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The Queens of Animation

Nathalia Holt (Goodreads Author)

4.17 · Rating details · 1,317 ratings · 270 reviews

In this history, the author highlights Disney's largely forgotten female writers and animators. Animation aficionados may know of the studio's largely female-staffed Ink and Paint department, but the contributions discussed here embraced many other areas. Grace Huntington was the second woman ever hired for Disney's story department, as well as an avid, record-setting pilo ...more

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ebook, 352 pages

Published September 17th 2019 by Little, Brown

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Oct 10, 2019 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019

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 develo 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. ...more

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Aug 04, 2020 Diane S ☔ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: nfr-2020

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 themsel ...more

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May 20, 2020 da AL rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, non-fiction

Bravo to the heretofore unsung women of Disney and to Nathalia Holt for unearthing their history. As much as I loathe the whole Cinderella scenario, merchandising adding injury to injury, the addictive grip imposes on consumers that Disney has perfected... it's nice to see that the founder wasn't as completely despicable to women as many employers were during his reign. Holt writes well and audio reader Maarvleveld's performance is wonderful too. ...more

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Dec 17, 2019 TL rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was so fascinating to me. I don't know about youins but I never paid attention to the credits in movies *sheepish* and never thought about the people who worked on my favorite characters until I was older.
When you're little, you usually don't think about all blood/sweat/tears the people behind the scenes put into a movie. Its just a magical world you fall into and fall in love with.

I'm sure most of you have a favorite Disney character above the rest:). For me, the first ones I fell in love ...more

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Nov 19, 2019 Kristina rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography-biography-memoir, got-rid-of, publisher-s-weekly, non-fiction, disappointing, hated-em, suck, blah-bland, history, my-book

I received The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt as a Goodreads Giveaway. I’m very grateful for this because now I know to avoid all works by this author. The Queens of Animation is not a pleasure to read and I found its treatment of the subject insufficient. These women who bravely ventured into the brutally sexist and male-dominated world of 1950s and 1960s Disney animation studios did not get the ...more

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Jul 21, 2019 Online Eccentric Librarian rated it it was ok

Shelves: biography, arc, historical

I was interested in the biography aspects of lesser known employees at Walt Disney Studio in the early years. But what we have here is a book with an agenda so thick, that this isn't a biography so much as a platform to scream "white men are pigs." The women (and non white-males) are made out to be god's gift to the world (read: angelic and perfect and supremely talented) while the (obviously Caucasian) men either refuse to do work, jeer at everyone, go to parties, create the worst aspects of Di ...more

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Oct 23, 2019 MCZ Reads rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaway-winners

Thank you to Goodreads for my copy of this book!

I really enjoyed The Queens of Animation... but not for the reasons I thought I would. This book is rich with Disney history and the evolution of animation, and it highlights the work of more women than I expected. But the sheer amount of information meant that each woman is introduced quickly; I had difficulty keeping track of everyone’s names and histories, and by the end I only had the sense of who a handful of the women were as people. I feel t Thank you to Goodreads for my copy of this book!

I really enjoyed The Queens of Animation... but not for the reasons I thought I would. This book is rich with Disney history and the evolution of animation, and it highlights the work of more women than I expected. But the sheer amount of information meant that each woman is introduced quickly; I had difficulty keeping track of everyone’s names and histories, and by the end I only had the sense of who a handful of the women were as people. I feel that I learned how women in general fared in the early days of Disney, but retained less specific information about each woman individually.

I appreciated that each chapter was titled with a song lyric that had to do with the movie being developed at the time. The strongest chapters were the ones where the song or movie tied into the theme of the chapter. Halfway through the book, these connection seem to falter and it feels as though the chapter is reaching for a connection to the lyric/movie. I also found the inclusion of certain details strange, especially when other details were glossed over or admitted. For example, we learn the exact birthdates of two children (when just years, or maybe years and months, would have sufficed), but there’s only one sentence giving context for the book’s title. Small details about people who are mentioned once could have been simplified to make room for more information about the main characters.

