Ward Kimball was born on this day in 1914, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kimball attended the Santa Barbara School of the Arts and at the urging of one of his instructors he applied for a job a Walt Disney Productions (now known as The Walt Disney Company).
In April of 1934 he was hired as an inbetweener, progressing to an animator then a supervising animator to a director and then a producer. During that time he worked on most of the Disney animated cartoons and Disney television shows and also worked on Disney theme park attractions. One of his more memorable Disney characters he brought to life was Jiminy Cricket from the Disney animated feature film 'Pinocchio.' He was one of Walt's most trusted animators and part of the group Disney dubbed his "Nine Old Men."
Kimball founded and led the Firehouse Five Plus Two Dixieland Band, in which he played the trombone. The band produced more than 10 records and toured. He retired in 1972 but maintained ties with the company.
Kimball was named a Disney Legend in 1989, in the Animation and Imagineering category. He passed away on July 8, 2002, in Los Angeles, California due to complications from pneumonia. He was 88 years old.
Like Walt Disney, Ward was a train enthusiast and had a full size railroad in his backyard named Grizzly Flats Railroad. In 2005, the Disneyland Railroad named its newly acquired locomotive No. 5, Ward Kimball in his memory.
Locomotive No. 5 Ward Kimball at Disneyland
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