TODD JAMES PIERCE
TODD JAMES PIERCE lives in a town called Orcutt, California, which is in the northern portion of Santa Barbara County. He is the author or co-author of eight books, including Newsworld, which won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. His work has been published in over 80 magazines and literary journals, including The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review, Harvard Review, Indiana Review, The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, North American Review, VQR, and Willow Springs.
Making Mary Poppins: The Sherman Brothers, Walt Disney, and the Creation of a Classic Film
W. W. Norton & Company – November 11, 2025
The untold story behind a beloved classic.
Making Mary Poppins reveals the extraordinary true story behind the creation of one of the most beloved films of all time―and the two little-known songwriters who helped make it possible.
Long before Mary Poppins danced across the rooftops of Edwardian London and into the hearts of millions, Robert and Richard Sherman were struggling songwriters in Los Angeles, trying to find their voices―and their futures. In this vivid and deeply researched narrative, author and Disney historian Todd James Pierce traces the unlikely path that brought the Sherman brothers to Walt Disney’s attention, and how their personal history, musical genius, and emotional lives shaped the film’s unforgettable songs and surprising storyline.
From their early days writing novelty tunes to the high-stakes drama of working with P. L. Travers and Walt Disney himself, the Sherman brothers’ story is rich with behind-the-scenes intrigue, creative breakthroughs, and quiet triumphs. Their work on Mary Poppins not only launched their careers―it transformed Disney’s live-action division and influenced an entire era of musical filmmaking.
Filled with never-before-published details and backstage portraits, Making Mary Poppins is a story of art, ambition, and resilience. It’s also a story of family―of the bond between two brothers whose brilliance gave the world “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Feed the Birds,” and a vision of magic that still resonates today.
A must-read for Disney fans, film buffs, and lovers of classic musicals, this is the definitive account of how one magical nanny came to life and helped change the face of Hollywood.
Praise for Making Mary Poppins
"This heart-warming account details how Mary Poppins, Walt Disney’s classic 1964 movie musical about an English nanny, came to be, especially through the contributions of its songwriting duo, Bob and Dick Sherman(…)Pierce relates fascinating, behind- the-scenes stories about the film’s production and post-production process(…)At the close, readers will feel even more connected to this beloved movie." ―Biz Hyzy, Booklist
"Until now no one has captured the full story of how Walt Disney's extraordinary Mary Poppins came about. . . . It is the saga of two brothers whose careers crystallized when Walt Disney saw something special in their creative DNA." ―Leonard Maltin
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WARD KIMBALL
Maverick of Disney Animation
University Press of Mississippi - January 15, 2019
Besides Walt Disney, no one seemed more key to the development of animation at the Disney Studios than Ward Kimball (1914–2002). Kimball was Disney’s friend and confidant.
In this engaging, cradle-to-grave biography, award-winning author Todd James Pierce explores the life of Ward Kimball, a lead Disney animator who worked on characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, the Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter. Through unpublished excerpts from Kimball’s personal writing, material from unpublished interviews, and new information based on interviews conducted by the author, Pierce defines the life of perhaps the most influential animator of the twentieth century.
As well as contributing to classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio, from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, Kimball established a highly graphic, idiosyncratic approach to animation alongside the studio’s more recognizable storybook realism. In effect, Ward Kimball became the only animator to run his own in-studio production team largely outside of Walt Disney’s direction. In the 1950s and 1960s, he emerged as a director and producer of his own animation, while remaining inside Disney’s studio.
Through Kimball, the studio developed a series of nonfiction animation programs in the 1950s that members of Congress pointed to as paving the way for NASA. The studio also allowed Kimball’s work to abandon some ties to conventional animation, looking instead to high art and graphic design as a means of creating new animated forms, which resulted in films that received multiple Academy Award nominations and two awards.
Throughout his life, Kimball was a maverick animator, an artist who helped define the field of American animation, and a visionary who sought to expand the influence of animated films.
praise for the life and times of ward kimball
“Any Disney fan will have a truer understanding of Walt’s world after experiencing this book.”—Tim Baldwin, Amusement Today
"The Life and Times of Ward Kimball is the most in-depth biography ever written about any Disney artist. Despite the tremendous amount of details (most of which are new even to me) the material is presented in such a compelling way that one cannot stop reading and going from discovery to discovery.”—Didier Ghez, author of Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality, Disney’s Grand Tour: Walt and Roy’s European Vacation, Summer 1935, and the They Drew as They Pleased series
"The Life and Times of Ward Kimball is a valuable and groundbreaking book. It deals comprehensively with aspects of Ward Kimball’s long and varied life that have not been examined with any thoroughness before, specifically his roles as a popular jazz musician and a celebrated connoisseur of vintage railroad rolling stock. That Kimball was able to pursue such interests while cementing his reputation as one of Walt Disney’s most skilled and creative animators and directors is truly remarkable.”—Michael Barrier, author of The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney and Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age
THREE YEARS IN WONDERLAND
The Disney Brothers, C. V. Wood, and the Making of the Great American Theme Park
University Press of Mississippi – March 10, 2016
While the success of Disneyland is largely credited to Walt and Roy Disney, there was a third, mostly forgotten dynamo instrumental to the development of the park—fast-talking Texan C. V. Wood. Three Years in Wonderland presents the never-before-told, full story of “the happiest place on earth.” Using information from over one hundred unpublished interviews, Todd James Pierce lays down the arc of Disneyland’s development from an idea to a paragon of entertainment.
In the early 1950s, the Disney brothers hired Wood and his team to develop a feasibility study for an amusement park Walt wanted to build in southern California. “Woody” quickly became a central figure. In 1954, Roy Disney hired him as Disneyland’s first official employee, its first general manager, and appointed him vice president of Disneyland, Inc., where his authority was exceeded only by Walt. A brilliant project manager, Wood was also a con man of sorts. Previously, he had forged his university diploma. A smooth-talker drawn to Hollywood, the first general manager of Disneyland valued money over art. As relations soured between Wood and the Disney brothers, Wood found creative ways to increase his income, leveraging his position for personal fame. Eventually, tensions at the Disney park reached a boiling point, with Walt demanding he be fired.
In compelling detail, Three Years in Wonderland lays out the struggles and rewards of building the world’s first cinematic theme park and convincing the American public that a $17 million amusement park was the ideal place for a family vacation. The early experience of Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and C. V. Wood is one of the most captivating untold stories in the history of Hollywood. Pierce interviewed dozens of individuals who enjoyed long careers at the Walt Disney Company as well as dozens of individuals who—like C. V. Wood—helped develop the park but then left the company for good once the park was finished. Through much research and many interviews, Three Years in Wonderland offers readers a rare opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the men and women who built the best-known theme park in the world.
Praise for THREE YEARS IN WONDERLAND
“Three Years in Wonderland is one of the most important contributions ever made to Disney parks history. Meticulously researched, it is a revolutionary book which sheds new light on the early days of Disneyland. Written with passion and talent, Todd Pierce’s magnum opus is a fascinating read for Disney enthusiasts and history buffs alike.“—Didier Ghez, author of Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality; Disney’s Grand Tour: Walt and Roy’s European Vacation, Summer 1935; and They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney’s Golden Age