Kevin Lima

Kevin Lima (born June 12, 1962) is an American film director who has directed A Goofy Movie (1995), Tarzan (1999), 102 Dalmatians (2000), and Enchanted (2007). He is married to Brenda Chapman, the head of story for The Lion King (1994) and the co-director of The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Brave (2012). Life and career Kevin was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His grandparents were both Portuguese. Lima studied film and animation at the California Institute of the Arts, during the mid-1980s. Lima's student film Let's Misbehave was later preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012. After graduation, he went to Taiwan for half a year to work on The Brave Little Toaster (1987). Then, he worked on The Chipmunk Adventure (1987), where he met Glen Keane, one of many artists, who had left Disney after The Black Cauldron (1985) had failed at the box office. Keane persuaded Lima to apply at Disney, where he got a job, despite the fact that he was turned down three years earlier. At Disney, Lima worked as a character animator on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and Oliver & Company (1988), as a character designer on The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), and Beauty and the Beast (1991), and as a storyboard artist for Aladdin (1992). Wanting to direct a feature film, he left Disney for Hyperion Pictures, where he worked on the television series Itsy Bitsy Spider and films such as Bébé's Kids (1992). He returned to Disney where he directed the animated film A Goofy Movie (1995). Before the film's release, Lima had been approached by Jeffrey Katzenberg to direct Tarzan (1999). He initially declined the offer as he was confounded by Katzenberg's decision to have the film animated in Canada under the Walt Disney Television Animation division. Months later, he was asked again by Michael Eisner to direct the film, but instead animated by the Feature Animation division. He accepted, and months later, he was paired with Chris Buck. Following the release of Tarzan (1999), Lima wanted to direct live-action films, and subsequently left Disney once again.