When she was hired to write the story for Beauty and the Beast (1991), Linda Woolverton became the first woman to write an animated feature for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Following the film`s success, wherein it was nominated for an Academy Award, Woolverton continued to work with Disney. She wrote for films including Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994) and Mulan (1998). Her 2010 movie Alice in Wonderland made Woolverton the first and only female screenwriter with a solo credit for a billion-dollar film.

As a child, Woolverton fell in love with writing as it became a means to express her thoughts and feelings. She has revealed that she used to stay up late, reading and writing love poems to her dog. Prior to her work with Disney, Woolverton was an author of two young adult novels and a playwright, who also had her own children`s theatre company. She would even write scripts for children`s TV shows including The Real Ghostbusters and Star Wars: Ewoks. Her dream was to one day overhear someone talking about her books. While that did not come to be, Woolverton has heard several people talk about her movies in public, which she claims is a bizarre experience. Her 2019 releases include Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.