Academy Award winning animator Ward Kimball was one of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men (a team of animators & directors who created the studio's famous early work).
He was also a jazz trombonist & founding member of the Firehouse Five Plus Two jazz group (made up of Disney employees).
Kimball was such a train enthusiast that he ran his own private railroad and helped
fund the Orange Empire Railway Museum in California.
He joined the Disney Studios in 1934 and worked there until
his retirement in 1972. Kimball is credited with the character of Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio. The character, which acted as the voice of conscience to the main character, Pinocchio, was said to resemble Kimball in both appearance and mannerisms.
Kimball also created the Crows in Dumbo, Tweedledum & Tweedledee,
the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, and
the Mice & Lucifer the cat in Cinderella. In fact, Lucifer was
modeled after his very own furry calico!
WARD KIMBALL
animator/writer/director/musician
March 4, 1914 - July 8, 2002
... and always let your conscience be your guide!
Get your Disney tickets at Maple Leaf Tickets!


selected Disney career highlights:
The Tortoise and the Hare (1934) - animator
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - animator
Pinocchio (1940) - animation director
Fantasia (1940) - animation supervisor
The Reluctant Dragon (1941) animator
Dumbo (1941) - animator director
Victory Through Airpower (1943) - animator
Make Mine Music (1946) - animator
Cinderella (1950) - animator
Alice in Wonderland (1951) - directing animator
Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953) - director
Man in Space (1956) - director/producer/writer
Dateline: Disneyland (1955) - trombonist of
Firehouse Five Plus Two
Babes In Toyland (1961) - writer
Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? (1970) - producer
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) - animation director
The Mouse Factory (1971) - creator
Mickey Mouse Disco (1979) - animator
World of Motion Epcot Center attraction (1982) - designer/creator
"Ward is one man who works for me I am willing to call a genius" -Walt Disney