Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, producer, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. In total he created more than 300 cartoons. He introduced and/or developed several of the studio's biggest stars, including

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

, Porky Pig,

Tweety Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...

, Sylvester,

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...

(to whom he was said to bear more than a passing resemblance), and

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fas ...

. The senior director at Warners'

Termite Terrace Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in United States, American media h ...

studio, Freleng directed more cartoons than any other director in the studio (a total of 266), and is also the most honored of the Warner directors, having won five

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and three

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. After Warner closed down the animation studio in 1963, Freleng and business partner David H. DePatie founded

DePatie–Freleng Enterprises DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (also known as Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng Productions when involved with the Mirisch brothers and Geoffrey Productions; and DFE Films) was an American animation production company that was active from 1963 to 1 ...

, which produced cartoons (including ''

The Pink Panther Show ''The Pink Panther Show'' is a showcase of animated shorts produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng between 1969 and 1978, starring the animated Pink Panther character from the opening credits of the live-action films. The series was pr ...

''), feature film title sequences, and

Saturday-morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

s through the early 1980s. The nickname "Friz" came from his friend, Hugh Harman, who initially nicknamed him "Congressman Frizby" after a fictional senator who appeared in satirical pieces in the ''

Los Angeles Examiner The ''Los Angeles Examiner'' was a newspaper founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst in Los Angeles, California. The afternoon '' Los Angeles Herald-Express'' and the morning ''Los Angeles Examiner'', both of which had been publishing in the ...

'', due to the characters strong resemblance to him. Over time, this shortened to "Friz".

Early career

Freleng was born to Louis Mendel Freleng, a

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

immigrant from

Kutno Kutno is a city located in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship since 1999, previously it was part of Płock Voivodeship (1975–1998) and it is now the capital of Kutno County. Dur ...

, and Elka (née Ribakoff) Freleng (an

Ukrainian Jewish The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Some of the most important Jewish religious and ...

who born in

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administr ...

) in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, where he attended Westport High School from 1919 to 1923 and where began his career in animation at the United Film Ad Service. There, he made the acquaintance of fellow animators Hugh Harman and

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentiou ...

. In 1923, Iwerks' friend,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, moved to Hollywood and put out a call for his Kansas City colleagues to join him. Freleng, however, held out until January 1927, when he finally moved to California and joined the Walt Disney studio. He worked alongside other former Kansas City animators, including Iwerks, Harman,

Carman Maxwell Carman Griffin Maxwell (December 27, 1902 – September 22, 1987) was an American animator and voice actor. Maxwell was born in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and later moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He began his career at Walt Disney, where Maxwel ...

, and

Rudolph Ising Rudolf Carl Ising (August 7, 1903 – July 18, 1992) was an American animator best known for collaborating with Hugh Harman to establish the Warner Bros. and MGM Cartoon studios during the early years of the golden age of American animation. I ...

. While at Disney, Freleng worked on the

Alice Comedies The ''Alice Comedies'' are a series of animated/live-action shorts created by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice (originally played by Virginia Davis) and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an ...

and

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1 ...

cartoons for producers

Margaret Winkler Margaret J. Winkler Mintz (April 22, 1895 – June 21, 1990) was a key figure in silent animation history, having a crucial role to play in the histories of Max and Dave Fleischer, Pat Sullivan, Otto Messmer, and Walt Disney. She was the firs ...

and Charles Mintz. Friz said in an interview with Michael Barrier that Walt had patience and remorse in letters prior to joining him, but did not show that attitude and instead Walt became abusive and he harassed him. Freleng soon teamed up with Harman and Ising to try to create their own studio. The trio produced a pilot film starring a new Mickey Mouse-like character named Bosko. Looking at unemployment if the cartoon failed to generate interest, Freleng moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to work on Mintz' Krazy Kat cartoons,Archived a
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Wayback Machine
all the while still trying to sell the Harman-Ising Bosko picture. Freleng was very unhappy living in New York and made the best of it until another opportunity opened for him. Bosko was finally sold to Leon Schlesinger, who would produce the series for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

At first, Freleng was reluctant to return to California when

Harman-Ising Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were an American animation team known for founding the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios. Early history Harman and Ising first worked in animation in the early 1920s at Laugh-O-Gram Studio, ...

