Animation Artifacts 12 Apr 2006 07:31 am
Kimball
– For no good reason, I thought I’d post these beautiful drawings by Ward Kimball. I have a bunch more and will post those eventually. I’m not sure how many made it into books since I’ve had these photostats for so long that they’re very familiar to me.
It’s great to see this quality of draftsmanship in animation; Kimball had an original style on top of his amazing ability to draw. This, of course, doesn’t even mention the fact that he was a brilliant animator with a unique animation style.
(Click on images to enlarge.)
Now, no one needs me to give my thoughts on Kimball’s work, but I think it is valuable to be reminded of his brilliance.
If we only had the crow dance in Dumbo, or Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio we would have had to classify him as a master. Take a look the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland or his direction on Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom, and you have proof positive. His Tomorrowland episodes for the Disneyland TV show (“Man in Space,” “Man and the Moon”, “Mars and Beyond” or “Our Friend the Atom”) were intelligent attempts to explain science of the day.
There are some pieces he did that I out and out don’t like (Bacchus in Fantasia or It’s Tough To Be A Bird), but I’ll say that those are just not my taste – too overdone, too broad, too cute. However, Kimball was something of a genius who stood out from the others at Disney. Just l0oking at his drawings make you smile; they’re so smooth.
Note: Thanks and regards to John Canemaker who reminded me that he gave me these drawings/photostats. The first appears in his Nine Old Men book and is just a small part of what makes that book such a gem.
on 12 Apr 2006 at 1:26 pm 1.Ken Coleman said …
I don’t think enough can EVER be said about Ward Kimball; those space episodes are quite telling in two regards about their director. Firstly, how interestingly and clearly the informational part of the show was, and secondly, how very entertainingly clever the humerous parts were, while both being so informative. Gads, that is one poorly done sentence. Anyway, PLEASE post more Kimball! A while back there was a rumor that his family was putting together a coffee table book on his more personal artrwork; gads, I hope so!