Irene Mecchi

American screenwriter and playwright

Irene Mecchi (born September 21, 1949) is an American screenwriter and playwright, whose prominent works include screenplays for several Disney animated films. She co authored the screenplays for The Lion King (1994), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Hercules (1997). With co author Roger Allers, she received a 1998 Tony nomination for writing the book for The Lion King stage musical.

Mecchi was born in the third generation of her family that lived in San Francisco, California. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in theater. Her first work began when she wrote a series of children's programs for Nickelodeon such as By the Way. Mecchi's first network writing assignment was on the Emmy Award winning Lily Tomlin special, Lily: Sold Out. Several months later, she was joined by Jonathan Roberts during the rewriting process of the screenplay. She would later re team again with Allers to contribute additional screenplay material to The Lion King 1½. Mecchi served as the co screenwriter for the Pixar film, Brave, which was co directed by Brenda Chapman. In June 2013, Chapman stated she and Mecchi were developing Rumblewick at DreamWorks Animation, which went unproduced. In November 2014, it was announced Mecchi was co writing the screenplay for Lucasfilm's animated musical film, Strange Magic. That same year, she wrote the teleplay for NBC's Peter Pan Live!, in which she revised the characterization of Captain Hook.