Ward Kimball
Ward Kimball | |
---|---|
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | |
Died | July 8, 2002 Arcadia, California, U.S. | (aged 88)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Covina High School Santa Barbara High School Santa Barbara School of the Arts |
Occupation(s) | Animator, musician |
Years active | 1934–1980 |
Employer | Walt Disney Productions |
Known for | One of Disney's Nine Old Men |
Spouse |
Betty Kimball (m. 1936) |
Children | 3 |
Awards | Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film |
Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honored with two Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film.
Outside of his job as an animator, Kimball was a
Early life
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Kimball was born on March 4, 1914, in Minneapolis. His father was a salesman who traveled widely. He grew up in the Midwest, often residing with his grandparents.[1]
Career
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.[2] While there were many talented animators at Disney, Ward's efforts stand out as unique.
According to Jeff Lenburg's assessment of him, Kimball was a pioneer
Kimball attended the Santa Barbara School of the Arts in order to become a painter and illustrator. Kimball's instructor at the school suggested to him that his work should be submitted to Walt Disney Productions (later known as the Walt Disney Animation Studios), and that he should pursue a career in animation.[3] In March 1934, a 20-year-old Kimball applied for a job at the Disney studio. In April 1934, he was hired as an inbetweener. He was then promoted to an assistant animator. He served as an assistant to animator Hamilton Luske. Kimball worked primarily in the Silly Symphony series, where his film credits include the animated short films The Wise Little Hen (1934), The Goddess of Spring (1934), and The Tortoise and the Hare (1935). He also worked on Mickey Mouse shorts, where his film credits include the short films Orphan's Benefit (1934) and Pluto's Judgement Day (1935).[3]
In 1936, Kimball was promoted to an animator in his own right. He continued to work in the Silly Symphony series. Some of his memorable credits in this position include the animated short films Toby Tortoise Returns (1936), More Kittens (1936), and Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938). His first solo effort as an animator was animating a grasshopper turned musician in Woodland Café (1937).[3]
As one of Disney's Nine Old Men, Kimball was tasked with animating on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film was the first feature-length animated film by the Disney studio.[3] Kimball spent months working on the scene in which the Seven Dwarfs are eating soup, prepared for them by Snow White.[3] This scene, however, was ultimately cut to shorten the length of the film.
Kimball was a strikebreaker in 1941, breaking the Disney animators' strike. He was considered a "scab" by many of his peers. "I felt terrible," Kimball wrote in his journal. "Friends on the inside waving to me to come in. Friends on the outside pleading with me to stay out; Jeezus. I was on the spot!"[4]
Following the release of Snow White, Kimball was promoted to a supervising or directing animator. He would remain in this position until his retirement in the 1970s. His employer
Kimball supervised or directed the animation of several Disney animated feature films. Among them were Fantasia (1940), The Reluctant Dragon (1941), and The Three Caballeros (1944). The last film mentioned featured the trio of Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito Pistoles.[3] According to animation historian Jeff Lenburg, The Three Caballeros is considered to have a place among the finest work of Kimball's career.[6] The film was reportedly successful in the American box office, earning about 3 to 4 million dollars.[3]
Kimball directed the character animation and sequences of the
Kimball spent much of his career animating theatrical animated short films. However, he also served as a director for some of them. He and Charles August Nichols co-directed the animated short films Melody (1953) and Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953).[7] Melody was the Disney studio's first animated 3D film;[3] Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and was the Disney studio's first widescreen CinemaScope animated film.[3] Kimball also directed the short films It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969) and Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? (1970). It's Tough to Be a Bird won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[3][8]
Kimball served as a screenwriter for the featurette Eyes In Outer Space (1959). The film combined live action and animation. It depicted weather satellites and explained how the weather is predicted. The film was originally theatrically released. Around 1962, it started being shown in Disneyland.[3]
During the 1950s, the Disney studio shifted its focus from theatrical animation to television. Kimball wrote and directed three hour-long television shows about
Kimball also worked (as a writer) on the live-action musical Babes in Toyland (1961).[3] He later returned to television and directed 43 episodes of The Mouse Factory (1972–1973).[3]
According to Jeff Lenburg, Kimball retired in 1973 and left the Disney studio. He continued, however, to serve as a consultant on special assignments. He worked on the
Other activities
Kimball was profiled by producer
Kimball was also a
Kimball continued to work at Disney until 1974, working on the
Kimball also produced two editions of a volume titled Art Afterpieces,
His three acting appearances on film were an uncredited role as a
As recounted in Neal Gabler's biography of Walt Disney,[11] Ward Kimball was a key figure in spreading the urban legend that Disney had left instructions for his body to be preserved by cryonics after his death.