The writing throughout the book is very basic. No line or quote stood out as impressive or memorable. What the author does do well is break down old-fashioned technology and complicated animation methods so that someone who has no knowledge of the industry, like me, can follow. The coverage of how the films were made and the art styles of each woman, and her influence on respective movies, is the book’s biggest strength, and why I’ll be keeping a copy on my shelf. That being said, these explanations sometimes define a very simple or common word, or describe a relatively modern technique, as if it’s already out of date. I guess there’s nothing wrong with writing for an audience a long time from now, but I’d never seen that before and I found it momentarily jarring.

I don’t know how I feel about the authorial tone of the book. It is not at all objective. For the most part, I agree with the author—what these women endured from their coworkers was terrible, and the racism of certain Disney films is shameful—but I’ve never seen it explicitly called that outside of an op-ed. Again, I mostly agree with the author, but the tone painted a story that was strictly black and white. This made the portrayal of Walt Disney confusing. The way this history is presented makes him either gross or charming, callous or compassionate... whatever the anecdote calls for. He’s not given any nuance. Granted, this is not his story, but frankly it means the women are always portrayed as saints. They are the heroines of this story, but I think readers would allow them their due credit even if they were flawed.

I learned more about the history of women involved with Disney; I specifically learned more about Disney’s history and the cultural context of the most well-known films. So I’m happy I read this book, even if the learning happened in a roundabout way. I’d recommend this for fans of Disney and students of art and animation. The book made me want to look up the older movies on Disney+ and look for the art techniques described in the book, and I hope others do the same. ...more

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Jul 14, 2019 Jackie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Note: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

“The rise of women in the workplace, no matter what side of the world it occurred on, was frightening to some men, and they approached the perceived threat much as toddlers would a monster under the bed — by crying about it.”

Nathalia Holt’s book tells the story of the women who helped shape the early days of Disney Studios and its projects. Before reading this, I only knew about Mary Blair, but was very excited to Note: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

“The rise of women in the workplace, no matter what side of the world it occurred on, was frightening to some men, and they approached the perceived threat much as toddlers would a monster under the bed — by crying about it.”

Nathalia Holt’s book tells the story of the women who helped shape the early days of Disney Studios and its projects. Before reading this, I only knew about Mary Blair, but was very excited to learn about other women, including Bianca Majolie, Sylvia Holland, and Retta Scott. Their stories were eye-opening, to say the least. Their contributions to Disney films such as Snow White, Bambi, Cinderella, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Peter Pan and even Saludos Amigos are criminally understated and unknown. I would go so far as to say that these works wouldn’t have existed without the talent and creativity of these women. These queens of animation had incredible hurdles to overcome, including pay inequity and their male coworkers stealing their ideas, but they persisted and helped make the studio into what it is.

Reading about the horrors of sexism and misogyny that they had to endure was especially harrowing. One incident that stood out was when Holt detailed at time that Majolie brought up one of her ideas at a storyboarding meeting, and Disney disliked the idea so much that he ripped up her sketches. The other men in the meeting began jeering at her, and Majolie ran out of the room and locked herself in her office. The men followed, eager to hurl further abuse at her, and actually broke down her wooden office door to yell at her some more. Disney reportedly said of the incident that it was one of the reasons that the studio shouldn’t hire women, as they couldn’t take ‘a little criticism.’

The Queens of Animation is an ambitious, engrossing book, covering aspects of Disney Studios history that many, including myself, would be unaware of. World and domestic politics, World War II, efforts to unionize, the shifting role of women in society and the workforce, money, segregation and racism… So much contributed to the path that Disney Studios took with its early work.

Holt also forces the reader to confront uncomfortable truths about many of those involved with Disney Studios, from artists and animators complacency in the face of racism and misogyny to Walt Disney himself. A moment that resonated with me was when Holt questions whether Mary Blair, a favorite of Disney’s, could have utilized her privilege to speak out more on the racism inherent in Song of the South, one of if not the most controversial Disney pieces. This made for compelling if tough reading, and I’m thankful for Holt bringing attention to social justice issues as well as the women who helped shape Disney Studios and its classics.

