Biography: Ward Kimball

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Birth/Death

Birth/Death??Birth: 4 March 1914
Death: 8 July 2002

Occupation/Title
?Animator, Director, Writer, Producer

Bio Summary

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 4, 1914, Ward’s first recognizable drawing as a child was of a steam locomotive. He once said, his mother called him a “marked” baby because of his early obsession with railroads, a theme that would resonate throughout his life.

Early Life/Family

Education/Training

Santa Barbara School of Art

Career Outline

He joined The Walt Disney Studios, in 1934, and contributed to most all of its beloved animated features up until his retirement in 1972.

Comments On Style

Fellow Disney Legend Eric Larson once wrote of Ward’s animation style: “A powerful caricaturist of mood and action, Ward often used the same approach in his scene planning and cutting, as was shown in the first meeting of Donald Duck, Jose Carioca [the parrot] and Panchito [the rooster] in “The Three Caballeros.” The action and cutting [developed by Ward] was wild, woolly and humorous.”??Although Kimball was known as one of the Nine Old Men (nine master Disney animators that were known as the “Supreme Court of Animation”), his style of drawing was completely opposite to the way the other eight men viewed animation. The eight were proponents and masters of what was known as “The Illusion of Life” (as Disney animation has been called), which called for animating a character from within based on personality. Kimball would instead draw his characters based on a satirical point of view and the exaggeration of human characteristics.

Influences

Personality

Anecdotes

Anecdotes??(About his youth and working for Walt Disney) “We thought we were always going to be 21 years old. We thought we would always be putting goldfish in the bottled drinking water, balancing cups of water on the light fixtures, changing the labels on cans of sauerkraut juice. We were 21 years old, Walt was 30, leading the pack. Working there was more fun than any job I could ever imagine.”

Miscellaneous

Ward also directed two Academy Award®-winning short subjects including, “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom,” which was the first CinemaScope cartoon, and “It’s Tough to Be a Bird,” which featured both live-action and animation combined.
While at Disney, Ward, a trombone-player, also led several fellow Disney employees in the internationally-known Dixieland jazz band “Firehouse Five Plus Two.” He also restored and operated a full-size locomotive on his two-acre orange grove and was instrumental in sparking Walt Disney’s own interest in backyard railroads.

Filmography

Miscellaneous Crew – filmography

The Tortoise and the Hare (1934) (animator)
The Wise Little Hen (1934) (inbetween artist)
Orphan’s Benefit (1934) (inbetween artist)
The Goddess of Spring (1934) (inbetween artist)
Elmer Elephant (1936) (animator)
Toby Tortoise Returns (1936) (animator)
Woodland Café (1937) (animator)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) (animator)
Ferdinand the Bull (1938) (animator)?Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938) (animator)
Pinocchio (1940) (animation director)
Fantasia (1940) (animation supervisor) (segment “The Pastoral Symphony”)?The Little Whirlwind (1941) (animator)
The Nifty Nineties (1941) (animator)
Dumbo (1941) (animator director)
The Spirit of ’43 (1943) (animator)
Education for Death (1943) (animator) ?… aka The Story of One of Hitlers Children as Adapted from: Education for Death – The Making of the Nazi (USA: complete title)
Victory Through Air Power (1943) (animator)
Reason and Emotion (1943) (animator)
The Three Caballeros (1944) (animator)?Make Mine Music (1946) (animator)
Willie the Operatic Whale (1946) (animator) ?… aka Opera Pathetique (USA: new title) ?… aka The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met (USA: new title)
Peter and the Wolf (1946) (animator)
Fun and Fancy Free (1947) (directing animator)
Pecos Bill (1948) (animator)
Melody Time (1948) (directing animator)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) (directing animator) ?… aka Ichabod and Mr. Toad (USA: promotional title) ?… aka The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (USA: TV title) ?… aka The Madcap Adventures of Mr. Toad
Cinderella (1950) (animator)
Alice in Wonderland (1951) (directing animator)
Peter Pan (1953) (directing animator)
Melody (1953) (animator) ?… aka Adventures in Music: Melody (USA: complete title)
Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953) (animator) ?… aka Adventures in Music: Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (USA: complete title)
“Disneyland” (1954) TV Series (animator) ?… aka Disney’s Wonderful World (USA: new title) ?… aka The Disney Sunday Movie (USA: new title) ?… aka The Magical World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka The Wonderful World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney Presents (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (USA: new title)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1958) (animator)
Mary Poppins (1964) (animator)
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) (title designer)
The Million Dollar Duck (1971) (title designer)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) (animation director) ?… aka Bedknobs and Broomsticks: 25th Anniversary Special Edition (USA: longer version)
Mickey Mouse Disco (1979) (animator)
The Story Behind Walt Disney’s ‘Fun and Fancy Free’ (1997) (V) (special thanks: for sharing their memories)
Walt: The Man Behind the Myth (2001) (TV) (footage courtesy of)
Pollyanna: Making of a Masterpiece (2002) (V) (special thanks)?
?Director – filmography

