Argh, I was so looking forward to this! Time makes fools of us all. I’m so glad this book exists and will be waiting for me when the time comes.

Anyone who’s spent just a small amount of time on this publication knows that I’m a bit of a Disney fanatic. It’s been that way ever since I was a child and my mother would take me to see the newest release and, subsequently, to buy each new film when it came out on home video. By the time I was in high school we had quite the venerable collection of Disney VHSs on our shelves. Of course, the films were the primary draw for me, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more and more interested in the behind-the-scenes stuff, the people who were responsible for making these magical parts of my childhood.
I’ve had Nathalia Holt’s The Queens of Animation sitting on my shelf for quite some time now, but it’s taken me a while to get around to giving it the attention that it deserves. Now that I’ve read it from cover to cover in just two days, I can say that it’s one of the best books on Disney that I’ve ever read (and considering how many I’ve read over the years, that’s no small feat). In engaging prose and sparkling insight, dives into the lives and work of the women who were and are a key part of Disney animation.
Though many people might not know this — I know I sure didn’t — women were actually key to the success of many of the company’s earliest features, including Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio, and Saludos Amigos. Even though far too many of them would be denied on-screen credit for their work, Holt makes it clear that these films would have lacked the magic they had without these women’s invaluable artistic and narrative contributions.
Holt does an excellent of weaving together the personal and the professional lives of these women, many of whom had to contend with both difficulties in their private lives and the deeply-entrenched sexism at the studio (and in American society more generally). Of all of the women discussed, it seems that Mary Blair exerted the strongest hold on Holt’s imagination, and it’s not hard to see why. Her work really was art, and her personal story — a jealous and alcoholic husband who abused her and a son who suffered from schizophrenia — made her personal life a maelstrom. She was, without a doubt, one of the most talented artists working at the studio, so it’s no wonder that Walt became very close to her. What’s more, her work would go on to influence those who would create such classics as The Little Mermaid and Frozen.
Though the bulk of the book focuses on the women of Disney’s golden age, Holt also shows us how, in the years of the Renaissance and after, women have become an ever-more-prominent part of Disney (and, more slowly, Pixar). Women such as Linda Woolverton would play a key role in the success of Beauty and the Beast, and Frozen was co-directed by Jennifer Lee.
The book also gives us a good glimpse of the inner workings of Disney. Nowadays, it seems impossible to imagine this company without its animated features, but it wasn’t always so. Even Walt himself gradually lose interest in the feature animation aspect of his company, pouring much more of his energy into both his live-action efforts and Disneyland (you’d never know this if you had to rely exclusively on the hagiographic commentary included with so many of the VHS and DVD releases of the past few years, which make it sound as if he was involved in every stage of even the later features). Furthermore, many Disney films that are now considered classics — and often great works of cinematic art — were box office disappointments upon their first release. Even Sleeping Beauty, now regarded as one of the best Disney features ever made, cost so much to make that it ended up losing money. As Holt shows, there were several times in the history of the company where it seemed likely that the animated feature department would be abandoned altogether. Imagine how much poorer the world would have been if it had been!
Holt also weaves in other historical information that helps to situate these women’s work against the backdrop of developments in technology, shifts in global geopolitics (World War II had an enormous impact on Disney’s studio), and labor relations (many of the women participated in a strike against Walt). As a result, we get tremendous insight into the ways in which these women’s labor was very much a part of the wider world in which they lived and worked.
The tragedy of all of this is that, for the most part, these women’s work has largely been obscured from history, their work often forgotten by the very people who came after them. Even more tragic is the fact that this isn’t at all surprising. Anyone who’s ever engaged in the study of film knows that women’s labor and artistic vision has often been systematically ignored by men in power who feel threatened by it. Fortunately, there are enough archives, including those at Disney itself, that have preserved their work. However, some important things have been lost, including Mary Blair’s mural at Disneyland (though, as Holt points out, some part of it might yet remain beneath the wall’s current occupant). It’s a humbling and haunting reminder of how vital it is to bring women’s stories to light.
In short, I absolutely loved this book. It’s an essential read for anyone who wants to learn more about the invaluable and prominent role that these extraordinary women played in the development of the world’s most famous animation studio. We owe Nathalia Holt a debt of gratitude for doing the hard work of bringing these women out of the shadows of history and allowing them their chance to bask in the sun. Without their tireless work, it’s unlikely that the Disney Renaissance that so many of us remember with fondness would ever have come about.