asked him to work on the series. At the insistence of his sister Jean, Freleng soon moved back to California to work on

Freleng as director

Early Schlesinger cartoons

Harman and Ising left Schlesinger's studio over disputes about budgets in 1933. Schlesinger was left with no experienced directors and therefore lured Freleng away from Harman-Ising to successfully fix cartoons directed by Tom Palmer which Warner rejected. The young animator became Schlesinger's top director, and he introduced the studio's first true post-Bosko star, Porky Pig, in the film, ''

I Haven't Got a Hat ''I Haven't Got a Hat'' is a 1935 animated short film, directed by Isadore Freleng for Leon Schlesinger Productions as part of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series. Released on March 2, 1935, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of sev ...

'' (1935). Porky was a distinctive character, unlike Bosko or his replacement,

Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) *Buddy Rogers (wrestler), ring name of American professional wrestler Herman Gustav Rohde, Jr. (1921–1992) *Buddy Boeheim (born 1999), Amer ...

. As a director, Freleng gained the reputation of a tough taskmaster. His unit, however, consistently produced high-quality animated shorts under his direction. Friz Freleng directed the largest number of cartoons on the

Censored Eleven The Censored Eleven is a group of '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons originally produced and released by Warner Bros. that were withheld from syndication in the United States by United Artists (UA) since 1968. UA owned the dis ...

, a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons originally produced and released by Warner Bros. that were withheld from syndication in the United States by United Artists (UA) in 1968 because the use of ethnic stereotypes in the cartoons, specifically African stereotypes, was deemed too offensive for contemporary audiences. David DePatie, when asked about the Japanese beetle in Blue Racer in 1996, said this about Friz's view on race, "It seems like poking fun at certain ethnic groups had always spelled success. Friz had always felt that way in his cartoons, especially with Speedy."

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

In September 1937, Freleng left Schlesinger after accepting an increase in salary to direct for the new

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsible for producing animated shorts to ...

headed by

Fred Quimby Frederick Clinton Quimby (July 31, 1886 – September 16, 1965) was an American animation producer and journalist best known for producing the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon series, for which he won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Films ...

. Freleng served as a director on ''

The Captain and the Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

, ''

The Katzenjammer Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).

Back with Schlesinger and Warner Bros.

Freleng happily returned to Warner Bros. in mid-April 1939 when his MGM contract ended. One of the first ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon shorts directed by Freleng during his second tenure at the studio was ''

You Ought to Be in Pictures ''You Ought to Be in Pictures'' is a 1940 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' short film directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon was released on May 18, 1940, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. The film combined live-action and animation, and featu ...

'', a cartoon short which blended animation with live-action footage of the Warner Bros. studio (and included staff such as story man Michael Maltese and Schlesinger himself). The plot, which centers around Porky Pig being tricked by Daffy Duck into terminating his contract with Schlesinger to attempt a career in features, echoes Freleng's experience in moving to MGM.

Directorial achievements

Schlesinger's hands-off attitude toward his animators allowed Freleng and his fellow directors almost complete creative control and room to experiment with cartoon comedy styles, which allowed the studio to keep pace with the Disney studio's technical superiority. Freleng's style quickly matured, and he became a master of

comic timing Comic timing emerges from a performer's joke delivery: they interact with an audience— intonation, rhythm, cadence, tempo, and pausing—to guide the audience's laughter, which then guides the comedic narrative. The pacing of the delivery of ...

. Often working alongside layout artist

Hawley Pratt Hawley B. Pratt (June 9, 1911 – March 4, 1999) was an American film director, animator, and illustrator. He is best known for his work for Warner Bros. Cartoons and as the right-hand man of director Friz Freleng as a layout artist and later as ...

, he also introduced or redesigned a number of Warner characters, including

in 1945, the cat-and-bird duo Sylvester and

in 1947, and

in 1955. Freleng and

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

would dominate the Warner Bros. studio in the years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with Freleng largely concentrating on the above-mentioned characters, as well as

. Freleng continued to produce modernized versions of the musical comedies he animated in his early career, such as '' Three Little Bops'' (1957) and ''

Pizzicato Pussycat ''Pizzicato Pussycat'' is a 1955 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on January 1, 1955. The cartoon is about a talented piano-playing mouse becoming a slave to a house cat. Plot Mr. a ...