The Queens of Animation will be released on October 22, 2019. ...more

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Nov 08, 2019 Edes rated it it was ok

This book should have been called The History of Animation at Disney. I had issues with several things.

The author would briefly introduce a female animator, give a sentence or two about her, then proceed to move on to minute technical details about the process being used at that time to create animation. By the time she got back to talking about the woman, I had forgotten who she was referring to and had to reorient myself.

When I sifted out all of the technical information and the details about ...more

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Oct 21, 2019 Andrea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction-film, nonfiction, read-sorted, library, nonfiction-sexuality

Pre-reading: Hoping there would be something about Mary Blair.

After reading: And so there was plenty about Mary Blair. I had no idea that her lively, colorful, emotionally-rich art was created amidst such tragic personal life. Legendary woman.

Nathalia Holt's newest book is more of a Disney Animation Studios' biography from a female lens. She does a thorough job recreating lives and inner monologues of many women of the studio, whose voices were otherwise forgotten. The narrative can be a bit bum ...more

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Dec 31, 2020 Natalie (CuriousReader) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Finally got around to writing a review of this, my favourite book of 2020, here: https://curiousreaderr.wordpress.com/... ...more

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Nov 10, 2019 Nancy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley

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 in 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. ...more

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Jul 08, 2020 Porter Broyles rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-ecclectic, genre-history-womens-rights

Queens of Animation gives us a unique view behind the curtain. There are really three broad categories that I think have to be explored in this book:

1) The mini-biographies of the women involved--- I thought Holt did a very good job introducing us to a plethora of women who worked for Disney and made their marks there. These women were phenomenal women but not all emerged on top. Some had tragic stories, this gave them depth. The fact that some of these women's stories ended tragically or differ Queens of Animation gives us a unique view behind the curtain. There are really three broad categories that I think have to be explored in this book:

1) The mini-biographies of the women involved--- I thought Holt did a very good job introducing us to a plethora of women who worked for Disney and made their marks there. These women were phenomenal women but not all emerged on top. Some had tragic stories, this gave them depth. The fact that some of these women's stories ended tragically or differently from the way we would have liked---for different reasons---shows the realities of the times. Some of the women went on to achieve great things at Disney. Some chose different lives. Some were forced into different lives. The book was about women who worked at Disney and made a mark---but how they did so varie from story to story.

2) The stories told behind the stories --- Probably the best part of the book was learning about the stories behind the stories. What problems was Disney facing? Why did they do that movie that way? What was the feedback after that movie? Why did Disney release that movie when everybody told him it would unleash a can of whopass on the studio? What changes were made on the films? Why were they changed? What changes went undone? What stories were story boarded in the 1930/40s, but wouldn't be made int a film until the 80s/90s?

3) Did the story deliver upon its subtitle "The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History Book Discussion". I have no doubt that Holt told the stories of some her protagonist in ways to emphasize their role and impact on Disney, but she could only have done so if that role and impact existed to be emphasize. Many of the stories told in the book indciate that these women not only worked there, but achieved more than a modicum of success. The first woman to be listed on the credits as an artist, the first women to be listed in teh credits as a writer, the first woman to be listed on the credits as a producer, the women who was tasked with identifying and selecting the songs to be used in Fantasia. I have no doubt that for every story of success and achievement made by these women, that there are probably a dozen similar stories that could be told about the men of Disney. But men working for Disney was the norm---what was expected. For the women to achieve what they did, even if it was just reaching the starting line, meant that they had to climb some pretty steep walls.

This book does not push an overt feminist agenda---but it does a good job at telling a story about some feminist who changed Hollywood.

A STRONG 4 star review. ...more

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Apr 10, 2020 Moonkiszt rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookclubbable, arts-crafts-mixed-in, encroachment-displacement, do-whatcha-gotta-do, art-tour-and-training, hollywood-films-theatah-drama, be-outraged

This book found its way onto my to read list because of a recent book about Milicent Patrick, a monster creator and animator, who spent time at the Disney studio as well as some of these talented women.