Melody (1953) ?… aka Adventures in Music: Melody (USA: complete title)
Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953) ?… aka Adventures in Music: Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (USA: complete title)?Man in Space (1955) (TV)
Man and the Moon (1955) (TV) ?… aka Tomorrow the Moon (USA: reissue title)
Cosmic Capers (1957)
Mars and Beyond (1957) (TV)
The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show (1968)
It’s Tough to Be a Bird (1969)
Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? (1970) (TV)
“Disneyland” (episode “Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?”) (episode “Spy in the Sky”) ?… aka Disney’s Wonderful World (USA: new title) ?… aka The Disney Sunday Movie (USA: new title) ?… aka The Magical World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka The Wonderful World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney Presents (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (USA: new title) ? – It’s Tough to Be a Bird (1970) TV Episode ? – Man in Space (1955) TV Episode
“The Mouse Factory” (1971) TV Series?
?Writer – filmography

Toby Tortoise Returns (1936)
“Disneyland” (1954) TV Series (producer) (episode “Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?”) ?… aka Disney’s Wonderful World (USA: new title) ?… aka The Disney Sunday Movie (USA: new title) ?… aka The Magical World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka The Wonderful World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney Presents (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (USA: new title)
Man in Space (1955) (TV)
Cosmic Capers (1957) (written by)
Babes in Toyland (1961)
It’s Tough to Be a Bird (1969) (story)
Disneyland” ?… aka Disney’s Wonderful World (USA: new title) ?… aka The Disney Sunday Movie (USA: new title) ?… aka The Magical World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka The Wonderful World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney Presents (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (USA: new title) ? – It’s Tough to Be a Bird (1970) TV Episode (writer) ? – Babes in Toyland: Part 2 (1969) TV Episode (writer) ? – Babes in Toyland: Part 1 (1969) TV Episode (writer) ? – Man in Space (1955) TV Episode (writer)
“The Mouse Factory” (1971) TV Series (creator)??Producer – filmography?
Man in Space (1955) (TV) (producer)
Cosmic Capers (1957) (producer)
Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? (1970) (TV) (producer) ?”The Mouse Factory” (1971) TV Series (producer)
??Actor – filmography??Mickey: Reelin’ Through the Years (1995) (TV) ??The Wizard of Speed and Time (1989) …. The IRS Chief??The Nifty Nineties (1941) (voice) (uncredited) …. Ward???Himself – filmography?
The Reluctant Dragon (1941) …. Himself (Goofy animator)?… aka A Day at Disneys (USA: TV title) ?… aka Behind the Scenes at Walt Disney Studio ?One Hour in Wonderland (1950) (TV) …. Himself (Firehouse Five Plus Two)
“Toast of the Town” ?… aka The Ed Sullivan Show (new title) ? – Episode #6.22 (1953) TV Episode
“You Bet Your Life” ?… aka The Groucho Show (USA: last season title) ? – Episode dated 18 March 1954 (1954) TV Episode …. Contestant
Dateline: Disneyland (1955) (TV) (as Firehouse Five Plus Two) …. Himself
“Disneyland” ?… aka Disney’s Wonderful World (USA: new title) ?… aka The Disney Sunday Movie (USA: new title) ?… aka The Magical World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka The Wonderful World of Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney Presents (USA: new title) ?… aka Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (USA: new title) ? – Where Do the Stories Come From? (1956) TV Episode …. Himself? – Man and the Moon (1955) TV Episode …. Himself? – Man in Space (1955) TV Episode …. Himself? – The Disneyland Story (1954) TV Episode …. Himself
Walt Disney: A Golden Anniversary Salute (1973) (TV) …. Himself
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985) (uncredited) …. Himself
Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town (1988) (TV) …. Himself
Celebrating Walt Disney’s ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’: The One That Started It All (1990) (TV) …. Himself
“Tracks Ahead” (1990) TV Series …. Himself (1992-1996)
The Story Behind Walt Disney’s ‘Fun and Fancy Free’ (1997) (V) …. Himself
A Wish Came True: The Making of ‘Pinocchio’ (2000) (V) …. Himself
The Fantasia Legacy: The Concert Feature (2000) …. Himself
Walt: The Man Behind the Myth (2001) (TV) …. Himself (animator)
?Archive Footage?1. The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) (TV) …. Himself (Memorial Tribute)?Still the Fairest of Them All: The Making of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (2001) (V) …. Himself