The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt is an engrossing read that kept my interest from the first sentence to the last. I loved reading all of the Disney history and the progression of animation. I have visited the Walt Disney Family Museum multiple times and this book reminded me of all of the animation artifacts and information that are displayed there. I especially enjoyed learning more about Mary Blair. I did find the storyline to be a bit difficult to follow at times but overall enjoyed it immensely.

Walt Disney was the neighborhood in Chicago where I grew up, claim to fame. The house he grew up in, albeit many years previous, was a few blocks from mine. Everyone new in our neighborhood had this pointed out to them.

A terrific book that I enjoyed immensely. Five women who broke the gender barrier, and became integral to the studio. Though the book , and rightly so, centers on these forgotten women, we also get a sense of Walt himself, the studios troubles, and the making of the movies themselves. A process that took years in some cases. We also learn the stories of these women, their struggles, their fight to belong to this entrenched boys club. Glad to see that Walt supported women employees. Was surprised at some of the movies that in the early days were deemed flops. Movies that are now treasured.

A wonderful narrative voice enhanced by the narration of Saskia Maarlevid.

As a woman I love that these books are being written to shed light on so many women who shaped our society and culture. reads like a novel. would love a movie to be made

Really enjoyed this one. I used to do some animation and find this art form fascinating, and I thought this captured well the magic of it. It was also refreshing to finally hear about the women in this field as it is so often male dominated.

"They have shaped the evolution of female characters in film, advanced our technology, and broken down gender barriers in order to give us the empowering story lines we have begun to see in film and animation today. In the shadow of their artistry, millions of childhoods have been shaped, with an untold number yet to come." -Nathalia Holt, The Queens of Animation

Bianca Majolie. Grace Huntington. Sylvia Holland. Retta Scott. Mary Blair.

Strong, creative, fierce, courageous women, giants of their generation who stood up in a society that told women that their place was reserved only for the home, as wives and mothers and homemakers. These women were lovers of art and animation and story. They were mostly uncredited and underappreciated, but now decades later, Nathalia Holt, a detailed and captivating writer of nonfiction, has captured their stories from the annals of history and resurrected their inspirational lives in her new book, "The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History."

Holt's newest book, was a quick read despite its more than 300 pages. Holt recounts the impact that a group of strong women made for generations of children and adults alike in bringing to life the great Disney movies of yesteryear. These women fought discrimination and sexism for years in the "boys club" that was Walt Disney Pictures in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. Their undeniable talent rose to the prominence and stood out among their male counterparts. Women of those days received significantly lower pay and were mostly limited to lower level jobs as the studios believed that the investment that they needed to put into their development would be wasted after women became married and left the workforce to raise a family.

The story follows these five inspirational women during the developments of beloved projects like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Pinocchi," "Dumbo," "Bambi," among others, but then the next wave of women involved in Disney's renaissance in the late 1980s and 90s. Culminating in the box office animated smash, "Frozen," which won for Best Animated Feature, marking the first time a female directer, Jennifer Lee, ever won an Academy Award, and the first female director in history whose film grossed more than $1 billion.

Disney's years of renaissance, when they released "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," "Aladdin," "Mulan," and others all had influential women in key roles that made significant impacts on their success. Ms. Holt did a superb job in her recounting of a history that was mostly forgotten and discarded by a male-dominated industry. She brings to life these important stories as inspiration to the next generation of storytellers, artists, animators, and filmmakers. These stories are very important and I am so glad that I got the pleasure of learning about them from such a fine writer.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone, no matter what you do, or what you aspire to, this was a wonderful book of nonfiction about a persistent societal problem that we can make further progress in as we advance through the 21st century.