Amid Amidi wrote a biography of Kimball, Full Steam Ahead: The Life and Art of Ward Kimball that was projected for publication in the fall of 2012.[12] However, publication of the biography was canceled in February 2013, which Amidi believed was due to pressure from the Disney corporation.[13]
Filmography
Year | Title | Credits | Characters |
---|---|---|---|
1934 | The Hot Choc-late Soldiers (Short) | Animator | |
The Wise Little Hen | Animator | ||
The Flying Mouse | Animator | ||
Orphan's Benefit | Animator | ||
Servants' Entrance | Animator | ||
Mickey Plays Papa | Animator | ||
The Goddess of Spring | Animator | ||
1935 | The Tortoise and the Hare | Animator | |
Pluto's Judgement Day | Animator | ||
1936 | Elmer Elephant | Animator | |
Toby Tortoise Returns | Writer / Animation Director | ||
More Kittens | Animation Director | ||
1937 | Woodland Café | Animator | |
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Animator | ||
1938 | Ferdinand the Bull | Animator | |
Mother Goose Goes Hollywood | Animator | ||
1939 | The Autograph Hound | Animator | |
1940 | Pinocchio | Animation Director / Supervising Animator | Jiminy Cricket |
Fantasia | Animation Supervisor – Segment "The Pastoral Symphony" | Bacchus and Jacchus | |
1941 | The Reluctant Dragon | Animator | |
The Little Whirlwind | Animator | ||
The Nifty Nineties | Animator | ||
Dumbo | Animation Director | The Crows | |
1942 | All Together (Short) | Animator | |
Stop That Tank! | Animator | ||
Saludos Amigos | Animator | ||
How to Play Baseball | Animator | ||
Der Fuehrer's Face | Animator | ||
1943 | The Spirit of '43 | Animator | |
Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi |
Animator | ||
Victory Through Air Power (Documentary) | Animator | ||
Victory Vehicles | Animator | ||
Reason and Emotion | Animator | ||
Chicken Little | Animator | ||
1944 | The Pelican and the Snipe | Animator | |
How to Play Football | Animator | ||
The Three Caballeros | Animator | Title Song | |
1945 | African Diary | Animator | |
Hockey Homicide | Animator | ||
1946 | Pluto's Kid Brother | Animator | |
Make Mine Music | Animator (Segments Casey at the Bat, Peter and the Wolf, Willie the Operatic Whale) |
||
1947 | Fun and Fancy Free | Directing Animator (Segments Bongo, Mickey and the Beanstalk) |
|
1948 | Melody Time | Directing Animator (Segments Johnny Appleseed, Blame It on the Samba, Pecos Bill) |
|
1949 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | Directing Animator (Segments The Wind in the Willows, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) |
|
1950 | Cinderella | Directing Animator | Jaq, Gus, Lucifer |
1951 | Alice in Wonderland | Directing Animator / Animator | Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Walrus, Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, March Hare |
How to Catch a Cold (Short) | Animator | ||
1953 | Peter Pan | Directing Animator | John Darling, Chief Indian, Captain Hook |
Melody (Short) | Animator / Director | ||
How to Dance (Short) |
Musician | ||
Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (Short) | Animator / Director | ||
1955 | Man in Space (Disneyland episode) | Writer / Director | |
Man and the Moon (Disneyland episode) | Writer / Director | ||
1957 | Cosmic Capers (Documentary short) | Writer / Director / Producer | |
Mars and Beyond (Disneyland episode) | Writer / Director | ||
1959 | Eyes in Outer Space (Documentary short) | Writer / Director / Producer | |
1961 | Babes in Toyland | Writer | |
1964 | Mary Poppins | Animator | Pearly Band |
1967 | Scrooge McDuck and Money (Short) | Animator | |
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin | Animator | ||
1968 | Escalation (TV Short) | Director | |
1969 | It's Tough to Be a Bird | Writer / Director / Producer | |
1970 | Dad... Can I Borrow the Car? | Director / Producer | |
1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | Animation Director | |
1972–73 | The Mouse Factory | Director / Producer (43 episodes) |
Note: At the time these films were produced it was common for one animator to animate every single character in the shot.
Railfan
I hope I can hold out for the big one, the great earthquake. Then when California slips into the Pacific Ocean, then me and all my trains can fall into the great abyss and into oblivion.
