In Memoriam: Ward Kimball
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his significant contributions to many of Walt Disney’s films, including
Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Cinderella.
Born on March 4,
1914 in Minneapolis, Kimball studied art in Santa Barbara, California, before
joining the Walt Disney Studio at the age of 20. It was there that he met his
wife, Betty Lawyer, who worked in the Inking and Paint department at the
studio.
Over the next 37 years, Kimball worked as either animator,
director or producer on most of Walt Disney’s animated films and many Disney
television features; he even animated several sequences for Disney’s first
full-length feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(1937).
His major breakthrough came in 1940, when Disney felt something
was missing from the first Pinocchio script. He wanted to develop the
unnamed cricket (who had appeared briefly in the original 1880 Pinocchio
story by Callodi) into something more substantial – and Ward Kimball was the
one to do it. So taken was Disney by the resulting Jiminy Cricket that he
ordered the script to be completely rewritten to make him the
co-star.
Kimball’s list of character credits went on to include The Five
Crows for Dumbo (1941), Panchito in The Three Caballeros (1945),
the Peter and the Wolf segment of Make Mine Music (1946), the two mice
and Lucifer the Cat for Cinderella (1950), and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
and the Cheshire Cat for the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland
(1951).
By the early 1950s, Kimball was experimenting with a new type of
“limited animation,” which was deliberately two-dimensional in style. He
produced a film employing this style, the result of which, Toot, Whistle,
Plunk and Boom, garnered Kimball an Academy Award in 1953.
In the
mid-1950s, Kimball left animated features to supervise the weekly Disney
television show, collaborating with Wernher von Braun and others on the
Tomorrowland segments of the program. The team was called upon to produce
“science factual” (as opposed to science fiction) films to educate and enlighten
America’s youth with regard to space travel.
Kimball had another great
success on his hands. When the first of these films, Man in Space, was
screened in 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower telephoned Disney to express
his admiration and asked for a print of the film. The two follow-ups, Man on
the Moon (1955) and Mars and Beyond (1957) were equally successful.
Consequently, Kimball and von Braun were largely responsible for setting up the
“Tomorrowland” exhibition at California’s newly opened Disneyland amusement
park.
Still working on the Disney television program in 1969, Kimball
brought out a half-hour featurette entitled It’s Tough to be a Bird. This
irreverent look at flight, incorporating cut-out animation and live action, won
him a second Academy Award.
Kimball retired from the Disney Studio on
August 31 1973, with an extraordinary legacy behind him. He is survived by his
wife and their son and two daughters.
co-star.<br></div>
<div>Kimball’s list of character credits went on to include The Five Crows for
<i>Dumbo</i> (1941), Panchito in <i>The Three Caballeros</i> (1945), the Peter
and the Wolf segment of <i>Make Mine Music</i> (1946), the two mice and Lucifer
the Cat for <i>Cinderella</i> (1950), and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and the
Cheshire Cat for the Disney version of <i>Alice in Wonderland</i> (1951).
<br></div>
<div>By the early 1950s, Kimball was experimenting with a new type of ”limited
animation,” which was deliberately two-dimensional in style. He produced a film
employing this style, the result of which, <i>Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom</i>,
garnered Kimball an Academy Award in 1953.<br></div>
<div>In the mid-1950s, Kimball left animated features to supervise the weekly
Disney television show, collaborating with Wernher von Braun and others on the
<i>Tomorrowland</i> segments of the program. The team was called upon to produce
”science factual” (as opposed to science fiction) films to educate and enlighten
America’s youth with regard to space travel.<br></div>
<div>Kimball had another great success on his hands. When the first of these
films, <i>Man in Space</i>, was screened in 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
telephoned Disney to express his admiration and asked for a print of the film.
The two follow-ups, <i>Man on the Moon</i> (1955) and <i>Mars and Beyond</i>
(1957) were equally successful. Consequently, Kimball and von Braun were largely
responsible for setting up the ”Tomorrowland” exhibition at California’s newly
opened Disneyland amusement park.<br></div>
<div>Still working on the Disney television program in 1969, Kimball brought out
a half-hour featurette entitled <i>It’s Tough to be a Bird</i>. This irreverent
look at flight, incorporating cut-out animation and live action, won him a
second Academy Award.<br></div>
<div>Kimball retired from the Disney Studio on August 31 1973, with an
extraordinary legacy behind him. He is survived by hi