I received this eBook free of charge from Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

Thank you, Netgalley for the privilege of reading this book in exchange for an honest review. While I rarely give a book 5 stars, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and thought that Ms. Holt did a great job of researching the subject and people, while still managing to write it in an interesting way. I was fascinated to hear about these women and learn not only about them, but also about the animation industry and how it developed over the years. I had no problem with the focus being mainly on Disney, as it seems that this focus kept the story from becoming confusing. Since I grew up watching Disney cartoons, movies, and basically anything Disney, I was impressed with the background information provided about the various films. This book begins at a time when women were discriminated against in practically every way, and the idea that Walt Disney gave even a few women a chance to shine was actually very impressive. It was very realistic that in many cases, it was the women's male peers that caused them the most trouble. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to read this wonderful book, and would also like to thank Little, Brown and Company Publishing, and especially Nathalia Holt for writing this book.

I was disappointed while reading The Queens of Animation because it was more talk of the animation process and less about the women and their story. Don't get me wrong, it does touch on the lives, actions, practices, and struggles of the early female animators, but that is only about a third of the book. If you want an introduction to either topic though you will find something in this book to interest you.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Queens of Animation is the fascinating history of women animators and storytellers who worked at Disney at a time when most women were relegated to inking and colouring men's work. Nathalia Holt has a vibrant and engaging narrative style, which delves right into the minds and hearts of the women she writes about, and makes their experiences come to life.


As a lifelong Disney fan, it was troubling to see how sexist Walt Disney and his company were. Holt shares the story of Brenda, a talented artist and animator who went to school with Walt, and whose soft-spoken demeanour made it especially challenging to survive as the sole woman in a story department filled with loud and sometimes obnoxious men. For example, story development meetings were designed for extroverted staff members, where ideas are shared and everyone shouts down everyone else to give their unfiltered opinions on the idea.

Once, during a particularly intense meeting where co-workers critiqued Brenda's idea, she ran to her office to escape -- and instead of giving her the space she clearly needed, her male co-workers, including Walt, actually ran after her to demand she return to the meeting. It's a horrifying experience, and it's a sign of Brenda's strength that she made it all the way to her office before breaking down. Worse, Walt is then quoted as saying that this display of emotion (read: weakness) was a prime example of why he didn't like hiring women. Not because his other staff were unable to adjust their approach to Brenda's gentler personality, but because Brenda (and presumably other women) 'couldn't handle it.' Even worse, years later for reasons that I don't think we ever learn, Brenda comes back from a holiday to find someone else in her office, and that's how she learns she's been fired. As Holt points out, her old schoolmate Walt didn't even have the decency to fire her to her face. 

Even more extroverted women found the work environment challenging. One, who was young, often had to fend off unwanted advances from co-workers, and coped by sketching herself running away from an oversized, leering Mickey Mouse. When the second woman (after Brenda) was hired to join the story department, the guard refused to let her in, and even after she entered, her co-workers refused to sit with her. When she looked for Brenda, hoping to find a friend in the only other woman in the department, Brenda was nowhere in sight -- because she'd come to hate story meetings and did her best to avoid them. And later, even as more and more women came to work in Disney animation, their efforts were often unacknowledged, so that each new generation of women came to think they were among the first. 

Holt also shares the story of Mary, a talented artist known for her watercolour style work. She managed to get a job at Disney because her husband worked there, but her talent made her a favourite of Walt's, which then led to jealousy and resentment from her co-workers, including her husband. At one point, Walt personally invites her to a highly coveted work trip, and her husband practically throws a tantrum because his wife got to go and he didn't. Mary's one of the few women in this book where we get a much deeper sense of her life beyond her work at Disney, and Holt paints us a heartbreaking portrait of Mary's unhappy marriage.

