Trivia

Was very critical and precise about his work, that when it came to him drawing something he didn't feel was at his full potential, he took it into his office, attached it to the wall, took out a gun, and shot the drawing.

Was part of the inner circle of Disney animators, known as the "nine old men". The other members were Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Ward Kimball, John Lounsbery and Les Clark.

Became Walt Disney's "nephew" when he married Phyllis Bounds, Lillian Disney's niece.

Two children with wife Laura, Sybil Kahl Byrnes and Peter Kahl.

Animated Peter Pan's and Wendy's scenes in Peter Pan (1953).

Animated Tramp in Lady and the Tramp (1955).

Animated Shere Khan's scenes in The Jungle Book (1967).

Animated King Louie squeezing the banana in The Jungle Book (1967).

Did the walk cycles for Pinocchio (1940) and Robin Hood (1973).

Animated Mowgli climbing up the tree and stepping on Bagheera in The Jungle Book (1967).

Animated the forest animals in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio in Pinocchio (1940), the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (1950), Alice in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan, Wendy, Michael and John in Peter Pan (1953), Roger Radcliffe in 101 Dalmatians (1961), Mad Madam Mim in The Sword in the Stone (1963), Robin Hood in Robin Hood (1973) and Madame Medusa in The Rescuers (1977).

His characters often had a cocky "head swagger" when they talked in order to indicate their self-confidence.

While working in feature films, Kahl felt frustrated when having to work on restrained and realistic protagonists. He thought that the antagonists were broader and livelier characters, providing more memorable scenes.

Kahl was considered the best draftsman among the Nine Old Men, and he was often asked for guidance from fellow animators. On the other hand, Kahl was highly critical of his own work and its perceived limitations, while praising the character designs of others.

He was often paired with Frank Thomas when working on specific characters, because they worked on different but complimentary aspects of the same character. Kahl focused on a character's design, draftsmanship, and technical performance, while Thomas worked on how to portray the character's emotions and internal motivations.

Kahl is credited with establishing the Disney "house style" for an era of the animation studio. Regardless of which animators were working on a character, Kahl was usually asked to refine the model sheets and the character designs before a production started.

He was reportedly invited to come out of retirement to work on the animated version of "The Lord of the Rings" (1978). He pointed out that he had retired because he felt tired of working on new projects. If he actually wanted to keep on working, he could have stayed at the Disney animation studio.

Employed at Walt Disney Productions from June 25, 1934 to April 30, 1976.