Reflecting on Greatness 02

Hey there boys and girls! So the holidays hit me pretty hard, with illness and with overbearingly awesome family fun time. So I'm back to formally announce my apologies for the hiatus, and to introduce the second installment of REFLECTING ON GREATNESS!!

BILL TYTLA

1904-1968

"An animator is basically an actor...He would probably go stiff, if he has to talk to anybody, because he can't act... talking to anyone else... But on paper!" -1967 interview with Lousie Beaudet as found on Didier Ghez's Disney History blog.

(Image referenced from the ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive Website)

Take a moment to think a bit on these films, and see what you come up with: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinnochio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. Now ruminate a while on more specific characters filled with such personality as to make them memorable throughout the years: Characters like Grumpy, Stromboli, Dumbo and his Mother, and Chernabog. Each of these creations was brought to life by one Vladmir (Bill) Tytla. He was a man who felt everything strongly, and let all those emotions find outlet into his animation. In their seminal book, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston described Tytla as having a " big mop of coal black hair, heavy black brows, and very piercing dark eyes. But more than that it was what was under the surface that made him stand out. He had great feelings churning around inside of him and tremendous nervous energy."

In a 1968 interview conducted by George Sherman, Tytla reveals some of his personal history. He was born on October 25th, 1904, and by 1920 Tytla started his career, claiming the nickname "Tytla the Titler" at the Paramount animation studio in New York City, and by 19 he was hired to work for Paul Terry, Brother of John Terry, at Terrytunes Studio. He started at Disney in 1934. He attended the 1941 strikes against Disney when Art Babbit joined in, and though he eventually returned to work for the studio, his assignments where less challenging and he left the studio in 1943. He moved back to New York in 1944, spending the next 25 years of his life attempting several businesses with his farm, and his own studio in 1958.

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( Directed by Bill Tytla)

Frank and Ollie also comment on how "Bill loved and believed in the characters he was creating, but he was concerned whether he would animate them as well as he should. He need not have worried, for had the sensitivity to understand his characters' motivation in terms of acting, and the ability to interpret that into drawings and staging."

In the interview with Sherman, when asked if there were any special moments he remembered from working on Pinnochio, Bill responded " I had to do one sequence in Pinnochio, and I gave it everything I had. I showed my animaiton to the other animators and they all said "great" or "nothing else is needed"... I felt pretty good about it. Walt came to see it... we ran the sequence, the lights went on, and we all waited.. He said, 'That was a helluva scene but- if anybody else had animated it I would have passed it. But I expected something different from Bill.' " He goes on to say how though nothing mean was meant in what Disney said, he was still crushed by the weight of falling short of what Walt had expected. It was weeks before he could pick up a pencil, but when he did, it hit him and he just started drawing the scene again, naturally different. " This time when I showed it to Walt, he said, 'Great. Just what I was expecting!' He never did explain what was wrong. It was as if in some magical way, you would know [what was wrong]."

In his book on the master animator, John Canemaker notes how Tytla's time in Europe taking classes, exporing cities like London, Bologna, and Nice, and simply creating painting after painting helped to hone his already superb draftsmanship.

Some wonderful drawings/ frames of Tytla's work can be found on Michael Sporn's Splog-- here, here, and here. These wonderful posts are so incredibly helpful, and I highly recommend them to any animator out there-- I don't know how many hours I've spent scouring the tests on his blog, stepping through them to try and glean some of the genius within.

Here are a few tests David Nethery has posted. Wonderful stuff.

Bill Tytla - Stromboli Pencil Test from David Nethery on Vimeo.

Reflecting on Greatness 01

I often sit back and think about the great artists and animators that have come before me, and what I can learn from them. I've found myself gathering as much information as I can about these great men and women, so I've decided to do something pro-active and share it with you folks! So from now on, I'll post twice monthly these little blurbs about such great animators. Enjoy!

MILT KAHL

I decided to start this series off with none other than Milt Kahl, the well respected Disney animator who was, unquestionably, the animator who defined the Disney style. He is most famous for his work on Pinocchio, Madame Medusa in The Rescuers, Shere Kahn and King Louis in The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, and Merlin from The Sword in the Stone (among many, many others).

Milt started at Disney in 1934 at the age of 25, when he was hired as an assistant animator on classic Disney shorts like The Ugly Duckling. It wasn't until Pinocchio was under production that Milt emerged as the tour-de-force of Disney studios. His decisive mark-making and excellent draftsmanship earned him his renown, and his drive and passion for his craft kept him striving for the excellence he demanded of everyone who animated under him. Veteran animator Jim Hill speaks fondly about Milt's explosive personality, remembering the first time he met the man, "Behind me was a door that led to the adjoining office, though it remained closed. I didn't need reminding who occupied the next office, because suddenly we heard the crash of a fist slamming hard on a desk. "Dammit!" shouted the artist. "Doesn't any %#*$!?# here know how to draw!?"

Milt was known for his explosiveness, but as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston point out," He was honest to the point of bluntness. Unlike any irascible temperaments who have filled the halls of history, Milt had a very sweet helpful side, when he chose. He gave unstintingly of his time and talent when it was to help the picture, and almost as often to help a fellow artist who had a problem. However, he expected anyone coming for help to have worked hard and tried everything-to have done his best before coming."

In Richard Williams' famous and amazingly helpful book, The Animator's Survival Kit, he often mentions wisdom passed on by Milt. Within the first chapter, Dick Williams provides the reader with the following first lesson-a-la-Kahl...(Unplug, folks!!)

Milt really was an amazingly astounding draftsman. His linework has remained unparralleled, I believe, at Disney and any other studio out there ( But there are certainly MANY MANY animators, even today, who are just as dedicated and have superb draftsmanship). Milt's greatest strength was said to be from the fact that he believed animation drawings were truly two dimensional and should stick to that plane- thus he is famous for his concise, posed drawings (and pose to pose animation stlye!) where everything was clearly readable to the audience.

Here's a great example of some of Milt's work. I watched this film recently, and was blown away by this section, so you can imagine my delight in finding the actual drawings online as well! Look at how clearly you can read every action. Nothing is hidden, nothing is obscure.

Milt Kahl (Mowgli) from Victor Ens on Vimeo.

Milt Kahl - Mr. Snoops Pencil Test from David Nethery on Vimeo.

Milt was a great asset to the industry, and his legend still continues in the many artists who pull from his work, freeze-framing and stepping through frame by frame to glean some of the genius away from it.