Bill Tytla

Everybody was in awe of Bill Tytla, when he was at Disney.

Ollie Johnston said: " During that time the studio had one artistic breakthrough after another. 

We saw what Tytla was doing with Stromboli and thought, what a great medium this is. At this rate, who knows what Disney Animation will  do in a few years? Of course after the Golden Age we still did some great stuff, but it was more or less a refinement of what had been done."

Tytla animated "from the inside out". For every scene he did, he lived inside of that character. He drew absolutely beautifully, but bringing out  emotion and personality came first.

Even if that lead to an off model drawing here and there.

Walt had Fred Moore take a look at a few of Tytla's Grumpy scenes in order to punch up the "charm level".  Storyman Bill Peet did the same with some of the early animation of baby Dumbo.

Tytla's animation drawings range from very rough to clean, depending on the mood of his characters. When it came to animating Chernabog though, he knew that he had to draw his anatomy with great detail.  Nobody else at the studio was up to that kind of draughtsmanship and animation.

Milt Kahl was reflecting in the early eighties: "Never again has there been anything as powerful as Tytla's devil."

I am convinced that if Bill Tytla had stayed at Disney, he would have kept stirring animation in different directions.

If you want to read up on his life and art, try to get your hands on the catalogue

of the Tytla exhibit at the Katonah Museum of Art, 1994.

As usual John Canemaker's writing is outstanding.

Also, Michael Sporn blog has tons of extraordinary Tytla material to go through.

Following is a Tytla gallery starting with the rooster from "Cock of the Walk" 1935.

There are many great drawings of Grumpy, you can see in every one of them how involved the animator was with that character.

One of my favorites  is the blue rough drawing of Chernabog, covering his eyes.

The agony from the sound of  church bells and the coming of dawn is so powerfully depicted here in one single sketch.

Tytla's Chernabog

The Night on Bald Mountain sequence in Fantasia is probably the most extravagant piece of animated film making in regards to character animation and effects ever produced.
Fire, smoke, highlights and shadows, floating ghosts and experimental use of light, every single scene is loaded with awe inspiring richness. The result is definitely not family entertainment. This footage falls into the horror film genre. (I've said this before, terrifying enough to scare the popcorn out of kids). Disney in perhaps his darkest yet astonishingly beautiful animated moment.

The perfect challenge for young animator Bill Tytla, who had already established himself as an artistic powerhouse with gorgeous animation on several short films like Mickey's Fire Brigade and Cock o'the Walk. And the of course Stromboli in Pinocchio.
I don't know who drew Tytla's clean ups, but this work is exceptional. A devil in Art Deco line work.

What fascinates me even more are Tytla's rough drawings, even exploratory sketches. They give you insight into his extraordinary mind. The way he puts down lines to get a hold of this bigger than life character, his torso, arms, hands.
Many of the poses originate from the sequence director Wilfred Jackson own performance in front of the camera. Michael Barrier posted a few stills a while ago. Skinny as Jackson might have been, but you immediately recognize them as the inspiration for Tytla's masterful animation.

http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Jackson1973/Jackson1973.html

Here is the link to my first post on Bill Tytla:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/search?q=tytla

Chernabog

It's astounding to see rare cels like this one from Fantasia. It shows it's age, but nonetheless showcases the overwhelming craftsmanship of Disney Animation during the golden age.
The Devil on Bald Mountain remains to this day the most impressive, fearful and powerful animated character. His animation on screen lasts only a few tens of seconds, but every scene is pushed to the limit in terms of nightmarish horror, but also elegance of motion.
The scene in which Chernabog's hands play with flames to turn them into figures has such magnificent fluidity, the upper hand seems to be dancing with the fire.

The sequence was thoroughly researched, designed, staged and storyboarded for optimum effect.

Bill Tytla's exploratory research as well as his rough animation drawings demonstrate an artist's intense relationship with his subject. There is a raw power that seems to come from within the earth.

Even the clean up work on the character retains the awe-inspiring emotion of Tytla's rough drawings.
The flawlessly drawn anatomy helps to give the sequence a level of believability and authority never achieved before.

A couple more cels of Chernabog that seemed to have survived the ages to haunt us, even as still images.

Joe Grant's model department created this dynamic maquette for Tytla. It served as a reminder to bulk up the live action reference, in which skinny director Wilfred Jackson acted out the scenes.

Images Disney/Bonhams and Heritage Auctions

More on Tytla's work here in this previous post:

andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/07/bill-tytla.html

Dumbo Mix

The artist who drew this beautiful sequence for the film Dumbo is Bill Peet. The playful interaction between the baby elephant and his mother is what you would call "Disney Gold". It sets up the bond between a mother and her child. Peet thought of everything to make this section cinematic and entertaining. Staging and continuity are perfect, and the characters are drawn 100% on model. 

Which brings me to a story that's been going around Disney for a while. Most of you might know that Bill Tytla animated the sequence, but way back during production Peet was not too happy the way Tytla drew little Dumbo, somewhat off model. The word is that Peet drew over Tytla's rough keys to make the character look like he appears in his story drawings.

I'm not sure if this really happened, but I wouldn't be surprised. After all, Fred Moore re-drew some of Tytla's animation for Snow White's Grumpy.

A fantastic image from the film's opening sequence.

 An original cel combined with a studio prepared Courvoisier background. The kind of set up that Disney offered for sale.

Animator Milt Neil acts out frustration for a studio photographer, as he examines an exposure sheet for a scene with Timothy, the Mouse.

 

A fun article that was published in 1941to promote the film's release. The second page shows a photo of inker Phyllis Bounds, who happened to be Walt's wife Lilian's niece. Years later she would become Milt Kahl's second wife.