Vladimir Peter "Bill" Tytla (October 25, 1904 – December 30, 1968) was a

Ukrainian-American Ukrainian Americans are Americans who are of full or partial Ukrainians, Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2021 there were 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.3% of the American population. The Ukr ...

animator known for his work in

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

, Paramount's

Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...

, and

Terrytoons Terrytoons, Inc. was an American animation studio headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, which was active from 1929 until its closure in December 1972 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in-name only). Founded by Paul Te ...

. In his Disney career, Tytla is particularly noted for the animation in ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'', ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'', '' Fantasia'' (''

The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" () is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas. Story The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving his apprentice with chores to perform. Tired of ...

'' and ''

Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian s:St. John's Eve (Gogol, unsourced), literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed ...

Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...

'' segments) and ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...

''. He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1998. Tytla was also known for co-creating Little Audrey for Paramount Pictures alongside Seymour Kneitel.

Early years

Vladimir Peter Tytla was born on October 25, 1904, in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

, to Ukrainian immigrant parents.Bowers, pg 1 His parents reportedly recognized talent in their son and encouraged it. In 1914, when Tytla was 9, he visited

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and saw a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performance of '' Gertie the Dinosaur'', which greatly influenced him. Tytla attended the New York Evening School of

Industrial Design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

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 Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

animation

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

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 ''Mutt and Jeff'' is a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched wikt:tinhorn, tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept o ...

'' short films at the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

studio of

Raoul Barré Vital Achille Raoul Barré (January 29, 1874 – May 21, 1932) was a Canadian cartoonist, animator of the silent film era, and painter. Initially known as a political cartoonist, he originated the French Canadian comic strip, then crossed over in ...

and the ''Joy and Bloom Phable'' at the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

studio of John Terry, later creator of the aviation

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

Scorchy Smith ''Scorchy Smith'' is an American adventure comic strip created by artist John Terry (cartoonist), John Terry that ran from March 17, 1930 to December 30, 1961. Scorchy Smith was a pilot-for-hire whose initial adventures took him across America, ...

. His brother Paul Terry, founder of

, soon hired Tytla to work on his

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

. In just three years, he was earning a great salary as an animator and supporting his family. The simplistic nature of cartoons at the time did not challenge Tytla, who dreamed of becoming a fine artist. He took up his studies again at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

and studied under Boardman Robinson. In 1929, Tytla sailed for

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

with some of his school friends to study painting in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 Tytla a job right away. There he met animator

Art Babbitt Arthur Harold Babitsky (October 8, 1907 – March 4, 1992), better known as Art Babbitt, was an American animator, best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He received over 80 awards as an animation director and animator, and a ...

, who became his close friend and roommate. Babbitt eventually left to work for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

because of the challenging work and good working conditions. For two years, Babbitt tried to entice Tytla to come out to Hollywood, but Tytla did not want to leave his family and a well-paying job during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. 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 ''Silly Symphony'' (also known as ''Silly Symphonies'') is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Si ...

short, first released on May 25, 1935. *'' Mickey's Fire Brigade'', a cartoon featuring

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...

and

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

attempting to rescue

Clarabelle Cow Clarabelle Cow is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As an anthropomorphic Cattle, cow, Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends. She was once depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although now she is oft ...

from a burning

boarding house A boarding house is a house (frequently a family home) in which lodging, lodgers renting, rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and ...

. First released on August 3, 1935.Bowers, pg 2 *'' 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

in '' Mickey's Fire Brigade''. In '' Cock o' the Walk'', Tytla animated his first "heavy," a bully

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

dancing the

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to residents of the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil and their culture. Like other Brazilians, ''Cariocas'' speak Portuguese. The ''carioca'' accent and sociolect (also simply called "''carioca''", ...

. Grim Natwick, creator of

Betty Boop Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...

, remarked, "Bill hovered over his

drawing board A drawing board (also drawing table, drafting table or architect's table) is, in its antique form, a kind of multipurpose desk which can be used for any kind of drawing, writing or impromptu sketching on a large sheet of paper or for reading a la ...

like a giant vulture protecting a

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

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." His work did not go unnoticed by

, who soon came to realize what he had in Tytla. Consequently, both his responsibilities and his wages increased dramatically. Tytla and Babbitt quickly became two of Disney's top-salaried artists, and again shared a residence—this time a Tuxedo Terrace house complete with a maid. He continued to send money home and purchased for his family 150 acre (607,000 m²) of farmland in East Lyme,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Babbitt started after hours "Action Analysis" classes and brought in Don Graham to teach. Tytla was an eager participator in these classes (later to become officially sanctioned by Disney), which have been credited with some of the phenomenal leaps in the quality of animation during this period. Tytla was one of the first animators assigned to ''

''. Fred Moore and Tytla were responsible for much of the design of the film and the definition of the personalities of the seven dwarfs. One of Tytla's famous scenes from the film (as described by John Canemaker) is where woman-hating Grumpy is kissed by

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

. As he brusquely walks away, an internal warmth generated by the kiss gradually slows him, bringing a soft smile and sigh to his lips, revealing his true feelings of love. Grumpy's inner feelings are portrayed solely through

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

—in his telling

facial expression Facial expression is the motion and positioning of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers and are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying ...

s, his

body language Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use o ...

