Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Ward Walrath Kimball

Gender: N/A

Place of birth: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 82

TV Involvements: 2


Most Famous Work

Biography

While Kimball was a brilliant draftsman, he preferred to work on comical characters rather than realistic human designs. Animating came easily to him and he was constantly looking to do things differently. Because of this, Walt Disney called Ward a genius in the book The Story Of Walt Disney. While there were many talented animators at Disney, Ward's efforts stand out as especially unique.Kimball created several classic Disney characters including the Crows in Dumbo; Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland; the Mice and Lucifer the Cat from Cinderella; and Jiminy Cricket fromPinocchio. He also animated the famous "Three Caballeros" musical number from the Disney film of the same name.In 1953, Kimball became a director and was responsible for the Academy Award-winning short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, and three Disney television shows about outer space that put the United States into the space program. He received anAcademy Award for the short animated cartoon It's Tough to Be a Bird.Ward Kimball was profiled by the Academy Award-winning producer Jerry Fairbanks in his Paramount Pictures film short series Unusual Occupations. This 35mm Magnacolor film short was released theatrically in 1944 and focused on Kimball's backyard railroad and full sized locomotive.Kimball was also a jazz trombonist. He founded and led the seven-piece Dixieland band Firehouse Five Plus Two, in which he played trombone. The band made at least 13 LP records and toured clubs, college campuses and jazz festivals from the 1940s to early 1970s. Kimball once said that Walt Disney permitted the second career as long as it did not interfere with his animation work.Kimball continued to work at Disney up until the early 1970s, working on the Disney anthology television series, being one of the writers for Babes in Toyland, creating animation for Mary Poppins, directing the animation for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and working on titles for feature films such as The Adventures Of Bullwhip Griffin and Million Dollar Duck. His last staff work for Disney was producing and directing the Disney TV show The Mouse Factory. He continued to do various projects on his own, even returning to Disney to do some publicity tours. Additionally, Kimball worked on an attraction for Disney's EPCOT Center called The World Of Motion.

Most Famous Work

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Average
7
Cinderella
Average
7

Cinderella

(1950) Animation Director
Alice in Wonderland
Average
7

Alice in Wonderland

(1951) Animation
Pinocchio
Average
7

Pinocchio

(1940) Animation Director
The Wonderful World of Disney: Presented by Disney+
Average
8
Dumbo
Average
7

Dumbo

(1941) Animation
Fun and Fancy Free
Average
6

Fun and Fancy Free

(1947) Animation Director
Peter Pan
Average
7

Peter Pan

(1953) Animation Director

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2022 Himself (archive footage)
2019 Self - Disney Animator (archive footage)
2009 Self (archive footage)
Self (Archive Footage)
2007 Ward Kimball (archive footage)
2005 Self (archive footage)
Self (Archive Footage)
Self (Archive Footage)
2004 Ward Kimball (archive footage)
2000 Himself
Himself
1997 Self
1993 Self
1989 Self
The IRS Chief
1988 Self
1969 Bird Fancier
1962 Self
1959 Self
1956 Self
1954 N/A
1951 Self
1950 Himself - Firehouse Five Plus Two
1941 Ward (voice) (uncredited)
Ward Kimball
Year Character Movie/Tv

Creator

Year Role Movie/Tv
1972 Creator
Year Role Movie/Tv

Visual Effects

Year Role Movie/Tv
1971 Animation Director
1968 Animation
1964 Animation
1963 Animation
1953 Animation
Animation
Animation
Animation Director
1951 Animation
1950 Animation Director
1949 Animation
Animation Director
1948 Animation
Animation
1947 Animation Director
1946 Animation
Animation
1945 Animation
1944 Animation
Animation
1943 Animation
Animation
Animation
Animation
Animation
1942 Animation
1941 Animation
Animation
Animation
Animation
1940 Animation
Animation
Animation Director
1939 Animation
1938 Animation
Animation
1937 Animation
Animation
1936 Animation
Animation
Animation Production Assistant
1935 Animation
Animation Production Assistant
1934 Animation Production Assistant
Animation Production Assistant
Animation
Animation
Animation Production Assistant
Year Role Movie/Tv

Production

Directing

Writing


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