Anyone interested in the roots of animation, or Disney history would find this (and the above-mentioned) read worth their time. I'm not a big animation fan, but am a child who grew up partially babysat by Popeye, Fred & Wilma, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and all the Disney princesses. I learned a very k This book found its way onto my to read list because of a recent book about Milicent Patrick, a monster creator and animator, who spent time at the Disney studio as well as some of these talented women.

Anyone interested in the roots of animation, or Disney history would find this (and the above-mentioned) read worth their time. I'm not a big animation fan, but am a child who grew up partially babysat by Popeye, Fred & Wilma, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and all the Disney princesses. I learned a very key truth about me through this process. I love the bad guys and girls, the quirkier, the better. So my interest is held by a slippery thread. . .I'm not much interested in Sleeping Beauty (my fav of the D movies). . . I LOVE MALIFICENT! Boris and Natasha? YASSSSS! Popeye? I wanted Brutus. . . . Felix the Cat? Poindexter, of course. I digress. . .

As in the book about Milicent, this one underscores the constant uphill battle in which a working woman had to engage just by breathing and being in the mix with working men who had every advantage of being on top just because of body parts present in that (and all industries). These women rarely to never got credit for their work, and every day saw men take their ideas and run with them, claim them, and if the girls tried to call them on it in any form, witnesses who could have supported their claims melted away. These ladies are all gone now, and I am ever grateful for these authors who are showing us their art, talents and efforts to survive. Every acknowledgement of inequities done, past, present and future for every human who has been deprived of fairness makes us better, helps us think twice (or as many gosh-darned times as it takes to think and get it right!), and allows our children to see we CAN change our minds and it doesn't destroy us. It makes us better people to say, yep, we were wrong, are sorry for it, and let's move on to a smoother future for posterity. . . .can we please do that?

Anyway. Good book. 3.5 stars rounded up. ...more

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Aug 31, 2019 Book Club of One rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaways, non-fiction, biographical, history, united-states, entertainment, art

I received a free copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.

The Queens of Animation is the story of Disney’s female workforce over the course of the company’s history. Like other works discussing women’s history in the 20 th century this one follows the big historical events: struggles through the depression, expansion of women’s roles in the WwII homefront, post war regression and changes brought/ forced by technological advance.

For Disney it seems nothing is new, every film was considere ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Geonn Cannon rated it it was amazing

I really enjoyed this. The story of Disney told through the women who made the studio what it is today. I always thought Disney was a big unstoppable powerhouse, so it was interesting to read about how often they bombed and came close to losing everything. Side note which only applies to the audio version: whenever the narrator quoted an article or news report, her voice was filtered to sound like it was coming from an old-time radio speaker. It was a nifty little piece of flavor that I apprecia ...more

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Jul 31, 2019 The Library Lady rated it did not like it

Shelves: good-material-poor-execution, disappointing-books, adult-non-fiction

This is the second and last book that I have read by this author. She has a gift for taking potentially terrific material about little known women and making a hash of it. Interesting tidbits here, such George Balanchine's role in the creation of the Nutcracker scenes in "Fantasia," and how that may have been the seeds of his later staging of what is now THE holiday ballet, get lost, and as in her previous book, so do the women she seeks to honor. ...more

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Feb 21, 2020 Amanda Van Parys rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, history, biography-memoir-essay, 2020

Great information and writing about the women who were forgotten but still shaped the animation at Disney. I'm glad this information has become more known and that we are able to learn about these women.

I dreamed of working for Disney as a young kid and it was actually Disney cartoons that inspired me to teach myself to draw in the first place - so I basically owe my drawing ability to Disney and these women (and also to my own hard work, but I wouldn't have been inspired without my love of Dis ...more

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Nov 23, 2019 Simone rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, 2019

Really liked this one. It’s my first nonfiction about animation and definitely opened the doors for me to read more about tv, movies, and music. Wasn’t a fan of how the book slowed down after the 1950s, but really appreciated the glimpse into the world of Animation my friends all work in.

