---
name: "Jonathan Roberts"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jonathan-roberts"
fi1m_id: "jonathan-roberts"
imdb_id: "nm0731271"
tmdb_id: 7933
wikidata_id: "Q946215"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "10 May 1956"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 64
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-05T01:51:45.450371+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jonathan Roberts

## Identity

Jonathan Roberts

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jonathan-roberts
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jonathan-roberts
- **IMDb ID:** nm0731271
- **TMDB ID:** 7933
- **Wikidata ID:** Q946215
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Roberts_(writer), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q946215, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731271/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7933

Writer. Born 10 May 1956 in Boston.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 10 May 1956, Boston
- **Active:** 1994–2019
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 writing, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Don Hahn](https://film.one/person/don-hahn.md), [Irene Mecchi](https://film.one/person/irene-mecchi.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 64, as writer, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 77 (2), 2000s 52 (1), 2010s 52 (1), 2020s 57 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 64 to 58 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 2 under 60
- **Genres:** Animation 4, Drama 4, Family 4, Adventure 2
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $3,105m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Roberts_(writer), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q946215, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731271/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7933

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Lion King*](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md) (84), [*The Hunchback of Notre Dame*](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Jonathan Roberts is an American screenwriter and television producer. Born in Boston on 10 May 1956, he studied English literature at Brown University and completed a summer graduate programme at Harvard on book and magazine publishing.

His early writing included the non-fiction books *The 80s: A Look Back* and the *New York Times* bestseller *The Official Preppy Handbook*. Roberts's first screenplay credit was on *The Sure Thing* (1985). He later wrote episodes for the television series *Fast Times* and served as producer on *Beverly Hills, 90210* and *Head of the Class*.

Roberts joined Disney's story department and co-wrote the screenplay for *The Lion King* (1994) with Irene Mecchi and Linda Woolverton. He also co-wrote *James and the Giant Peach* (1996) and *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), and contributed additional screenplay material to *Khumba* (2013).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Wrote (4) — the average rests on these

- *The Lion King* (2019), Fi1m 52, Original Film Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king-2019.md)
- *Dinosaur* (2000), Fi1m 52, Story Consultant — [page](https://film.one/film/dinosaur.md)
- *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), Fi1m 70, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md)
- *The Lion King* (1994), Fi1m 84, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Mufasa: The Lion King* (2024), Fi1m 57, Thanks — [page](https://film.one/film/mufasa-the-lion-king.md)

## Complete filmography (13)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Mufasa: The Lion King* (2024), Thanks — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/mufasa-the-lion-king.md)
- *The Lion King* (2019), Original Film Writer — Fi1m 52, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king-2019.md)
- *Khumba* (2013), Writers' Assistant
- *Timon & Pumbaa's Virtual Safari 1.5* (2004), Original Film Writer
- *The Road to The Sure Thing* (2003), Actor
- *Monsters, Inc.* (2001), as Additional Writing — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/monsters-inc.md)
- *Jack Frost* (1998), Screenplay
- *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), Screenplay — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md)
- *James and the Giant Peach* (1996), Screenplay
- *The Lion King* (1994), Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md)
- *I Was a Teenage Zombie* (1987), Original Music Composer
- *Once Bitten* (1985), Screenplay
- *The Sure Thing* (1985), Writer

## Awards

### Other awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- Hugo Awards 2002: Best Dramatic Presentation (nominated), for *Monsters, Inc.*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jonathan-roberts