I love how Holt highlights how important female friendships were for the women who worked at Disney, and how challenging it was sometimes when broader issues challenged those friendships. One example is the animators' strike in the mid-20th century, where a pair of animators who were close friends found themselves on opposite sides on the strike. They also happened to be roommates, and so went in to work together every morning, with one of them joining the picket line and the other crossing it. Holt does a good job in showing how even those who didn't strike were likely aware of the injustices the strikers were fighting against, but they were too scared of losing their jobs to join the picket line. 

It's a troubling, at times rage-inducing, history, and I'm just happy that this book finally turns a well-deserved spotlight on these women's work. Thankfully, the book ends on a happy note, with the story of Frozen, which was the first Disney animated feature film written, directed and led by women. I loved reading about the sister summit that the film's team organized, where women throughout the company came together to share stories about sisterhood and their loving-and-complicated relationships with their sisters. I remember watching Frozen with my sister, and how much we both related to Elsa and Anna's relationship. Thanks to this book, I know now that that's largely because of the women of Disney sharing their own experiences of sisterhood, and more importantly, because of the team of Frozen listening to these experiences, and bringing them to life in Elsa and Anna.

There's likely a long way to go for Disney -- and to be fair, lots of other companies -- to be truly inclusive for women. Hopefully, books like this help begin to bridge that divide, and raise awareness of how much women have been doing for years, and how much their accomplishments have been minimized in favour of their male colleagues.

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Thank you to the publisher for an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

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This review will go live on my blog on January 6, 2020, at 8 am ET.

The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt was an enlightening read about the history and early technologies of Disney Studios, and the significant roles of an influential group of women played in this evolution of animated filmmaking. This book begins with the struggles to produce Bambi, Snow White, and Pinocchio, but the book goes on to detail it also goes on to affect movies as recent as Frozen.

For a Disney fan such as myself, I found the book to be a fascinating historical account of some of my favorite movies but also a sad telling since the book brought to light so many slights against the women who worked at Disney Studios. The women who were a large influence and contributing factor of Disney’s Golden Age, but were never properly credited, include Bianca Majolie, Dorothy Ann Blank, Sylvia Holland, Retta Scott, Grace Huntington, and Mary Blair.

Here are some nuggets I picked up while reading this book!

*The novel Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten was banned because of the author’s Jewish heritage and also for its anti-Semitism metaphors!

*Despite Bianca Majolie’s contirbutions to Pinocchio, the only female character in Pinocchio is the Blue Fairy.

*When Sylvia Holland was working on Fantasia, she took inspiration from the (then) recently founded American Ballet in NYC. CoFounder George Balanchine was delighted with her interpretation of dancing fairies to classical music. Fifteen years later, Balanchine would debut The Nutcracker in the brand new Lincoln Center. Thanks to Balanchine, who was inspired by Sylvia, The Nutcracker ballet production wouldn’t have even been created without the women of Disney Studios.

*TinkerBell’s magical glow was created by Mary Blair using a secret ingredient: the bile of an Asian Ox!

*Maleficent’s horns were inspired by the Tchaikovsky’s 1890 ballet The Sleeping Beauty. The villain Carabosse was played by a man, and his costume had dragon-like wings with two pointed horns in his headdress. Mary Blair took notes and brought that inspiration to the Disney production of Sleeping Beauty.

*In Snow White, Cinderella, and in Sleeping Beauty, roughly half the dialogue is spoken by female characters. In The Little Mermaid, 68% of the dialogue is spoken by male characters. In Beauty & the Beast, male characters have 71% of the dialogue, and in The Lion King it’s 90%. Only the return of female writers in the story department would correct this trend.

*Disney first began to develop the story of The Snow Queen in 1939. It was eventually put into the vault and was resurrected in 1977, but put back to bed until it was finally revived and put into production and eventual release in 2013.

I enjoyed this book and I want to say thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown & Company for a complimentary digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt tells of several influential women who worked at Disney Studios in the early part of the 20th Century and later on, fighting the male dominated culture and making significant impact on the company. Dr. Holt is a science writer as well as author of the New York Times bestselling author of Cured: The People who Defeated HIV and Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us from Missiles to the Moon to Mars.

