Published in 2019
379 pages
Nathalia Holt, Ph.D. is the New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls, The Queens of Animation, and Cured. She had written for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, PBS, and Time. She lives with her husband and their two daughters in Pacific Grove, CA.
What is this book about?
In The Queens of Animation, author Nathalia Holt recounts the stories of a group of women who have slipped under the radar for decades but have touched all our lives. These women infiltrated the all-male domain of Disney Studios and used early technologies to create the rich artwork and iconic storylines that would reach millions of viewers across generations. Over the decades–while battling sexism, domestic abuse, and workplace harassment–these women also fought to influence the way female characters are depicted to young audiences.
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.
Based on extensive interviews and exclusive access to archival and personal documents, The Queens of Animation tells the story of their vital contribution to Disney’s golden age and their continued impact on animated filmmaking, culminating in the record-shattering Frozen, Disney’s first female-directed full-length feature film.