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Nov 14, 2019 Jeimy rated it it was amazing

When I was very young I was watching the Disney Channel and there was a short newsreel that showed how the grand marshal of the Walt Disney World parade was the winner of the Disney Store's trivia competition. At that moment I knew I had to work hard and earn the right to be grand marshal at the parade.

From that day on, I read everything I could about Walt Disney and his legacy. Fast forward to my early adulthood and I win my local trivia championship and get flown to Florida to compete for my s ...more

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Mar 11, 2020 Jodie rated it it was ok

For someone who grew up with Disney princesses and now lives in a world completely overrun with all things Disney (Disney acquisition of Marvel, anyone?), I was interested in learning more about the women who pioneered roles in the world of Disney. Unfortunately, the author projected her own ideas throughout the book and obscured the legacy of the very women she wished to highlight. The prose was disjointed and jerky, the timeline hard to follow, and the female animators ended up feeling less al ...more

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Jul 08, 2020 Karin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: american-author, kapk, non-fiction, nonfiction, american, women, play-book-tag, history, historical, american-authors

Women's History written during the #MeToo times. I am a woman, of course I have had my me too moments--so many I really don't remember most of them, just some of the more egregious ones, but the feeling that one gets during them, that isn't something one forgets.

That said, this isn't about sexual innuendos that way, just about the enormous amount of horribleness it was just to be a woman in this field. Men were openly nasty about it, you were paid less, it was virtually impossible to advance, an ...more

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Mar 18, 2020 Katelynn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this one. I loved learning about the women who helped mold a field I love so much and I loved getting an inside look into the making of so many classic Disney films. My only qualm with the book is the flow of it felt very choppy at times and some stories were left in flux and never properly concluded.

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Jun 19, 2020 Lindsay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book was amazing. I'm fascinated by the story of Disney in general but this insight was incredible. I could not put this book down which is saying a lot for a non fiction. If you like Disney animated movies you should read this book. ...more

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Sep 09, 2019 Emily O rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I consider myself very lucky to have grown up during the Disney Renaissance (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, etc.) I have been a Disney nerd ever since. As soon as I saw The Queens of Animation was going to be releasing this fall, I knew I needed to read it. (Thank you @littlebrown #partner) Pub Day: 10/22/2019
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The Queens of Animation explores the (often unacknowledged) role of women in the history Disney Animation (1930s-present).
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I really enjoyed this book. While the struc ...more

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Oct 16, 2019 Toni_B_Librarian rated it it was amazing

"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 "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 more women to enter animation and cultural reckonings like #metoo lead all of us to reassess where we have been as a society and where the future might head. ...more

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Feb 06, 2020 Phyllis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-it, arcs-and-giveaways, nonfiction, book-club, art, hollywood

Thanks to Book Club Cookbook's Galley Match program and publisher Little, Brown and Company for a copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have always been a fan of anything related to Walt Disney (animation, films, Disneyland, the Wonderful World of Disney, the Disney Museum) so I couldn't wait to read this book, and I found it fascinating. The author did an admirable job of researching the history of the women who worked as animators for Walt Disney Studios and then weaving the ...more

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Nov 03, 2019 Biblio Files (takingadayoff) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I expected the book to be about the two or three women who created art for Disney studios during the heyday. I was surprised to find that about six women are profiled in detail and another eight or ten are introduced in passing. In addition to the stories of some exceptional artists, this is the story of the Disney studio when they were making groundbreaking movies such as Snow White and Bambi and Fantasia. Disney thought that feature length animated movies should be for adults but also appeal t ...more

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May 25, 2020 Julia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read this book, not because of its subject, but because of its author. A couple years ago, I read Nathalia Holt's amazing RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS, in which the PhD science writer told the true story of the women behind the space race. Never before would I have thought I, who am in the humanities, would understand anything about rocket science. But Holt explained in a clear, legible way. In addition, her book read like fiction and I was caught up in all of the women's stories.