'' (1955). He won four

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

during his time at Warner Bros., for the films ''

Tweetie Pie ''Tweetie Pie'' is a 1947 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on May 3, 1947, and stars Tweety with Sylvester the Cat, who is called "Thomas" in this cartoon. ''Tweetie Pie'' marks the first ...

'' (1947), ''

'' (1955), ''

Birds Anonymous ''Birds Anonymous'' is a 1957 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' animated short, directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The short was released on August 10, 1957, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. Plot The cartoon starts with T ...

'' (1957) and ''

Knighty Knight Bugs ''Knighty Knight Bugs'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, The short was released on August 23, 1958, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. ''Knighty Knight Bugs'' is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win ...

'' (1958). Other Freleng cartoons, such as '' Sandy Claws'' (1955), ''

Mexicali Shmoes ''Mexicali Shmoes'' is a 1959 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on July 4, 1959, and stars Speedy Gonzales and the singing cats Jose and Manuel. Voice actors include Mel Blanc as the v ...

'' (1959), ''

Mouse and Garden ''Mouse and Garden'' is a 1960 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The Academy Award-nominated cartoon was released on July 16, 1960, and stars Sylvester. The title is a play on '' House & Garden''. Sylvester is voi ...

'' (1960) and ''

The Pied Piper of Guadalupe ''The Pied Piper of Guadalupe'' is a 1961 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on August 19, 1961, and stars Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester. It was nominated at the 34th Academy Awards in the ca ...

'' (1961) were Oscar nominees. Freleng's cartoon, ''

Show Biz Bugs ''Show Biz Bugs'' is a 1957 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng and featuring Mel Blanc. The short was released on November 2, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Plot Arriving at the theatre where he and ...

'' (1957), with Daffy Duck vying with Bugs Bunny for theatre audience appreciation, was arguably a template for the successful format of ''

The Bugs Bunny Show ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American animated anthology television series hosted by Bugs Bunny that was mainly composed of theatrical '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons released by Warner Bros. between 1948 and 196 ...

'' that premiered on television in the autumn of 1960. Further, Freleng directed the cartoons with the erudite and ever-so-polite Goofy Gophers encountering the relentless wheels of human industry, them being ''I Gopher You'' (1954) and ''Lumber Jerks'' (1955), and he also directed three cartoons (sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation) extolling the virtues of free-market capitalism: ''By Word of Mouse'' (1954), '' Heir-Conditioned'' (1955) and ''

Yankee Dood It ''Yankee Dood It'' is a 1956 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' theatrical cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The short was released on October 13, 1956 and features Elmer Fudd. The title is a pun on Red Skelton's ...

'' (1956), all three of which involved Sylvester. Freleng directed all three of the vintage Warner Brothers cartoons in which a drinking of Dr. Jekyll's potion (of ''

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'') induces a series of monstrous transformations: '' Dr. Jerkyl's Hide'' (1954), '' Hyde and Hare'' (1955) and ''

Hyde and Go Tweet ''Hyde and Go Tweet'' is a 1960 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc. The short was released on May 14, 1960, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. The short is the third ...

'' (1960). Other Freleng fancies were man at war with the insect world (as in ''

Of Thee I Sting ''Of Thee I Sting'' is a 1946 Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, written by Michael Maltese and narrated by Robert C. Bruce that is a parody of World War II documentaries. Material was reused from the ''Target Snafu'' cartoon. The short ...

'' (1946) and ''Ant Pasted'' (1953)), an inebriated stork delivering the wrong baby (in ''

A Mouse Divided ''A Mouse Divided'' is a 1953 ''Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on January 31, 1953, and stars Sylvester. The title is a pun on Lincoln's House Divided Speech. Plot The short begins at a party a ...

'' (1952), ''Stork Naked'' (1955) and ''

Apes of Wrath ''Apes of Wrath'' is a 1959 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on April 18, 1959, and stars Bugs Bunny. This cartoon recycles the plot from the 1948 cartoon '' Gorilla My Dreams''. Th ...

