Description: The first major biography of the influential, visionary Disney animator
Brief description: Todd James Pierce is professor of literature at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. He is author of Newsworld, which won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize; Making Mary Poppins: The Sherman Brothers, Walt Disney, and the Creation of the Classic Film; The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation; and Three Years in Wonderland: The Disney Brothers, C. V. Wood, and the Making of the Great American Theme Park, the latter two published by University Press of Mississippi. His work has appeared in over seventy magazines and journals. He has contributed to and appeared in documentaries focused on the history of the Disney Company, including those presented on ABC, PBS, BBC, the History Channel, and Hulu.
Review Quotes: The Life and Times of Ward Kimball is an immensely readable biography, packed with detailed information and displaying obvious passion for its subject. Pierce's passion for Kimball and his work is palpable, and yet he never falls into the trap of presenting Kimball as a maligned auteur. Instead, he takes pains to show how Disney worked as a studio, with a productive tension between the management and the artists, and a focus on collaborative work.--John A. Riley "Fantasy/Animation"