The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation

by Todd James Pierce

Besides Walt Disney, no one seemed more key to the development of animation at the Disney Studios than Ward Kimball (1914–2002). Kimball was Disney’s friend and confidant.

In this engaging, cradle-to-grave biography, award-winning author Todd James Pierce explores the life of Ward Kimball, a lead Disney animator who worked on characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, the Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter. Through unpublished excerpts from Kimball’s personal writing, material from unpublished interviews, and new information based on interviews conducted by the author, Pierce defines the life of perhaps the most influential animator of the twentieth century.

As well as contributing to classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio, from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, Kimball established a highly graphic, idiosyncratic approach to animation alongside the studio’s more recognizable storybook realism. In effect, Ward Kimball became the only animator to run his own in-studio production team largely outside of Walt Disney’s direction. In the 1950s and 1960s, he emerged as a director and producer of his own animation, while remaining inside Disney’s studio.

Through Kimball, the studio developed a series of nonfiction animation programs in the 1950s that members of Congress pointed to as paving the way for NASA. The studio also allowed Kimball’s work to abandon some ties to conventional animation, looking instead to high art and graphic design as a means of creating new animated forms, which resulted in films that received multiple Academy Award nominations and two awards.

Throughout his life, Kimball was a maverick animator, an artist who helped define the field of American animation, and a visionary who sought to expand the influence of animated films.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Comics, Audiobook, Art

312 pages, Hardcover

Published January 17, 2019

About the author

The author of the novel, The Australia Stories and the story collection, Newsworld, which won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize and was a finalist for the John Gardner Book Award and the Paterson Prize. His work has been published in Fiction, The Georgia Review, Harvard Review, The Gettysburg Review, Indiana Review, The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, North American Review, Shenandoah, The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Willow Springs. He lives in a little town called Orcutt (just north of Santa Barbara, California) and co-directs the Creative Writing program at Cal Poly University. Aside from his work in creative writing, over the past decade, he has interviewed over 100 men and women who worked in animation and outdoor amusements during the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

Reviews

[Scott Southard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone interested in the history of Disney and the early years of animation and theme parks. Like with his previous novel, Three Years in Wonderland, Todd James Pierce avoids the obvious stories we have read a hundred times, and gives us a unique and forgotten perspective around the world of Disney.

In Three Years in Wonderland, Pierce dived into the "hidden" story of CV Wood, a highly driven (and very questionable) individual who was almost as important as Walt for making Disneyland a reality. This time, Pierce looks into the life of Ward Kimball, an important animator, innovator, train collector, and jazz artist. Yes, the connection to Disney may draw you to the title, but you will stay for the character of Ward. It seems almost too easy to compare him to a living cartoon, but he is that fun an individual.

Kimball was there for all of it. From the creation of Snow White (and mourning segments he oversaw being canceled) to the creation of "Disney's folly." It was a lucky day for the world the day Kimball showed up at the Disney's offices with his portfolio, and his fingerprints are over so much entertainment from the last century we take for granted.

Pierce is a fascinating writer. He can both take a big perspective, diving deeply into the history of a moment and yet... there are moments... when he creates little scenes of the characters, leaving you feeling like you are in the room with the subject- an intimacy not often seen in nonfiction.

I highly recommend this not only to Disney historians, but also readers interested into biographies and nonfiction. Kimball left a great mark on our culture and one of the successes of this book is I realize that now thanks to Todd James Pierce.

[Richard Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Some artists saw him as a spoiled yet brilliant child who somehow always got his way,” writes biographer James Todd Pierce. “Some younger artists, however, viewed him as a maverick who might have the potential to make commercial animation that looked more like Mid-Century art. That is, they saw him as a senior animator who might take the studio in a new direction.”

Kimball may not have changed studio culture permanently, but Pierce makes a good case for him having rattled the cage for several decades. As one of the Nine Old Men, modern animation fans will know him from his many appearances speaking to his legacy work and as an ambassador for the Golden Age of animation. This is the lead animator on Pinocchio’s Jiminy Cricket, after all.

Yet the bohemian Kimball was never one thing. Pierce shows his three passions of art, jazz music and locomotives. His complex relationship with Walt Disney – a man who called Kimball a genius and a son while butting heads constantly with Kimball’s refusal to follow house style. Kimball created something of a studio within a studio, pioneering design work on experimental cartoons Melody (1953) and Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953) and the space episodes of the Disneyland TV show. He continuously strove to push ‘art for art’s sake’ in these spaces, eventually creating anti-war short Escalation outside the studio. While Disney never quite knew what to do with him after Walt’s death, his legacy will forever be tied to the Mouse.

While I wound up listening to this as an audiobook, I’ve read some reviews for the printed version that confirm there are no illustrations accompanying the text. Which is a shame. Kimball’s legacy is his incredible mind for design.

[Keith Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook. This was a fascinating look into the life of one of Disney’s legendary Nine Old Men, Ward Kimball—a man who was as eccentric as he was talented. One of my favorite parts was learning that he formed a jazz band called the Firehouse Five Plus Two. It was great to see how he found ways to express his creativity outside of animation. I think it’s important for artists to have more than one outlet, and Kimball really embodied that.

There’s a funny story in the book about a prank he and some others pulled on a coworker who always brought canned food for lunch. They started secretly swapping the contents of his cans, and eventually went so far as to partner with a local cannery to seal a custom can with a bizarre surprise inside. It reminded me of a childhood field trip I took to a Lean Cuisine factory, where they told us about a labeling mix-up that led to a whole batch of meals being made with the wrong type of chicken. Even though the food was safe, none of it could be taken home or sold because of strict regulations, so they had to throw all of it away. A prank like Kimball’s definitely wouldn’t fly with today’s strict health codes. But what a prank!

I think Kimball and I would have gotten along, though we’re pretty different—I’m more easygoing, and he seemed restless and intense. A little like Walt himself. Still, I loved learning about his creative spirit.

[Alan French · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most unique personalities to ever be a part of the Walt Disney Studio, Ward Kimball was a man of many interests. He had a love of art, trains, and music, and he was able to incorporate all of those into his life.

Thanks to Todd James Pierce, you get to learn about one of Disney's "Nine Old Men," in Kimball. Covered is his early years in art, his long career with the Disney studio, his passion for trains, his time in a band, as well as the personal side of a man who was indeed an iconoclast.

The only knock on this book is that it has no photos, which is ironic given all the work Kimball accomplished in art. But the writing is good, and Kimball's story is a truly interesting one. Give this one a read. It's a great addition to the biography/animation genre of books.

[Alex Baron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great examination on the life of Ward Kimball. You really begin to appreciate the influence that Ward had on the studio. It is interesting that his hobbies away from work are parts of his life that get equal or even more attention than his animation. It shows how he sometimes did not fit in the Disney studio collective.


It was nice to get so much on the development of the Tomorrowland episodes as they are some of the most interesting things Disney created in the 1950s. They essentially predicted the US space program for the next 20 years.

Overall, a great book, especially if you love animation and Disney.

[Macaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know much about the animators from Disney. And to start with Ward Kimball makes me wonder if they were all a little odd. Ward had a lot of passions and at times was able to merge them together with his work. He became close to Walt Disney, even if they clashed about certain things. For someone who didn't want to get into animation, he made quite the impact. It's great to see that he was always experimenting with his art, even if he couldn't use it as part of the Disney films. My only complaint is that we don't have any examples of his art, band, or trains in the book.

[Libbie George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love untold Disney history, and this really enhanced my recent trip to Disney World. This book encouraged me to watch more documentaries on the Nine Old Men, and gave me a greater understanding of how far Disney has come from the past.