Kimball spent much of his career animating theatrical animated short films. However, he also served as a director for some of them. He and Charles August Nichols co-directed the animated short films "Melody" (1953) and "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom" (1953). "Melody" was the Disney studio's first animated 3D film; "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom" won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and was the Disney studio's first widescreen CinemaScope animated film. Kimball also directed the short films "It's Tough to Be a Bird" (1969) and "Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?" (1970). "It's Tough to Be a Bird" won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.