, and the timing of his reactions.

Marriage

One evening of 1936 in the art classes of Don Graham, a 22-year-old actress and fashion model from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

named Adrienne le Clerc posed for the animators, including Tytla. She shared his volcanic temperament, but admitted " My glass was half-filled with enthusiasm, his often half-empty with self-doubts. We were, however, definitely

yin and yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

". Their thirty-year marriage began on April 21, 1938. Clearly, she was a great inspiration and support for her husband although she complained that to get her husband's attention when he was intently working on his animation, she had to stand in the doorway

naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

Continued Disney career

''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' was eventually completed and premiered and released on December 21, 1937. Tytla was next assigned to animate Stromboli, an explosive

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

and

kidnapper Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

in ''

''. "Bill was powerful,

muscular MUSCULAR (DS-200B), located in the United Kingdom, is the name of a surveillance program jointly operated by Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) that was revealed by documents release ...

, high-strung and sensitive, with a tremendous ego," wrote Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in their book ''The Disney Villain''. "Everything was 'feelings' with Bill. Whatever he animated had the inner feelings of his characters expressed through very strong acting. He did not just get inside Stromboli, he was Stromboli and he lived that part." Animator T. Hee saw Tytla so wrapped up in his work, that he quietly scurried out of the room. '' Brave Little Tailor'' was a 1938 short featuring Mickey and

Minnie Mouse Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

. Tytla animated the giant who was as dumb as he was huge. The character "became the model for all giants throughout the industry from gags to personality," according to Johnston and Thomas. The short was nominated for the

Academy Award for Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

of 1939. But it lost to '' Ferdinand the Bull'', another Disney short, directed by Dick Rickard, animated by

Milt Kahl Milton Erwin Kahl (March 22, 1909 – April 19, 1987) was an American animator. He was one of (and often considered the most influential of) Walt Disney's supervisory team of animators, known as Disney's Nine Old Men. Biography Kahl was born ...

and

Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honor ...

. Early in 1938, Tytla animated

Yen Sid The following are fictional characters from Disney's 1940 film '' Fantasia'', its 1999 sequel '' Fantasia 2000'', and the 2014 video game '' Fantasia: Music Evolved''. Characters are sorted by the film and segment in which they appear. Notab ...

, the old magician in "''

''", which would eventually become a segment in '' Fantasia''. However the character from ''Fantasia'' which Tytla is better known for is

Chernabog The following are fictional characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 1940 film ''Fantasia (1940 film), Fantasia'', its 1999 sequel ''Fantasia 2000'', and the 2014 video game ''Fantasia: Music Evolved''. Characters are sorted by th ...

, an adaptation of Crnobog the Black God, from the "''

''/''

''" sequence. It is often said that Chernabog was based on actor

Bela Lugosi Blaskó Béla Ferenc Dezső (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi ( ; ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (19 ...

, and Walt did bring him in to do live-action reference for the character. However, Tytla already had a good idea of what he wanted to do and did not like Lugosi's interpretation of the character. Instead he had

Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Emmons Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, musical arranger and film director, director best known for his work with The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Productions. Jackson joined Walt Dis ...

(who is credited for the music of ''

Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, under the name of Cele ...

'') act out the part for him, and that is what he used as a live-action reference.Bowers, pg 3 Dumbo 1941 - Dumbo 2

Not one to want to be typecast as an animator who only worked the strongest characters, Tytla requested as his next assignment ''

'', the baby elephant ridiculed and rejected because of his big ears. This time, his reference was his infant son Peter. The intent was to do something nontheatrical and sincere, to try to put the personality of a human child into that of an elephant so that it rings true. As an adult, Peter became a

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

artist focusing on images made from photographs of junk cars.Bowers, pg 4

The strike

While ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' was hugely successful the following films had a hard time making money due to the war in Europe cutting of nearly 50% of their revenue. This led to staff layoff and broken promises with regard to job security, raises and bonuses. While the top animators like Tytla and Babbitt were highly paid, they were all too aware of the low wages being paid to assistants and Film production people. Babbitt even went as far as paying his assistant out of his own pocket. But in early 1941, Babbitt was fired for union activities. The day after Babbitt led over 300 Disney studio employees in a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

