Robert Ralph Minkoff (born August 11, 1962) is an American filmmaker. 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). 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. Early life Minkoff was born to a Jewish family in Palo Alto, California to Jack Robert Minkoff (1922–1998) and Tola Fay Minkoff (née Stebel). 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 had met Chuck Jones and credited him as an inspiration. He recalled, "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." Career 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 Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida in Orlando, located within the Disney-MGM Studios theme park. He 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). In the meantime, Minkoff was approached to direct Beauty and the Beast (1991), but