Vladimir (Bill) Peter Tytla - One of the Non-Nine Old Men

There's a lot of talk about the Nine Old Men. I started to blog about them a few posts back. While researching the Nine Old Men, I started to learn more and more about the animators that aren't part of the list.

Bill Tytla is responsible for a lot of great character animation, but perhaps his best work 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, an action he regretted for the remaining twenty-five years of his life. (source: The Vladimir Tytla Page)

You can bet dollars to doughnuts that this is why Bill Tytla is not on the list of Walt's Nine Old Men, even though he obviously had the talents to be included on such a list.