In his Disney career, Tytla is particularly noted for the animation in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia (The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria Segments) and Dumbo.
In 1914, when Tytla was 9, he visited Manhattan to attend Gertie the Dinosaur, an animated vaudeville act by Winsor McCay.
[4] Tytla returned to the United States with the attitude that he could become a great master of animation by incorporating his rich knowledge of art.
Grim Natwick, creator of Betty Boop, remarked, "Bill hovered over his drawing board like a giant vulture protecting a nest 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.
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.
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.
One of Tytla's famous scenes from the film (as described by John Canemaker) is where woman-hating Grumpy is kissed by Snow White.
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—in his telling facial expressions, his body language, and the timing of his reactions.
[5][2] One evening of 1936 in the art classes of Don Graham, a vibrant and beautiful 22-year-old actress and fashion model from Seattle named Adrienne le Clerc posed for the animators, including Tytla.
But it lost to Ferdinand the Bull, another Disney short, directed by Dick Rickard, animated by Milt Kahl and Ward Kimball.
Early in 1938, Tytla animated Yen Sid, the old magician in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", which would eventually become a segment in Fantasia.
However the character from Fantasia which Tytla is better known for is Chernabog, his own version of Crnobog the Black God, from the "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" sequence.
It is often said that Chernabog was based on actor Bela Lugosi, and Walt did bring him in to do live action reference for the character.
[10] Instead he had Wilfred Jackson (who is credited for the music of Steamboat Willie) act out the part for him, and that is what he used as live action reference.
[11][8] Not one to want to be typecast as an animator who only worked the strongest characters, Tytla requested as his next assignment Dumbo, the baby elephant ridiculed and rejected because of his big ears.
His son, Peter Tytla, has grown up to become a collage artist focusing on images made from photographs of junk cars.
[12] 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.
In Saludos Amigos 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.
Later their assignments included Standard Brands, Plymouth automobile, National Dairy Association, Tide and Clark Gum Company.
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".
[13] Tytla had also been working on the idea for an animated movie called "Mousthusula, the 2000 Year Old Mouse", but couldn't find anyone being interested.
On August 13, 1967, the opening night of the Montreal Expo's World Exhibition of Animation Cinema, featured a screening of Dumbo as part of an Hommage Aux Pionniers.
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 ...
"[13] After briefly working at Hanna-Barbera, and directing The Lone Ranger cartoon for Format Films, Vladimir Tytla died on his farm on December 30, 1968, aged 64.