A Letter from Ward Kimball

Animator and director Will Finn has posted a letter that he received from Ward Kimball in 1973 packed with sage words about becoming an animation artist. His advice about learning to become a well-rounded human being and having a flexible open-minded attitude towards art is not just empty verbiage but very much how Ward lived his own life and one of the keys to understanding why he was such an amazing artist. Similarly, it’s hard to think that any of the other Nine Old Men would ever encourage a budding animation artist to go and watch The Yellow Submarine or Fritz the Cat. The letter may be over thirty years old but the advice within it is still relevant and well worth listening to.