Walt Disney Pictures. May 25, 1994.Archivedfrom the original on October 26, 2008.RetrievedAugust 30,2019– via LionKing.org.
  3. ^By The Way- Ultra-rare/lost Nickelodeon show from 1979, Intro & Host Segments.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-21.RetrievedAugust 30,2019– viaYouTube.
  4. ^"The Belles of Broadway: A Continued conversation with Irene Mecchi (The Lion King) and Winnie Holzman (Wicked)".No Meaner Place.Archived fromthe originalon November 17, 2016.RetrievedAugust 30,2019.
  5. ^Shirley, Don (May 5, 1998)."'Ragtime,' 'Lion' Top Tony Nods ".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedAugust 30,2019.
  6. ^Schavemaker, Peter (June 11, 2013)."An Interview From Abroad with Brenda Chapman".Animation.RetrievedAugust 30,2019.
  7. ^Failes, Ian (September 26, 2016)."Life After Pixar: An Interview with Brenda Chapman".Cartoon Brew.RetrievedAugust 30,2019.
  8. ^Wolfe, Jennifer (November 11, 2014)."Disney Announces George Lucas' Animated Musical 'Strange Magic'".Animation World Network.RetrievedAugust 30,2019.
  9. ^Grady, Pam (December 2, 2014)."A dream takes flight for 'Peter Pan Live!' writer".San Francisco Gate.RetrievedAugust 30,2019.
  10. ^Littleton, Cynthia (November 26, 2014)."NBC Hopes 'Peter Pan Live' Can Fly to New Heights".Variety.RetrievedAugust 30,2019.
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