Channel Frederator Blog

There is a lot of information out there in the animation community about the Nine Old Men at Disney… so much so that the uninformed might believe that just nine people made all of the Disney films. This is not the case. I would like to cover some of the non-Nine Old Men animators from time to time.

First up is Bill Tytla. Bill Tytla is responsible for a lot of great character animation, but perhaps his best work (in my opinion) is on Stromboli. Have a look at this sequence from “Pinocchio”, and try to count the emotions Stromboli displays. In my opinion, Stromboli’s animation outshines Pinocchio’s in this sequence, as the burden of acting is on Stromboli. Without such a grand performance, there is nothing for Pinocchio to react to. Take a look and see for yourself:

Even though Bill Tytla was paid well as an animator, he was a part of the Disney strike in 1941. The strike was a dark time for the Disney studios, and many of the artists who did strike were pressured out of the studio in one way or another. Bill Tytla was no different.

Tytla’s perception was that he was unwelcome at the Disney studio. Less challenging work, his wife’s three-year long illness with tuberculosis, 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. (source: The Vladimir Tytla Page)

-Floyd

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