I’m a big fan of animation, and even used to collect original art (cells), I’ve read several books about animation and the early years of Disney. While some of the ladies mentioned in The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt are in those books, none of them goes to the extent and detail this book does.

Many of the animation books and Disney history books really around the Disney’s Nine Old Men, and the artistry of the movies, which were only appreciated later on. Ms. Holt takes us on a trip of nostalgia in an entertaining and revealing way, but the author is not some Disney fan who decided to write a book, she takes a hard, honest look at a culture which valued women less simply because of their gender, regardless of their talents.

The author writes about the emerging technologies with Walt Disney was eager to adopt, and the company which was a lot more cautious after he left. She tells us about how involved Walt was in his own company, from storytelling, to conceptual art, music and the final product itself.

The ladies who worked for the studio, mostly uncredited, will make major contributions to many movies. The book profiles Grace Huntington, Retta Scott, Sylvia Holland, Bianca Majolie, and Mary Blair, starting in the 1930s and up to Frozen. The author goes into the creative process which took place making the movies, while I was already aware of it, the process always fascinates me by how painstaking it was and the patient those hundreds of people must have had.

This was an interesting book, and the ladies profiled are certainly to be admired. I thought the author chose well by writing about these talented ladies who also had the gumption to take on the male dominated culture and company.

The contributions the female artists made throughout the history of Disney were amazing! From the inventor of the grease pencil to the inventor of the multi-plane camera... there were so many things these women were doing but it seems the recognition of them for their innovations were unfortunately missing. I really enjoyed the history behind each of the animations-- how stories started and evolved to become the final product we see today. Even if you're not a huge Disney fan, the book revealed many interesting facts and characters (men and women, included). I appreciated the book, both for its historical value as well as educating readers about women who worked at Disney and how they were treated.

It was the 1956 rerelease of Fantasia that rocked my world. I was four years old and Mom took me to a Buffalo, NY theater to see my first movie. The images and the music made a lasting impression, driving a lifelong love for symphonic music.

I already was in love with illustrative art, thanks to the Little Golden Books that my mother brought home from her weekly grocery shopping trips. My favorite was I Can Fly, illustrated by Mary Blair. And on my wall were Vacu-Form Nursery Rhyme characters including Little Bo Peep, Little Boy Blue--which I later discovered were also designed by Mary Blair! And even later in life, I learned that Mary Blair had worked for Walt Disney. And of course, growing up in the 1950s, anything Disney was a favorite.

Especially the 1959 release of Sleeping Beauty. I was still in my 'princess' phase, which came after my 'cowboy gunslinger' phase. Mom took me to see the film. I had the Disney Sleeping Beauty coloring book. I had the Little Golden Book. And I had the Madame Alexander Sleeping Beauty doll! Sadly, my dog chewed it up but in my 40s I purchased one on eBay to satisfy my inner child.

Fast forward to the late 1980s and my husband and I were buying up Disney videotapes for our son, raising another generation of Disney fandom. His first theatrical movie was The Little Mermaid.

My fandom never took me as far as to read books about the Disney franchise or Walt. Until The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History. I remembered my love of Mary Blair and thought, Nathalia Holt has something here. I wanted to know the names and the contributions of these unknown women.

It was a joyful read, at once a nostalgic trip into the films that charmed and inspired my childhood-- and our son's --and a revealing and entertaining read about the development of animation and the rise of women in a male-dominated culture. I put aside all other books.

Holt concentrates on the women's careers but includes enough biographical information to make them real and sympathetic. I was so moved to read about Mary Blair's abusive marriage.

Holt also does a stellar job of explaining the rising technologies that would impact animation, eventually eliminating the jobs of hundreds of artists. We learn about Walt's interest in each story that inspired the animated movies and the hard work to develop the story, art, and music, along with the conflicts and competition behind the scenes.

I learned so many interesting facts! Like how Felix Salten's novel Bambi: A Life in the Woods was banned in Nazi Germany because it was a metaphor for Anti-Semitism! How Mary Louise Weiser originated the grease pencil, one of the many technologies Disney developed and perfected or quickly adapted.

