High Life: A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : From Trash Can to Magic Lamp : Screenwriting: Two Saddleback High School alumni are in the credits for Disney’s newest animated adventure, ‘Aladdin.’

Those visiting the Santa Ana Zoo in the late ‘70s might have witnessed--and even been entertained--by the antics of Terry Rossio and his high-school buddy, Ted Elliott.

The two Saddleback High School students spent their off-campus hours performing skits and filming them throughout Orange County, from the zoo to the local mountains.

They called their collaboration the Magnificent Garbage Men (MGM) Players Assn., and with their friends were responsible for such films as “New Zoo Revue,” “The Greatest Chase” and “Killer Trash Can.”

They said they rated their own movies--”R” for ridiculous .

Their most recent project is rated “G,” and it’s just a bit more successful than “Killer Trash Can.”

Rossio and Elliott are two of the screenwriters responsible for Disney’s newest animated adventure, “Aladdin.”

Remaining good friends since they graduated from high school (Rossio in ’78 and Elliott a year later), they have worked together for 10 years, writing scripts for movies and television. On “Aladdin,” they helped design the story, the theme and the film’s characters.

Rossio and Elliott said they found it especially pleasurable to work with Robin Williams, who provided the genie’s voice.

It was “just a delight,” Rossio said. “I felt as though I should pay admission.”

The two friends created a jumping-off point for Williams by writing the genie’s actual lines, then letting the comedian develop them.

“A lot of funny stuff had everyone rolling in the aisles--some stuff that would never make it in a Disney animated feature,” Rossio said.

They said they also found it a thrill to be able to suggest lines that made Williams laugh.

For Rossio and Elliott, working in the film industry had been a lifelong dream. They became interested in the entertainment field because of their early infatuation with science fiction.

“I’ve had a lot of interest in ‘Star Trek’ since the fifth and sixth grades,” said Elliott, who lives in Costa Mesa. “I read much of the behind-the-scenes literature and found that filmmaking was a really neat field.”

Thus was planted the creative seed behind the MGM Players Assn.

“It’s the sort of thing that happens a lot for film enthusiasts,” said Rossio, who lives in Corona del Mar. “You don’t plan it; you just do it. The thing we took from it is the fun of creating. We didn’t create a brilliant product, but got a taste for how it really is.

“We got what’s really nice about the film industry--working with nice people on something that you all believe in.”

After they graduated from Saddleback High, the two made a vow to pursue their dream for 10 years.

They kept in touch with another Saddleback alumnus, George Escobar, who knew people who were interested in producing a low-budget comedy film but needed a script. This was to be Rossio and Elliott’s first attempt at professional screenwriting.

They wrote 10 unsuccessful scripts until, finally, they penned “Little Monsters,” a 1989 film that featured Fred Savage, and the one they consider their “break.”

Then, armed with an agent, Rossio and Elliott were presented with other writing assignments. Their adaptation of “Princess of Mars” pleased Walt Disney Pictures, which then offered them a three-year contract with Hollywood Pictures, a division of Disney.

Their success with “Aladdin,” Rossio said, is the equivalent of a professional athlete saving his best season for the final year of his contract. With their contract at Disney coming to an end in February, they look forward to doing free-lance work, for Disney and other studios.

“There’s no better place to be than Disney and no higher level,” Rossio said. “I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I’m really doing this.”

Rossio and Elliott said they have two more animated projects--”Sinbad” and a science-fiction adaptation of “Treasure Island”--in the works for Disney.

“There are only 31 animated features made by Disney,” Rossio said. “And it’s a good feeling to be part of a tradition of movies like ‘Snow White’ and ‘Pinocchio.’ ”