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Herb Ryman, Warp and Weft

For some, Herb Ryman is the 'other' Walt Disney. His art expressed Walt's vision for Disneyland. John Donaldson wrote a memoir of Herb called Warp and Weft. Any good? Let's find out what reviewer (and ace columnist!) Jeff Heimbuch thinks...

- by Jeff Heimbuch, March 18, 2011

Without Herb Ryman, there wouldn't be a Disneyland as we know it. It's just that simple. But wait, you say: Walt was the driving force behind Disney. Who's this Ryman guy, and why is he so important?

I won't disagree that Walt was the man behind the magic. It was his idea, his enthusiasm, his dedication to Disneyland that made it become a reality. But it was Herb Ryman who first put pencil to paper to make Walt's dream take form.

Herb Ryman: Before Disney

For most Disney fans, Herb's professional life is well-known. Prior to Disney, Herb worked at MGM as a storyboard artist for Mutiny on the Bounty and David Copperfield. He even had a hand in creating the Emerald City for The Wizard of Oz.

Soon after, at a gallery showing of his work in Los Angeles, Herb met Walt Disney for the first time. Walt was so impressed with Herb's art that he offered him a job at the Studios.

Herb Ryman: At Disney

At Disney, Herb worked as an art director on many of the classic animated films, such as Dumbo and Fantasia. However, it was Disneyland that became his greatest artistic achievement.

He helped design most of the iconic park imagery, as well as the park layout itself. As the story goes, Herb and Walt spent a weekend together, locked inside the studio, creating a concept map of the park to show potential investors.

Herb also had a hand in many of the attractions at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Tokyo Disneyland.

Enter John Donaldson

While his professional career is well-documented, not much was known about Herb's personal life. The man remained a mystery. That is, until John Stanley Donaldson came along. John is the author of Warp and Weft: Life Canvas of Herbert Ryman, an incredible book not so much about Herb the artist, Herb the Disney Legend, but Herb the person.

John was Herb's protege and close friend for many years. He practically grew up in Herb's house, and this intimate connection enables him to write about Herb with great personal insight. In John's book you'll get to know Herb just as John got to know him over a lifetime.

While the book is billed as a biography and memoir of Herb Ryman's life, it would be unfair to leave it at that. Though the book is a biography, it's also a fascinating glimpse into Herb's entire world. For instance, John spends a lot of time drawing parallels between the upbringings of Herb and Walt. The story of their younger lives is very similar, and it shows how these two men, raised in comparable circumstances, came to be friends and work together.

John also spends time tracking the lives of other folks. Many of these interludes take up entire chapters, and may cause you to wonder why John included them. But no matter how inconsequential it may seem at the time, learning about these ancillary people is essential to prepare you for how their lives intersected with Herb. Some of the more notable folks discussed in the book and who had an effect on Herb's life include the Peking Man, Marilyn Monroe, and Howard Hughes!

Controversy

Warp and Weft has generated some controversy that warrants discussion.

After reading the book, it's obvious that John holds no good will toward Herbert's sister Lucille or her husband, actor John Carroll. The two come off as a combination of con man Frank Abagnale Jr. and Abbott & Costello. In the book, the two of them stumble and con their way through life, seemingly defrauding everyone they come across, including Herb.

While Herb did his best to get away from them, John claims that Lucille tried to milk Herb's legacy after his death. Some of the stories are fantastically outlandish, but John provides evidence through extensive documentation and sources, making them hard to dismiss out-of-hand. If you visit John's website, Incanio, you'll even be able to hear audio tapes recorded by Lucille of her brother Herb who then was on his death bed.

You're left to draw their own conclusions - and encouraged to do so.

The coverage has distressed some in the Disney community, as Lucille spent a lot of her time after Herb's death promoting the Ryman-Carroll Foundation (now known as Ryman Arts), which helped other young artists in honor of her brother's legacy.

The book also paints a discouraging picture of a few other Disney Legends, but again, the opinion is presented, and readers left to decide for themselves.

Regardless of whether these events did, in fact, happen as John describes them, they do make for a very interesting story.

Style

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the style in which the book was written, since it may turn off a few readers.

John wrote the book much like an epic poem. His somewhat peculiar lyrical style alternates between rhyme, word-play, and alliteration, seemingly at the drop of a hat.

I won't lie: the style made it very difficult for me to get into the book, initially. But once I got used to it, I found that it provides a unique perspective to the narrative, perhaps even enhancing it.

The book becomes almost like a piece of Ryman's art, the words a brush that flow in different styles almost seamlessly, painting the incredible tapestry of Herb Ryman's life.

Buy It or Burn It?

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much. It is probably the most in-depth book ever written about any Disney Imagineer, and a fitting tribute to an important Disney Legend.

While I would have enjoyed reading a bit more about the process of Herb's art, especially since John studied technique under Herb, I found that learning about Herb's life was much more satisfying than I thought it would be.

You may be turned off by some of the more controversial aspects of Herb's life that John covers, but I believe any book that contains so much detail about an Imagineer's life, especially an Imagineer like Herb who worked so closely with Walt himself, deserves to be read by every Disney fan.

Warp and Weft: Life Canvas of Herbert Ryman by John Stanley Donaldson is available for $16.95 plus shipping at the author's website, Incanio.

Please check out my interview John Donaldson in this week's From The Mouth Of The Mouse!

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