When people think of Ward Kimball they instantly recall his brilliant work in just about every Disney animated feature from his first Snow White until he retired in 1972 to become a self proclaimed “world traveler.” But some of us smile when we think about a “little” side project of his that kept his weekends busy for over twenty years. He was the first among equals in The Firehouse Five plus Two, a traditional jazz band formed in 1949 that managed to have several top ten hits. When Ward Kimball died on July 8, 2002 of natural causes at the age of 88 he had much to be proud of: as an animator he brought to life such beloved characters as Jiminy Cricket, Captain Hook, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter, among dozens of others. Later Walt made him a director and he was responsible for the Academy Award Winning UPA-inspired short, "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom", the world's first cinemascope cartoon. Just as notable, if not more so, he directed three television shows for The Wonderful World of Disney about our nascent space program. Not only did these shows help define the issue in the American public’s mind, it has a tremendous influence government policy. A one-shot 3-D cartoon, Melody, was also his work. In 1969 he received an Academy Award for the short animated cartoon “It's Tough to be a Bird." It's no wonder he became one of Walt's legendary "Nine Old Men." […]