—Ward Kimball[14]
Along with his employer and friend
Kimball was an avid
Kimball is credited with helping Walt Disney for the inspiration to install the Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland. The inspiration for the Disneyland Railroad also partly came from Disney's personal 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge, live steam backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad, which Kimball had partially constructed. Kimball's Grizzly Flats train station served as the model for the Disneyland Frontierland Train Station. As a tribute to Kimball, Engine No. 5 of the Disneyland Railroad is named the Ward Kimball.[7][16]
In addition, Kimball also designed the logo for the Wildcat Railroad in
Kimball's talents are also evident in the reproduction steam locomotives built for the National Park Service at the
Escalation
In 1968, Kimball directed a two-minute animated short called
Death
Kimball died in 2002 in Arcadia, California of complications from pneumonia at age 88. In 2005, the Disneyland Railroad named its newly acquired locomotive No. 5 "Ward Kimball" in his memory.[25][26][27]
Archive
The Academy Film Archive houses the Kimball Family Collection which includes over 60 home movie reels, as well as short films, TV spots, and jazz band performances, serving to document Ward's personal interests and moments in his extraordinary career. The collection also includes home movies and shorts by his son, filmmaker and animator John Kimball.[28] The archive has preserved several of the Kimball family home movies, including family vacations to Death Valley and Disneyland.[29]
See also
References
- ^ "Ward Kimball". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- ^ "Definitive Biography Of Animation Icon Ward Kimball To Be Published In 2018". Cartoon Brew. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Lenburg (2006), pp. 177–79
- ^ Friedman, Jake S. (July 5, 2022). "'How the Hell Can Walt Run a Studio Without Us?': Behind the Disney Animation Revolt of 1941". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
- ^ "Ward Kimball's Final Farewell", Hogan's Alley #11. Archived 2019-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- ^ a b c ""Escalation": This 1968 anti-war animated film by Disney legend Ward Kimball is as timely as ever". nightflight.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- ^ "It's Tough to be a Bird". IMDb. 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-8431-0366-3
- ^ "Ward Kimball – Art Afterpieces". 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- ^ Gabler, Neal: Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination (Random House, 2007).
- ^ "Pre-Order "Full Steam Ahead!," the Ward Kimball Biography". cartoonbrew.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
- ^ Amid Amidi: "Yes, Chronicle Books nixed the publication of my book... Yes, it's my opinion that Disney's pressure caused Chronicle to kill the project... Yes, I am amused by the Disney Company's inept attempt to control the personal histories of its artists...."
- ^ Amendola (2015), p. 120.
- ^ "Treasure Hunt: Walt Disney called Ward Kimball a 'genius,' but he was just a normal train collector | Reading Eagle – BERKSCOUNTRY". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- ^ a b Broggie, Michael, Walt Disney's Railroad Story, Virginia Beach, Virginia: The Donning Company Publishers, 2006 (2nd edition), pp. 52–59, 200.
- ^ Steam Passenger Service Directory, 1967, p. 18, Empire State Railway Museum, Inc., New York, New York, 1967.
- ISBN 1-57864-309-0.
- ^ New Perris Transit Center to Honor Ward Kimball – Phase 1 Grand Opening Archived 2010-08-15 at the Wayback Machine, Cityofperris.org
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "The Beautiful Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad at Vasona Park – 18" Gauge Live Steam in Los Gatos – 60p". www.youtube.com. CaptainHarlock999. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ^ Dowty, Robert R., Rebirth of the Jupiter and the 119: Building the Replica Locomotives at Golden Spike, Tucson, Ariz.: Southwest Parks & Monuments Association, 1994, p. 35.
- ^ "Model Railroading Unlimited". YouTube. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ Vallen, Mark (6 July 2016). "Hey, Hey, LBJ". www.art-for-a-change.com. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ "Ward Kimball's Escalation". cartoonbrew.com. 10 February 2007.
- ^ Mello, Michael, "New generation works Disneyland's rails" Archived 2012-01-19 at the Wayback Machine, Orange County Register, Local, 26 November 2011, p. 4.
- ^ "Today's Orange County business briefs", Orange County Register, 16 February 2006.
- ^ Eades, Mark, "Disneyland Railroad engineers fire up the locomotives every morning" Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, Orange County Register, 1 June 2010.
- ^ "Kimball Family Collection". Academy Film Archive.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
Sources
- Amendola, Dana (2015). All Aboard: The Wonderful World of Disney Trains (1st ed.). ISBN 978-1-4231-1714-8.
- Lenburg, Jeff (2006), "Kimball, Ward Walrath", Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators, ISBN 978-1557836717
Further reading
- Pierce, Todd (2019). The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation (1st ed.). ISBN 978-1496820969.