Holt repeats this I read this book, not because of its subject, but because of its author. A couple years ago, I read Nathalia Holt's amazing RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS, in which the PhD science writer told the true story of the women behind the space race. Never before would I have thought I, who am in the humanities, would understand anything about rocket science. But Holt explained in a clear, legible way. In addition, her book read like fiction and I was caught up in all of the women's stories.

Holt repeats this magic in THE QUEENS OF ANIMATION, in which she reveals the forgotten history of the women behind the famous Disney animated movies. I must admit, I have never been a huge Disney fan. Yes, I watched many of the classics as a kid, but I was not a princess-loving girl.

Despite not having a deep love for Disney, I was completely hooked on this book. Like RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS, this reads like fiction. I was caught up in the office politics of the 1930s and 1940s, with the stories of Bianca Majolie, Mary Blair, and Retta (my favorite characters) and their challenges of being women working in a man's world. As a woman working in 2020, it's hard to imagine what it was like for these working women just a little less than 100 years ago.

Holt also deftly explains the technology of creating animated films. I especially liked learning about new new technologies that helped with visual effects. While Holt mainly focuses on the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, she does extend all the way to the past few years with movies like Moana and Frozen so the reader learns about computer animation. I liked seeing the entire evolution and how Mary Blair and the other women paved the way for the women working in animation today.

Along the way, I learned a lot about these classic movies: their original sources, the story meetings at Disney, the development, and the animation. In addition, all of this is put into the historical, societal, and racial contexts.

Now I have to wait another couple years until Holt's next book. I can't wait to see what her next topic will be, but I know she'll reveal another story of strong, independent, powerful women. ...more

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Jan 14, 2020 Chaitra rated it it was ok

Shelves: history, non-fiction, biography, art, movies, corporations, innovation

There’s a little store in Disney Springs that I visit every time I go to Disney World. It’s tiny, I’ve forgotten the name, but it sells Disney art. I buy postcards because a) I don’t have the money for the bigger ones and b) I don’t have the place to put them either. They’re newer artists, artists in residence and what have you, whose work gets periodically showcased at Epcot, but their interpretation of the old characters is really cool. I enjoy spending time there.

I was hoping this book would There’s a little store in Disney Springs that I visit every time I go to Disney World. It’s tiny, I’ve forgotten the name, but it sells Disney art. I buy postcards because a) I don’t have the money for the bigger ones and b) I don’t have the place to put them either. They’re newer artists, artists in residence and what have you, whose work gets periodically showcased at Epcot, but their interpretation of the old characters is really cool. I enjoy spending time there.

I was hoping this book would be like that. The problem is, for a book about artists, there’s very little actual art. They produced a massive amount of concept art? I get that Disney was probably not sharing, but the internet has more in the way of photos than the book. I know Mary Blair’s work, but I didn’t know Retta Scott’s work or that of Tyrus Wong. And they’re beautiful and worth looking at. The only thing I could say after reading the book was that I know the names I’m supposed to go on the internet to find. And that’s only art - I barely know their lives.

Because this book is sketchy. It has a (very annoying) format: the title tells us the movie it’s going to talk about in the current chapter, only no, it skips ahead to the next movie that it’s supposed to address in the next chapter, sometimes barely two pages into the chapter. It introduces us to a new woman who is working on I’m not really certain which of the two movies, then the studios finances and animation techniques and so on and so forth. Sometimes in the middle it remembers it’s supposed to talk about the woman and thinks of something vapid to say.

There was enough on, say, Mary Blair to fill an entire book. The least the author could do was fill a chapter with just her story. I’m interested in the graphic media being used to make the movies I love, but this book could have done with a minimum of that. I don’t think it needed the detailed production history every Disney movie from Snow White down to Frozen recounted. I wanted more of the women, but I guess they’re sidelined even in their own book. ...more

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About Nathalia Holt

Nathalia Holt

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Nathalia Holt, Ph.D. is a science writer and 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. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, and Time. She has trained at the Ragon Institute ...more