And I loved the story of Fantasia. Bianca Majolie presented the music selections to Walt, including The Nutcracker Suite's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet had never yet been produced in the United States at the time! The male animators did not want to work on illustrating fairies (they instead created the Pastoral Symphony's centaurs and oversexualized centaurettes, including an African-American servant who was part mule instead of horse).

Choreographer George Balanchine was touring the studio with Igor Stravinsky, whose The Rite of Spring was included in Fantasia, and he loved the faires in the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies. Fifteen years later he debuted The Nutcracker at the new Lincoln Center and it became a Christmastime annual tradition.

I just loved this book for so many reasons!

I was given access to a free egalley by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

It's refreshing to finally be living through a time where the history of women -- and their many contributions to everything you can imagine -- is being given more than just a cursory glance. The Queens of Animation is a well-written examination of the female animators who helped bring Disney's most beloved projects to life. These animators were often the unsung heroes who made sure everything was as good as possible for the audience. Without their skill and patience, some of today's classics may not have showcased enough quality to endure for decades.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy.

A fascinating, in-depth look at Disney studios women animators through the years. As a full blown Disney maniac I was excited to see that someone had written a book about a subject that has a great deal of interest to me.
Disney fares slightly better than expected at having women on their payroll. During an era when women were expected to stay home and tend to domestic duties, Disney actually had quite a few women on the payroll, although few of these worked in animation, and none worked in managerial positions. The majority worked in the Ink and Paint department, doing the delicate work of coloring in the thousands of cels required to make Disney's animated shorts and features, but there were a few trail blazers that actually braved the male dominated animation department.

The author did a wonderful job of introducing these trailblazers to us through interesting and detailed anectodes and facts about their lives both inside and outside of the work place. It's not only a great history of females making their mark at one company, Disney, but also an interesting look back at how much women had to endure, and still have to for that matter, only a short time ago.

Wonderful book!

"The Queens of Animation" offers a chronological view of the lives and work of women writers and artists at Disney studios, from Snow White to Frozen. Author Nathalia Holt presents their story sympathetically, detailing the slights they experienced, such as being left out of film credits and receiving far lower pay than their male counterparts. Holt describes the boy's club atmosphere that permeated the studio throughout much of the twentieth century--there was in fact a Disney club only for top male animators and executives--and how sometimes women managed creative and artistic triumphs despite this, while at other times they were thwarted, frustrated, and even driven to desperation.

While there are many names and storylines to follow in this history, Holt does an admirable job of making clear who's who and presenting the women she describes as complex and memorable people. The most compelling figure is perhaps Mary Blair, whose colorful, modern artwork informed Disney animation for decades even as she faced sexism at work and personal tragedy at home.

Holt is likely at her best in describing the era when Disney animation was at its midcentury peak, though I may have found this to be the meatiest and most enjoyable part of her work because my own favorite Disney films were produced in this era. But as overt sexism begins to wane in the late twentieth century, one of the central themes of the author's work begins to fade from view, and I can't help but think that the book might have been stronger if it had been shorter and focused more strictly on the first thirty years or so of women's experiences with the studio.

Some may find that Holt's description of the men at the studio to be over-the-top or a pile-on; but the women of Disney clearly suffered in a climate where they were often not paid like their male colleagues, respected as they were, nor empowered as they were. Holt's work might be a popular history in the vein of her earlier "The Rise of the Rocket Girls," but she meticulously provides her sources. If the men of Disney are portrayed here as at times having the boorishness of Gaston, the conniving of Scar, or the arrogance of Shere Khan, there are also times in the account where men--including Walt Disney himself--are allies, giving women opportunities, embracing their contributions and honoring them (even if not enough). It's a nuanced picture and a hopeful one, as cultural shifts are leading to more women enter animation and cultural reckonings like #metoo lead us to reassess where we have been as a society and where the future might lead.

The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt is a 2019 Little Brown publication.

Although it is long overdue, it is still nice to see the women who worked on many of the classic Disney films we all know, and love, finally receiving public acknowledgement for their contributions.

