Avery Hudd (58) is a writer, mom and wife who struggles with an eating disorder. While at a writers conference, she hears the story of Syracuse resident Helen Aberson Mayer, the woman who wrote Dumbo, saved Disney from bankruptcy and put them on the map.
Helen’s story starts in 1938 when she is called a “kike” at the local butcher shop, and writes Dumbo, The Flying Elephant as a statement against Hitler and the strong anti-Semitism of the time.
In Avery’s world, she faints at the gym. At the hospital, the doctor talks to her about her eating disorder and suggests she admit herself into a residential facility that handles such things. She does, and while there starts to heal and continues to work on her story about Helen.
Helen fights with Disney for years, trying to get the credit she is due. She marries the well-off Richard Mayer, who wants her to give up her dreams of writing and become a homemaker and a mother. After again being shunned by Walt Disney and those around her, Helen slowly develops an eating disorder of her own.
Avery, on the other hand, learns how to move on from her disorder and receives praise and recognition for writing “The Woman who Wrote Dumbo”