Linda Woolverton ’79 (M.A. theatre arts) has been recognized as one of 24 remarkable women of the California State University system, in honor of Women’s History Month and the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage.
Woolverton was the first solo female screenwriter of a billion dollar movie — Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” — and the first woman to write an animated feature for Disney, “Beauty and the Beast.” The latter film won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical and was the first animated feature nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. She adapted it into a Broadway musical that was nominated for a Tony Award. Woolverton also co-wrote the animated “The Lion King” and “Maleficent.”
Beyond awards and commercial success, Woolverton changed the narrative of Disney’s female protagonists, creating “a proactive, intelligent, thinking, reading heroine — one who led with her brains, not her looks.”
The CSUF alumna returned to campus in fall 2019 to share her advice and insight on “Beauty and the Beast” with College of the Arts students performing the musical that semester. Woolverton has given much back to the campus, speaking to the graduating class of 2017, working with students and serving as an inspiration for the next generation of Titan artists.