Line #33 Creator/JimTyer


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tyertime_3.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Jim drawing a doodle of WesternAnimation/MightyMouse.]]
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4	->"As my hero animator, Jim Tyer, used to say, "Hey Ralph, stop worrying. Everything moves, so put it down, have fun and go home." Yeah, Jim had fun, more fun than any animator I knew at the time. He distorted, he drew off model -- yes, off model, and threw shapes around like he was Creator/JacksonPollack, the animator. He had fun. The rest of the guys stared at Creator/{{Disney}} and cried, "If we could only do that, boo-hoo." Jim would walk around the inking department -- yes, hand-inking with Crokille pens -- telling the inkers, "Don't worry about where my line is, don't stiffen up the animation, keep it loose. The color will hold it together. Have fun. It is just cartoons." This, compared to another guy who would scream, "You wiggled the nose on that cel! What are you doing ruining my animation that way!"
5	-->--Creator/RalphBakshi on his mentor
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7	James Tyer (February 7, 1904 - March 1976) was one of the most unique animators who ever lived, having a long and varied career throughout the HistoryOfAnimation, but most famous for his work at the Creator/TerryToons cartoon studio.
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9	Jim got his start in animation in 1926, working at the Aesop's Film Fables studio, which would eventually become the [[Creator/VanBeurenStudios Van Beuren cartoon studio.]] In these early films, one can already see his unique animation style starting to bloom, such as the bizarre climatic fight scene of the Cubby Bear short "Love's Labor Won" (1933), the ending scene of "Polar Pals", the cat with the fiddle scene in "Nursery Scandal" and the opening animation of Santa Claus in "Opening Night". While there, he also directed at least four cartoons, ''Marching Along'' and ''Pals (AKA Christmas Night)'' in the ''Little King'' series, and ''Grandfather's Clock'' and ''A Little Bird Told Me'' in the ''Toddle Tales'' series.
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11	In the mid 1930's, Jim wanted to improve his skills as an animator, so he left Van Beuren in 1935 to hold very brief stints at both Disney and MGM, the former as an effects animator on the WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies (animating the opening crowd shot in "Cock o the Walk" and some of the water scenes in "WesternAnimation/MusicLand") and as a more standard animator and gag man on the WesternAnimation/HappyHarmonies films, where he contributed animation to shorts like "Little Cheeser" (one scene is that clearly his work is the scene with a living cuckoo clock) and "The Pups Picnic" (where he animates a perfectly straight scene of a fox chasing the pups through the forest in the climax).
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13	After that, Tyer briefly found work at the obscure Jam Handy industrial cartoon studio, where he animated films like "Drawing Account" singlehandedly, and then jumped over to Creator/FleischerStudios, just when the studio was transitioning into becoming Creator/FamousStudios. He not only got to helm his own animation unit there, but also contributed animation to many of the Famous Popeye cartoons of the early to mid 1940's, such as the last 45 seconds of "Too Weak to Work", the entire ending of "Her Honor the Mare", a fight scene between Popeye and Bluto in "Shape Ahoy" and the climax of "Service with a Guile".
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15	In 1946, Tyer left Famous and found work at the Creator/TerryToons cartoon studio, where he stayed up until the late 1950's, and this was where his drawing and animation style came full bloom. The lack of quality control at the studio basically made it a creative paradise for Tyer, where he was able to distort and move in drawings in a way he had never been allowed to in any other studio. His style in these films is very easy to spot--one example is in the film "Ten Pin Terrors", where Tyer animates the bulldog grabbing a bowling ball that has had glue poured into its holes. Other examples of his work for the studio include the opening of "House Busters" and "A Cat's Tale".
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17	After the theatrical cartoon business started drying up and switching to more strict, on-model animation, Tyer drifted to the realm of TV animation, where he contributed work on shows like Joe Oriolo's ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'' [[WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatJoeOriolo revival]] and ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyHercules''. He also worked on made for TV ''WesternAnimation/OutOfTheInkwell'' revival for Hal Seegar's studio, also contributing work to the shows ''Milton the Monster'' and ''Batfink''. At Paramount, he animated on a few of the ''Snuffy Smith'' cartoons. He apparently held a very brief tenure at Creator/HannaBarbera, but quickly left there when it became apparent that his kind of animation clashed too much with the studios established house style. This is likely a fate Tyer met when trying to find work at other studios, where emphasis on hard on-model animation of studios like Creator/{{Filmation}} made Tyer an outcast in the industry he once flourished in.
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19	Tyer's last major animation work was animating on ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'', the debut feature film of his prestige Creator/RalphBakshi, where he animated scenes of the crows in Harlem. After completing his work on the film, he retired from the business for good, and passed away a few years later.
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21	Inbetween his animation jobs, Jim Tyer also moonlighted artwork for many, many funny animal comic books, including the many [=TerryToons=] comics, Haha Comics, and even certain issues of Felix the Cat. In most of them, his distinctive cartoon style makes it rather easy to spot out his work.
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23	In recent years, Tyer has gained something of a loyal cult following among animators and cartoon buffs. In the 1970's, N.Y. animator Tony Eastman made an independent film in homage to Tyer's style called TV Baby. Tyer was also cited as an influence on Ralph Bakshi's ''Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures'' show, as well as Creator/JohnKricfalusi's ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow''.
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25	A semi-biography of Jim Tyer that describes his style and works that he animated on, written by animator and historian Mark Mayerson, can be read [[http://www.harrymccracken.com/apasite/stuff/tyer.htm here.]] A list of cartoons that he animated on [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878734/ can be found on IMDB.]]
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27	!Tropes:
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29	* ArtEvolution: His early animation at Van Beuren was unique, but didn't have quite all the hallmarks he became well known for. His drawing style is fairly different up until around 1934, when he establishes his own drawing style, but it wasn't until around the late 30's in his work at Jam Handy, and then his work at Famous and [=TerryToons=] in the 40's, that his animation style crystallized into the kind of cartoon animation he became most famous for.
30	* CreatorBacklash: [[http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=387 According to]] the late animator [[Creator/MichaelSpornAnimation Michael Sporn]], Jim hated working on Creator/RalphBakshi's adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat''. Jim was a die hard Catholic, which immediately put him at odds with the films X-rated content. As soon as he finished his work, he slammed his scenes down on the desk, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere walked out of the studio in a cursing fit]] and retired from animation for good.
31	* DerangedAnimation: This, more than any other reason, is why he's considered such a unique animator. His work could reach levels of craziness that would make Creator/BobClampett proud. With that said, it does lead to the work of other animators who were influenced by his work at [=TerryToons=] getting mistaken for his animation. His work also tends to get stereotyped as only being crazy, but in truth, he could animate a scene straight as an arrow if he needed to.
32	** A model sheet for Bakshi's ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' reboot shows a strong Tyer influence. It read "Tyre (sic) poses--use with extreme caution!"
33	* TheTwelvePrinciplesOfAnimation: Jim Tyer was exclusively a "straight ahead" animator, which was a big reason why his animation has such spontaneity to it.

Context Creator / JimTyer