OBITUARY: Ward Kimball, 88

Reuters, via the Toronto Globe and Mail ^ | Monday, July 08 2002 | Reuters News Agency

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OBITUARY

Ward Kimball, 88

Reuters News Agency

Los Angeles — Pioneering animator Ward Kimball, who helped modernize Mickey Mouse's look in 1938 and created the character Jiminy Cricket for the Disney classic Pinocchio, died Monday at age 88.

Mr. Kimball, a member of Walt Disney's trusted cadre of cartoon artists known as the "nine old men," died of natural causes at at a hospital in Arcadia, a suburb northeast of Los Angeles, the Walt Disney Co. said in a statement.

During a Disney career that stretched from 1934 until his retirement in 1973, Mr. Kimball animated or served as directing animator on such feature classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland.

Two animated shorts he created for Disney — Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Bloom (1953) and It's Tough to be a Bird (1969) — won Academy Awards.

In the late 1950s, he also wrote and directed three landmark shows about space exploration for the Disneyland television series — Man in Space, Man and the Moon and Mars and Beyond — that were widely credited with sparking public interest in America's space program.

But perhaps Mr. Kimball's most distinguished achievement was his development of Jiminy Cricket, the affable, top-hatted sidekick and conscience of the living puppet who longed to be a real boy in Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio.

Mr. Kimball also was credited with animating the famed crow sequence in Dumbo and playing a key role in developing a more sophisticated cartoon design for Disney's signature character, Mickey Mouse, in 1938.

"He was a brilliant animator and filmmaker with a distinctive style and humour all his own," said Roy E. Disney, vice chairman of the Disney company.

Film critic Leonard Maltin said of Mr. Kimball, "Ward had a pixie-ish spirit that was irresistible."

In addition to his animation career, Mr. Kimball was an accomplished trombonist and founding member of the popular jazz group the Firehouse Five Plus Two. He also led some of his fellow Disney employees in a Dixieland band that recorded albums, played concerts and appeared on TV and in films.

As an antique toy collector and model train enthusiast, Mr. Kimball and his wife built a full-sized steam locomotive railroad which the couple ran on their ranch in Southern California.

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Ward Kimball

Ward joined the Disney animation staff in 1934. As one of Disney's "nine old men," Ward's contribution to the body of Disney animated film classics include the creation of Jiminy Cricket for "Pinocchio" and the animation of the crow sequence in "Dumbo". His career in television and shorts is equally distinguished. Ward retired in 1972 to become a world traveler. As a consultant to Walt Disney Imagineering, his design projects include World of Motion at Epcot Center and new attraction concepts for Disneyland. He is also a consultant for the Animation department. Ward was also well-known as the creator and leader of the world-famous jazz band, the Firehouse Five Plus Two. He has one of the largest collections of antique toys as well as old railroad toys from 1870, and operates his own full-size railroad of historic steam locomotives on his orange ranch in San Gabriel, California.

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[goodieD]

a sad loss of a true Disney pioneer. It's sick and sad what Disney has turned into today.

[Fithal the Wise]

"a sad loss of a true Disney pioneer. It's sick and sad what Disney has turned into today."

ditto

[JackelopeBreeder]

Vaya con Dios, Ward. You brought delight and joy to billions around the world.

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[NormsRevenge]

God Bless This Good Man and His Family ...

Jiminy Cricket, We're Gonna Miss Ya, Faithful Sidekick.

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God Bless This Good Man and His Family ...

Pioneering animator Ward Kimball, who helped modernize Mickey
Mouse's look in 1938 and created the character Jiminy Cricket for
the Disney classic 'Pinocchio,' died on July 8, 2002 at age 88 in
Arcadia, California. Kimball (L) is shown at the drawing board
with Walt Disney, head of Walt Disney Studios in this undated
photograph.

(Walt Disney Co. via Reuters)

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Thanks, Ward.

-archy-/-

[GeneD]

One of a generation of masters, practically all of whom worked for Disney, many of whom trekked to Warners, all of whom made indelible characters -- all gone now:

Frank Tashlin,

Bob Clampett,

Isadore "Friz" Freleng,

Chuck Jones....

Tex Avery....well, he didn't work for Disney.

Ward Kimball, may you rest in peace.

(BTW, anyone who wants to learn about Disney cartooning in the formative years must read this. Incidentally, Walt's animators were good at the female form too -- they had to be to animate Snow White -- but not as good as Tex Avery. [Ignore the price; you can get it from AllDirect.com for $36.00.])

[archy]

BTW, anyone who wants to learn about Disney cartooning in the formative years must read this. Incidentally, Walt's animators were good at the female form too -- they had to be to animate Snow White -- but not as good as Tex Avery.

I'm not complaining. You ever see *the party reel?*

[csvset]

Thanks for the laughs.

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Oh, yeah:

[GnuHere]

GeneD! Thanks so much for posting the link to that book, which I just ordered. As a kid, I thought it would be cool to be a cartoon artist, or the person who colored all those cells, whatever that job was called. Good thing I didn't, since so much of it is now done digitally.