, demanding union representation. To Disney's surprise and dismay, Tytla joined the strike line. "I was for the company union, and I went on strike because my friends were on strike," said Tytla. "I was sympathetic with their views, but I never wanted to do anything against Walt." The strike lasted over two months and was so divisive that it profoundly altered the course of American character animation. As the strike ended, America entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

was effectively over. Tytla returned to the studio, but "there was too much tension and electricity in the air," according to Adrianne Tytla. With Vladimir, "everything was instinctive and intuitive, and now the vibes were all wrong." Due to the economics of the studio at the time, assignments were less challenging. In ''

Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Set in Latin America, it is made up of four different segments; Donald Duck ...

'' Tytla animated Pedro (a baby airplane) and Jose Carioca (a Brazilian parrot). His small and final portrayals at Disney were a witch and a Nazi teacher in the short '' Education for Death'' and the climactic battle between a giant octopus and an American eagle in the feature '' Victory Through Air Power''. Tytla's perception that he was unwelcome at the studio, less challenging work, his wife's three-year-long illness with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, fear of Japanese attack, and a desire to live on his Connecticut farm eventually led him to the decision to leave the studio. He resigned from the Disney studio on February 24, 1943, an action he regretted for the remainder of his life.

Work at Terrytoons and Famous Studios

After leaving the Disney studio, Tytla returned to

for a short while. There he was assigned as a film director for the short ''The Sultan's Birthday'' (1944). Tytla soon left Terrytoons but would continue to act as a director for the rest of his animation career.Bowers, pg 5 His next employer was

, owned by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. His directorial efforts there include several shorts: *Starring Little Lulu. **''Snap Happy'' (June 22, 1945). **''Bored of Education'' (March 1, 1946). **''A Scout with the Gout'' (March 24, 1947). **''Super Lulu'' (November 21, 1947). *Starring

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Service with a Guile'' (April 19, 1946). **'' Rocket to Mars'' (August 9, 1946). **''Island Fling'' (December 27, 1946). **'' Popeye Meets Hercules'' (June 18, 1948). **'' Tar with a Star'' (August 12, 1949). **''Jitterbug Jive'' (June 23, 1950). * Noveltoons featuring Little Audrey. **''The Lost Dream'' (March 18, 1949). **'' Song of the Birds'' (November 18, 1949). **''Tarts and Flowers'' (May 26, 1950). **''Goofy Goofy Gander'' (August 18, 1950). *Starring

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his thr ...

. **''Casper's Spree Under the Sea'' (October 13, 1950). **''Ghost Writers'' (April 25, 1958) (directed by Seymour Kneitel, Izzy Sparber and him). * Noveltoons featuring Paddy. **''The Wee Men'' (August 8, 1947). **''Leprechaun's Gold'' (October 14, 1949). * Noveltoon featuring Timothy Turkey: **''Voice of the Turkey'' (October 13, 1950). * Noveltoons featuring all the characters: **''Sudden Fried Chicken featuring Herman and Henry'' (October 18, 1946) **''We're in the Honey'' (March 19, 1948). **''The Bored Cuckoo'' (April 9, 1948). **''The Mite Makes Right'' (October 15, 1948). **''Hector's Hectic Life'' (November 19, 1948). **''Campus Capers featuring Herman'' (July 1, 1949) His own daughter Tammy reportedly provided inspiration for the Little Lulu and Little Audrey shorts. She would later pursue a career as an artist and photographer, known as Tamara Schacher-Tytla.

Work at Tempo Productions

Tytla left

during the early 1950s to work for Tempo Productions. Tempo was founded in 1946 as a partnership between David Hilberman and Zack Schwartz. They were both former Disney colleagues of Tytla. David had notably served as an

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

for ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

'' and Zack for "''The Sorcerer's Apprentice''". They were among the founders of the

United Productions of America United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio and later distribution company founded in 1941 as Industrial Film and Poster Service by former Walt Disney Productions employees. Beginning with industrial a ...

but later sold their shares to their partner

Stephen Bosustow Stephen Reginald Bosustow (November 6, 1911 in Victoria, British Columbia – July 4, 1981) was a Canadian-born American film producer from 1943 until his retirement in 1979. He was one of the founders of United Productions of America (UPA) and pr ...

. At first the two intended to produce educational films but soon found there was only a limited market for them. However

Jack Zander Arthur Jack Zander (May 3, 1908 – December 17, 2007) was an Americans, American animator whose career lasted from the "Golden age of American animation, golden age" of theatrical animation into the 1980s. Biography Jack Zander was born on May ...

