Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Kimball's Cricket



A few outrageously beautiful Jimmy Cricket sketches by Ward Kimball that were recently sold at auction.
After having initially struggled with the character's design (Walt insisted on eliminating most insect anatomy), he eventually found a look that pleased the boss. A little guy with Mickey Mouse like proportions and an egg head. Just look at the range of expressions that Kimball gets out of this simple head shape.
For the 1937 Silly Symphony he had produced brilliant animation for musicians in a "bug orchestra".
That might have been the reason -at least in part- why he was assigned to this important character in Pinocchio.