Award-winning author, historian, filmmaker, educator, musician and more, Mindy Johnson’s creative accomplishments reflect the diversity of her talents and experience. A leading expert on women’s roles in animation and film history, Mindy writes and speaks on early cinema, animation, women’s history, and creativity.
A recipient of the prestigious ASIFA-Hollywood June Foray "Annie" Award, given to individuals who've made a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation. Mindy's honors also include the Academy Film Scholar Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences/Oscars.org, the John Koch Historical Award from the International Magic Lantern Society, and the ASIFA–Hollywood AEF Grant, for continued research and writing on the contributions of the earliest women within our collective animated past. With several forthcoming volumes underway, Mindy's groundbreaking discoveries continue to cast light on the invisible narrative of women’s presence within the first century of the motion picture industry. Her latest landmark breakthrough is the discovery of Bessie Mae Kelley and her surviving films believed to be the earliest surviving hand-drawn animation, animated and directed by a woman, forever busting the myth of women no longer present at the dawn of the animation industry.
Mindy teaches film and animation courses in the Los Angeles area, including a first-of-its-kind course on the history of women in animation based on her continued ground-breaking research, at
CalArts — California Institute of the Arts; as well as a balanced approach to Animation History at UCLA School of Theatre Film & Television in Los Angeles, and Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA.
A sought-after speaker, Mindy explores a wide range of subjects within her presentations and appearances at numerous studios, campuses, international festivals and conferences including: Le Giomate del Cinema Muto-Pordenone Silent Film Festival, The Smithsonian Speakers Series, Ottawa International Animation Festival, NAFF Festival Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lucasfilm, Dreamworks, TCM Classic Film Festival, Toronto Animation Arts Festival International, Film Forum-NYC, D23 Expo, ABC-Network Specials, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, San Diego ComiCon, CTN Expo, World Animation Festival and more.
Published Books:
“The Only Woman Animator” Bessie Mae Kelley & Women at the Dawn of an Industry (Coming 2025)
Pencils, Pens, & Brushes: A Great Girls’ Guide to Disney Animation (2019)
Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney’s Animation (2017)
Tinker Bell: An Evolution (2013)
Through her groundbreaking work, Mindy Johnson is redefining our understanding of women's historical roles within early animation and beyond. Among her most recent breakthroughs, Mindy has uncovered several women within early animation including the collection of Bessie Mae Kelley, a female animator who began her career at Bray Studios in 1917/18... completely shattering the prevailing myth that the early animation industry was solely developed and created by men. Within the expansive range of documents, artwork and other materials contained in this landmark collection, Johnson has discovered the earliest surviving hand-drawn animated film, directed and animated by a woman!
This game-changing discovery has been digitally scanned, restored, and has now debuted at the Academy of Motion Pictures Museum. Through several forthcoming projects, audiences will soon learn the complete story of this pioneering woman — along with many other new discoveries — revealed through Johnson's ongoing work.
Mindy has produced record-breaking global campaigns, creative content, exhibitions and events for a growing list of clients including: The Walt Disney Company, AMPAS/Oscars.org, WNET/American
Masters, Stage Nine Productions, The Walt Disney Family Museum, SPARK Animation Festival, Film Forum-NYC, SiriusXM Radio, and Horipro Entertainment.
In addition to her continuing research, various literary efforts, and consulting, Mindy is also an award-winning playwright, songwriter, and contributing artist on several internationally acclaimed recordings and published compositions.