, head of the animation department of Transfilm Inc., which produced television commercials, approached them with an offer to produce animated advertisements for his company. They were at first assigned to advertise

Camel cigarettes Camel is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United States and by Japan Tobacco outside the U.S. Most recently Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Vi ...

. Later their assignments included Standard Brands, Plymouth automobile, National Dairy Association,

Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

and Clark Gum Company. Zack Schwartz had left the company in 1948/1949 but assignments continued. David Hilberman decided to expand the staff. The expansion included hiring Tytla as advertisement director. The squared-off stylized designs reportedly frustrated Tytla. But he produced some good work there including some

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation. His animated advertisements though are perhaps the least well-remembered part of his career. When the revival of interest in classical animation started in the 1980s, they were long unavailable to audiences, presumably lost. A reason for this was that Tempo proved short-lived,

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

ed during the

Red Scare A Red Scare is a form of moral panic provoked by fear of the rise of left-wing ideologies in a society, especially communism and socialism. Historically, red scares have led to mass political persecution, scapegoating, and the ousting of thos ...

of the early 1950s. Tytla, however took time to visit his former colleagues at Disney in 1954. Unlike Babbitt he was welcome to do so and even had his picture taken with his old boss Walt. In a letter to Marc Davis written in December 1954, Tytla said "What a helluva swell time I had, It did me a world of good".

Later years

His next sources of employment were

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

. He is credited as director for episodes of four different series: *''Popeye'' (September 10, 1956 –September 28, 1963). *'' Deputy Dawg'' (September 5, 1959 – 1972). * '' Matty's Funday Funnies'' (featuring

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, October 11, 1959 – 1962). * '' The New Casper Cartoon Show'' (1963–1969). He also took time to create one last short for Terrytoons, ''First Flight Up'' (1962). His last work of animation on a film was for Warner Bros. Cartoons on ''The Incredible Mr. Limpet'', a comedy feature film mixing live action and animation, directed by

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and starring

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as a fish. However, during this time Tytla became ill and a lot of the actual animation was completed by animation director

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and Gerry Chiniquy. All three of them are better known for their

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work. Tytla had also been working on the idea for an animated movie called "Mousthusula, the 2000 Year Old Mouse", but could not find anyone being interested. Following this Tytla suffered many small strokes, which left him blind in his left eye. On August 13, 1967, the opening night of the

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Expo's World Exhibition of Animation Cinema, featured a screening of ''Dumbo'' as part of an ''Hommage Aux Pionniers''. Tytla was invited, but worried if anyone would remember him. When the film finished, they announced the presence of "The Great Animator." When the spotlight finally found him, the audience erupted in "a huge outpouring of love. It may have been one of the great moments of his life," recalled animation historian John Culhane. In a letter dated August 27, 1968, W.H. Anderson, then-Vice President of Walt Disney Productions, rejected Tytla's offer to do "trial animation", saying, "We really have only enough animation for our present staff." And as late as October 11, 1968, less than three months before Tytla's death, Disney director

Wolfgang Reitherman Wolfgang Reitherman (June 26, 1909 – May 22, 1985), also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a German-American animator, director and producer. As a member of the "Disney's Nine Old Men, Nine Old Men" at Walt Disney Animati ...

responded to story material Tytla submitted explaining "...I'm sorry to say that your story ideas don't fit into our present program.. We have not forgotten that you are anxious to animate here at the studio, but ... So far, we can just barely keep our present crew of animators busy ... rest assured you have many friends here at the studio who are pulling for you." After briefly working at

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, and directing

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cartoon for Format Films, Vladimir Tytla died on his farm on December 30, 1968, aged 64. He was an atheist.Master Animator" by John Canemaker, Animation Journal, Fall 1994, pp. 8–9:

He felt, however, the need to distance himself from their is family'srestrictive Catholicism. 'Evidently because of so much religion in the home,' said animator Art Babbitt, his close friend, 'Bill became an atheist.'

Filmography

References

External links

* by Eddie Bowers. Original text for this article. Used with permission and based on ''Vladimir Tytla – Master Animator'' John Canemaker, Catalogue essay for exhibition at The Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, N.Y. September 25, 1994 – January 1, 1995. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tytla, Bill 1904 births 1968 deaths 20th-century atheists American atheists Animators from New York (state) American animated film directors American people of Ukrainian descent Famous Studios people People from East Lyme, Connecticut People from Yonkers, New York Terrytoons people Walt Disney Animation Studios people Warner Bros. Cartoons people