Difference between revisions of "Whit Jolley"
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Whit spent three days in jail under charges ranging from vandalism to petty theft, although he always claimed he had no memory of the events and could not be held responsible. During this fugue state, he had taken buckets of paint from hardware stores and created murals on walls and sidewalks, evidently obsessed with finally getting the images in his head out into the world. He was released, with all charges dropped and his military service commuted, thanks to the intervention of wealthy tycoon [[Octavius Banks]]. Banks, keen on exploiting Hollywood and its residents for financial gain, recognized Whit Jolley's psychosis for what it was: the mark of an [[animator]], a newly discovered condition connected with Hollywood's [[toon]]s. He offered Jolley a position at his new venture, a studio by the name of [[Sovereign Pictures]]. | Whit spent three days in jail under charges ranging from vandalism to petty theft, although he always claimed he had no memory of the events and could not be held responsible. During this fugue state, he had taken buckets of paint from hardware stores and created murals on walls and sidewalks, evidently obsessed with finally getting the images in his head out into the world. He was released, with all charges dropped and his military service commuted, thanks to the intervention of wealthy tycoon [[Octavius Banks]]. Banks, keen on exploiting Hollywood and its residents for financial gain, recognized Whit Jolley's psychosis for what it was: the mark of an [[animator]], a newly discovered condition connected with Hollywood's [[toon]]s. He offered Jolley a position at his new venture, a studio by the name of [[Sovereign Pictures]]. | ||
| − | Jolley worked with a small team of animators, including [[Rutherford Bartlett|Bartlett]] and [[Mehmet Wernick|Wernick]] who would go on to become longtime colleagues. Their task was to create toons for Sovereign's flagship cartoon project, the [[Laffographs]]. It was during these early years that Jolley saw the potential for toons, believing that they could do more than just singing and dancing for people's amusement. But his ideas for "toon dramaticals" were rejected by Banks, who believed that both toons and filmgoing audiences lacked the capacity for complex human emotions. | + | Jolley worked with a small team of animators, including [[Rutherford Bartlett|Bartlett]] and [[Mehmet Wernick|Wernick]] who would go on to become longtime colleagues. Their task was to create toons for Sovereign's flagship cartoon project, the [[Laffographs]] (1922). It was during these early years that Jolley saw the potential for toons, believing that they could do more than just singing and dancing for people's amusement. But his ideas for "toon dramaticals" were rejected by Banks, who believed that both toons and filmgoing audiences lacked the capacity for complex human emotions. |
===Split from Sovereign=== | ===Split from Sovereign=== | ||
Latest revision as of 13:39, 24 November 2022
Whitman "Whit" Tobias Jolley (December 31 1899 — December 31 1975) was an artist, animator, and director who founded Whit Jolley Animation, a film studio specializing in all-toon productions. His most well-known collaborator was Tiny Cat, a toon feline approximately the size of a mouse, whose misadventures and escapades (mostly relating to his unusual size) delighted audiences for years. From humble beginnings he rose to become one of the titans of Hollywood, having shaped the industry and the world with his actions.
Appearance
Jolley was an otherwise unremarkable man aside from two distinguishing features: his large ears, and a significant gap between his front teeth. These features were often lampooned and mocked by his detractors, including his former mentor Octavius Banks after the two men had their famous falling-out. It is widely believed that he began to sport a mustache in order to draw less attention to his teeth, and it quickly became part of his signature look.
His otherwise-unruly hair was kept tamed with pomade whenever he was in the public eye, which became increasingly often in his later years. Overuse of the product may have contributed to his receding hairline. Naturally dark-haired, he began to go gray in the early 1950s due to the stress of running a major studio, and spent his final years with snowy-white hair.
