About the Author

Award-winning author and historian Mindy Johnson once again takes readers on an epic journey into the unexplored realms of our shared past. Her critically acclaimed debut title, Tinker Bell: An Evolution, which chronicled the development of everyoneâ (TM)s favorite fairy, was honored with consecutive Family Choice Awards. A contributing writer for The Walt Disney Film Archives: The Animated Movies 1921â "1968 (Taschen Publishing) and the celebrated book Marc Davis: Walt Disneyâ (TM)s Renaissance Man (Disney Editions), Mindy is a frequent speaker and writer on early cinema, animation, womenâ (TM)s history, and creativity. Sheâ (TM)s also an award-winning playwright, songwriter, musician, and contributing artist on several internationally acclaimed recordings. Mindy continues to teach, write, and consult for various entertainment entities . . . between tea breaks.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
"Award-winning historian Johnson chronicles the invaluable role women have played in animation history, especially in the creation and duration of Walt Disney Studios. Chapters--arranged chronologically by decade from the 1920s to the 1980s--begin with time lines that contextualize the evolution of Disney within world events. Johnson details the creative process behind every Disney feature--how it deviated from its predecessors; how animation techniques advanced; and how it relied on the amazing, often-overlooked work done by women."--American Library Association Booklist, Starred Review

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
"Here's A Book About The Hundreds Of Women Artists Who Helped Create The Disney Classics."--Cartoon Brew

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
"Mindy Johnson tells, for the first time, a complete and detailed history of the women who made a significant contribution to the success of The Walt Disney Company and in the field of animation. At 384 pages, it's an extensively detailed book filled with photographs, diagrams, drawings and artwork--many of which have never been seen before now."--Huffington Post

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
"Mindy Johnson's new book, Ink Paint, is a game changer. It's a major book that tells the history of animation from the point of view of the women who were part of its birth, its decades of production, and its long term success. It's published by Disney Editions--and the Disney studio story is a major part of its focus. But Johnson learned, while doing her research, that women played an important part in animation before (think Margaret Winkler), during (think Fleischer's Lillian Friedman or Lantz's LaVerne Harding) and in present day (think Brenda Chapman, among many others) well beyond Disney."--Cartoon Research

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
"No serious scholar of Disney animation should be without this authoritative volume."--Brian Sibley, writer, broadcaster, and Disney scholar

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
"Setting the record straight, Johnson has produced an encyclopedic, well-researched and fascinating account of women in the film industry. It encompasses everything from the invention of celluloid, to the silent film genius Georges Méliès' staff hand coloring of film footage, to Disney studio's Ink Paint department."--New York Journal of Books

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
"The size and weight of this volume is matched only by its scope. Disney scholar Johnson, whose previous book detailed the history of Tinker Bell, has outdone herself this time around."--Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
One of "19 great coffee table books for Disney fans"--Business Insider

PRAISE FOR INK PAINT
One of "20 Books Every True Disney Fan Should Have in Their Collection"--POPSUGAR

PRAISE FOR PENCILS, PENS BRUSHES: A GREAT GIRLS' GUIDE TO DISNEY ANIMATION "In this inspiring picture book, Johnson celebrates the many talented women who worked for Walt Disney Studios: writers, dancers, singers, chemists, pilots, and--of course--artists. Some of these women achieved
greatness while working at Disney, such as Dorothy Ann Blank, one of the credited writers for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Others found fame later in life: Mildred Rossi, who did the special effects for Chernabog
in Fantasia, also designed many famous Hollywood monsters. Some studied under Nelbert Murphy Chouinard, who agreed to teach Disney animators how to draw realistically when no man would. Bové channels
Disney legend Mary Blair through her bright, playful illustrations. These career-oriented women are pictured hard at work--and happy! Their inkwells, sketches, and diplomas fly off their desks in a whimsical frenzy. Flowers and paintbrushes swirl around their smiling faces. . ."--American Library Association Booklist

PRAISE FOR TINKER BELL: AN EVOLUTION One of "47 Incredibly Unique Books To Buy Everyone On Your List . . . #15. For Disney obsessives."--BuzzFeed