Tytla, William

Tytla, William or Volodymyr [Титла, Володимир], b 24 October 1904 in Yonkers, New York State, d 30 December 1968 in East Lyme, Connecticut, USA. Cartoonist. After graduating from the New York Evening School of Industrial Arts he studied sculpture in Paris. Upon returning to New York he worked as a draftsman for Paul Terry’s Terrytoons and then for Walt Disney (1934–43). He was the animator of Saludos Amigos and Victory through Air Power; directing animator of Snow White, Pinocchio, and Dumbo; and animations supervisor of Fantasia. He created famous characters, such as the Seven Dwarfs, Stromboli, and Dumbo. He also did many shorts for Disney before moving to Famous Studios, Paramount, and Twentieth Century Fox, where he directed comedy series such as Little Audrey, Little Lulu, and Popeye. At the end of the 1950s he set up his own firm, Tytla Productions, and produced animated commercials.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]