American writer, director and storyboard artist born on 1 November 1962 in Beason, Illinois. She obtained a BFA in character animation from California Institute of the Arts, after which she was a story trainee on Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989). She began her writing career with Beauty and the Beast (1991). Her works include The Lion King (1994), The Prince of Egypt (1998), and Brave (2012), for which she won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.