Jennifer Lee: Writer and Director of Disney’s Frozen
FILM QUEEN CHAPTER 1 A blonde queen blasts sharp glittering icicles from her palms While the wind swirls around her she builds an ice castle on a snowy mountainside As she creates her new home the daring queen sings at the top of her lungs celebrating her freedom This scene is from Frozen the most successful animated film of all time Frozen tells the story of a magical snow queen and her heroic sister Screenwriter and director Jennifer Lee wrote the film’s screenplay She was also its codirector This made Lee the first female director of a Walt Disney Animation Studios film Many other special victories followed Frozen’s release The film won 78 awards These included Walt Disney Studio’s first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film Frozen also won a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film 4
Director Jennifer Lee attends the premiere of Frozen with her daughter Agatha producer Peter Del Vecho left and director Chris Buck right Frozen became a worldwide sensation It is the ninth highest earning movie of all time Frozen is also the most successful film by a female director As a child Lee dreamed about working for Walt Disney Studios But she never could have imagined how successful her work would become 5
A DIFFERENT DREAMER CHAPTER 2 Jennifer Michelle Rebecchi was born in 1971 in Barrington Rhode Island She was the second child of Linda Lee and Saverio Rebecchi Jennifer had a sister named Amy Linda and Saverio divorced when the girls were young Jennifer later took her mother’s last name Linda raised her daughters in East Providence Rhode Island They did not have much money Jennifer was often bullied over her stained clothes and messy hair This caused her to doubt herself Jennifer used her imagination as an escape creating stories in her head She also found comfort in drawing reading science-fiction books and playing video games Her love for mystical In high school Jennifer became a cheerleader She also played flute in the band 6
Jennifer often found her job at CVS boring But it taught her to stay positive when working with difficult customers stories and cutting-edge animation led to her career goal She wanted to be an animator for Walt Disney Studios At age 16 Jennifer got her first job She worked at CVS Pharmacy While it wasn’t her dream job the position taught her useful skills And there was a more exciting career in her future 7