Grace Huntington, Retta Scott, Sylvia Holland, Bianca Majolie, and Mary Blair are the women profiled in this book, which also follows a timeline, beginning in 1936 and ending in 2013.

The movies these ladies helped to develop, the influence they had on the process of creating these classic films, and the myriad of challenges they faced professionally and personally, are woven into the climate and history of the Disney studio.

The book is interesting, especially the creative process, which is perhaps the most enlightening aspect of the book, for me. That doesn't mean I missed the author's message, or that I didn't find it important, just that I found the art and the talent these ladies were blessed with fascinating. I also enjoyed the trip down memory lane, remembering the films that brought me such joy as a child.

The author chose these women to write about because they did a lot of important work on these films and their involvement was invaluable to their success, but unlike today, when even the smallest contribution can earn an accreditation, these ladies were ignored. Not only that, their ideas were stolen by their male colleagues, and they often worked under hostile conditions, and were sexually harassed.

This slight, is a wrong the author is trying to draw our attention to, so yes, this book has a specific intent and the author is attempting to make a direct point.

However, at times she underlined the issue too forcefully, and was a little too heavy handed, which, unfortunately, gave the book an impersonal tone. The book is also a bit disorganized and all over the place at times, and feels rushed through in places, as well.

That said, I enjoyed learning more about this hidden history of Disney. The process of change for women, and even for non-white males, was a slow one. It took years before women were acknowledged and given more freedom and control at the studio. But the conclusion is an upbeat, inspirational one, showing the great strides women have taken, the impact they had in shaping Disney, which eventually culminated with the first female directed Disney Film- Frozen.

Despite some warbles here and there, I thought this was an interesting book. I admire the creativity of these animators and am very happy to see them finally getting the recognition they richly deserve.

Overall- 3.5 round up.

Read if you: Are a Disney fan, interested in entertainment history, or just want a fabulous read about incredible women..

For many of us, no matter our nationality, age, or ethnicity, Disney movies were a staple in our childhood and can serve as a connection between the generations. From 1937's Snow White, 1950's Cinderella, 1991's Beauty and the Beast, and 2013's Frozen, Disney's animated feature films have been loved, criticized, analyzed, and reintroduced to new audiences over the years. And is any first-time trip to Disney complete without enduring the dreaded earworm that is "It's a Small World?" These movies (and attraction) would not have been possible without the groundbreaking work of female Disney animators, art directors, screenwriters, and visionaries. Their little known stories are brought to life through the brilliant writing of Nathalia Holt, who tells of their dreams, accomplishments, heartbreaks, struggles, and triumphs in this extraordinary read. After learning of the astonishing Mary Blair's anguish poured out in the "Baby Mine" scene from Dumbo, Ellen Woodbury's hilarious creation of Zazu in The Lion King, Brenda Chapman becoming the first woman to win the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar for Brave (and dedicating her win to her daughter), and Jennifer Lee organizing a women's only "Sister Summit" for Disney employees to discuss the bonds and difficulties of sisterhood during the creation of Frozen, you will be tempted to run through the highlights of the Disney canon in order to see these movies with fresh eyes (even the ones you might view as problematic, like Cinderella, or emotionally fraught, like Bambi). Holt does not shy away from discussing racial stereotypes in Song of the South and Peter Pan, so this is definitely not fan service. It is filled with stories of fascinating women who broke down barriers, overcame obstacles, and made their marks on entertainment history.


Many thanks to Little, Brown and Company and Netgalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am in awe of the work that women have put into the Disney films since the very beginning. This book laid out such an interesting story of how women shaped animation and how tirelessly they worked for such little recognition.

At times I found the timeline hard to follow as sections tended to follow certain projects or women to the end and then would jump many years back to do the same with something else. I absolutely loved learning about the women that shaped animation though and I can't wait to go back and rewatch the classic Disney movies to see the scenes that so many women once worked on.

I always find it so inspiring to learn about the women that paved the way for so many others in the world and this book had so many interesting stories to learn about.