Bob Welbaum
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A Visit With Ward Kimball — Part Four
by Bob Welbaum with Fr. Ron Aubry

I’d heard several stories of how Ward was famous (notorious?) for appearing in a gorilla suit. I asked him if he still had it. He said no, it had been rented from Western Costume for $15. He had worn it to the Studio one afternoon, jumping out of elevators and scaring people. (Others have claimed they knew it was Ward all along. Who else would come to work in a gorilla suit?)

At that time the popular TV show “Dragnet�? was being shot at the Disney Studio. Ward-as-gorilla ambled into that building and wandered around. At one point he decided to peek through the doorjamb. For some reason Sgt. Friday’s sidekick (the name escaped us) heard the noise, decided to investigate from his side of the door the same way... and got the shock of his life!

Ward also delighted in playing Santa Claus for kids in the neighborhood, including his own. The family developed a Christmas Eve routine: everyone would assemble on the patio. Then someone would climb onto the roof and clomp around with sleigh bells. Mother would say “Let’s go in and see what’s going on.�? They would find Ward in his Santa suit crouched inside the fireplace. The kids would come running to him and he would do the whole Santa bit, passing out little gifts, then exiting through the front door. (They never thought to ask why Santa left via the front door when he’d obviously come down the chimney.)

Although Ward’s own children were getting too old for Santa Claus, this ritual was still popular in the neighborhood. So one year they went through the entire routine, the kids came running in, and there’s a gorilla in the fireplace! While the teenagers laughed (“They knew it was Ward�?) the gorilla proceeded to terrorize the little kids, then ran out the front door and back to the outbuilding where the costume could be shed.

But there was a flaw in Ward’s plan: the costume was so restraining that he had a terrible time breathing, especially when he was running. By the time he got to the outbuilding he could hardly breathe at all! He literally ripped the thing off to get some air.

Finally Ward decided he wasn’t going to be Santa anymore. So that year, in addition to handing out gifts to the kids, he also gave contraceptives to their parents! Everyone got the message.

In the first installment, I’d mentioned Ward was the only man Walt Disney had ever called a genius. This had appeared in the book The Story of Walt Disney by Diane Disney Miller [“Ward is one man who works for me I am willing to call a genius. He can do anything he wants to do.�? p.173]. Ward lamented this caused him no end of troubles at the Studio.

People were greeting him with “Hi, genius!�? Then Walt gave him a project with a very short deadline. Ward said “Gee, Walt, that is only seven days. I’ll have to work Saturday and Sunday and this is just impossible.�? Walt’s curt reply: “I called you a genius, didn’t I?�?