Movies - Bill Tytla

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Vladimir Peter Tytla (October 25, 1904–December 30, 1968) was one of the original Disney animators and is considered by many to be the best character animator working during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. Known as "Bill" Tytla, he is particularly noted for the animation of Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
and Chernabog in the Night on Bald Mountain sequence from Fantasia.

Early years

Vladimir Peter Tytla was born on October 25, 1904 in Yonkers, New York, USA. His Ukrainian immigrant parents reportedly recognized talent in their son and encouraged it. In 1914, when Tytla was 9, he visited Manhattan to attend Gertie the Dinosaur
, an animated vaudeville act by Winsor McCay. He never forgot it, and some say it changed his life forever.

Tytla attended the New York Evening School of Industrial Design while still in high school. But eventually high school lost out to his interest in art and he quit. In 1920, at age 16, Tytla was working for the Paramount animation studio in New York. His assignment was providing lettering for title cards. He was nicknamed "Tytla the Titler."

His first animation experiences were on Mutt and Jeff short films at the Bronx studio of Raoul Barré and the Joy and Bloom Phable at the Greenwich Village studio of John Terry, later creator of the aviation comic strip Scorchy Smith. His brother Paul Terry, founder of Terrytoons, soon hired Tytla to work on his Aesop's Fables.

Within three years he was earning a very good salary as an animator and supporting his family. Animation at that time did not require such good drawing skills and Tytla dreamed of becoming a fine artist. He took up his studies again at the Art Students League of New York and studied under Boardman Robinson.

In 1929 he sailed for Europe with some of his school friends to study painting in Paris. There he not only studied painting, but sculpture with Charles Despiau. To this has been attributed the weight and three-dimensionality of his work. In Europe he was able to see first hand the masterpieces he had only read about. True to his nature of never wanting to be second best, Tytla came to the conclusion that he could never top these masters and destroyed most of his work.

Back in America

Tytla returned to the United States with the attitude that he could become a great master of animation by incorporating his rich knowledge of art. Now animated shorts had sound which in turn brought a new enthusiasm and a need for talented animators. Paul Terry offered Bill a job right away. There he met animator Art Babbitt who became his close friend and roommate. Art eventually left to work for Walt Disney because of the challenging work and good working conditions. For two years Art tried to entice Bill to come out to Hollywood, but Bill did not want to leave his family and a well paying job during the Great Depression. Finally in 1934 Tytla flew to Hollywood. He was very impressed and accepted the job even at a lower salary than he was being paid at Terrytoons.

During his "probationary" year in 1935 Tytla worked on three shorts:

The Cookie Carnival, a Silly Symphonies
short, first released on May 25, 1935.
Mickey's Fire Brigade, a cartoon featuring firefighters Mickey Mouse
, Goofy
and Donald Duck
attempting to rescue Clarabelle Cow from a burning boarding house. First released on August 3, 1935).
Cock o' the Walk, a Silly Symphonies short, first released on November 30, 1935).

Tytla in The Cookie Carnival was responsible for animating the gingerbread boy and girl as well as the rivalry between the angel-food and devil's food cakes. He animated the broadly comic Clarabelle Cow in Mickey's Fire Brigade. In Cock o' the Walk, Tytla animated his first "heavy," a bully rooster dancing the Carioca. The great Grim Natwick, creator of Betty Boop, remarked, "Bill hovered over his drawing board like a giant vulture protecting a nest filled with golden eggs, he was an intense worker—eager, nervous, absorbed...Key drawings were whittled out with impassioned pencil thrusts that tore holes in the animation paper."

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