'' (1959)), and characters marrying for money and finding themselves with a shrewish wife and a troublesome step-son (''

His Bitter Half ''His Bitter Half'' is a 1950 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' short, directed by Friz Freleng with a story by Tedd Pierce. The cartoon was released on May 20, 1950, and stars Daffy Duck. The voices are performed by Mel Blanc and Martha Wentworth ...

'' (1949) and ''

Honey's Money ''Honey's Money'' is a 1962 Merrie Melodies animated short featuring Yosemite Sam. The short was released on September 1, 1962. ''Honey's Money'' is a remake of the 1950s shorts '' His Bitter Half'' and ''Hare Trimmed''. In ''His Bitter Half'' ...

'' (1962)). Freleng was occasionally the subject of in-jokes in Warner cartoons. In ''

Canary Row ''Canary Row'' is a 1949 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' short directed by Friz Freleng and written by Tedd Pierce. The short was released on October 7, 1950, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. This is the first Sylvester and Tweety cartoon to f ...

'' (1950), there were billboards in the background of scenes advertising various products called "Friz". The "Hotel Friz" was featured in ''

Racketeer Rabbit ''Racketeer Rabbit'' is a 1946 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on September 14, 1946, and features Bugs Bunny. In the cartoon, Bugs duels with a pair of racketeers or gangsters, Rocky and H ...

'' (1946) and "Frizby the Magician" was one of the acts Bugs Bunny pitched in ''

High Diving Hare ''High Diving Hare'' is a 1948-produced Warner Brothers ''Looney Tunes'' theatrical cartoon short starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Released to theaters on April 30, 1949, the short is an expansion of a gag from ''Stage Door Cartoon'', whi ...

'' (1949).

Musical knowledge and technique

Freleng was somewhat of a musical

and a classically trained violinist who timed his cartoons on musical bar sheets. Freleng would time gags that best utilized Carl Stalling's, Milt Franklyn's or

William Lava William "Bill" Benjamin Lava (March 18, 1911 – February 20, 1971) was a composer and arranger who composed and conducted music for feature films as well as that for the Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' animated carto ...

's music. He was one of a very few directors at Warner Bros. to have musical knowledge for making cartoons. Every cartoon Freleng directed from the late 1930s to 1963 was made with his creative musical technique. Freleng's directorial style differed from

and Robert McKimson.

DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

Warner Bros. Cartoons was closed in 1964, leading Freleng to take a job at

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

as story supervisor on their first feature, ''

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! ''Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!'' is a 1964 American animated musical comedy film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and released by Columbia Pictures. The film stars the voices of Daws Butler, Don Messick, Julie Bennett, Mel Blanc, and J. Pa ...

'' Freleng rented the same space from Warners to create cartoons with his now-former boss, producer David H. DePatie (the final producer hired by Warner Bros. to oversee the cartoon division), forming

. When Warner decided to reopen their cartoon studio in 1964, due to Freleng asking them if he can rent the studio, eventually settling for $500, they did so in name only; DePatie–Freleng produced the cartoons into 1966. The DePatie–Freleng studio's signature achievement was

The Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film '' The Pi ...

. DePatie–Freleng was commissioned to create the opening titles for the feature film ''

'' (1963), for which layout artist and director

and Freleng created a suave, cool cat character. The Pink Panther cartoon character became so popular that

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

, distributors of ''The Pink Panther'', had Freleng produce a short cartoon starring the character, ''

The Pink Phink ''The Pink Phink'' is a 1964 American animated short comedy film directed by Friz Freleng. It is the first animated short starring the Pink Panther. The short won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short at the 37th Academy Awards. Plot The Pi ...

'' (1964). After ''The Pink Phink'' won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), Freleng and DePatie responded by producing a whole series of Pink Panther cartoons. Other original cartoon series, among them ''

The Inspector ''The Inspector'' is a series of 34 theatrical cartoon shorts produced between 1965 and 1969 by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The cartoons are dedicated to an animated version of Inspector Clouseau comical ...

'', ''

The Ant and the Aardvark ''The Ant and the Aardvark'' is a series of 17 theatrical short cartoons produced at DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, originally released by United Artists and currently distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1969 to 1971. Plot The cartoon se ...

'', ''

Tijuana Toads ''Tijuana Toads'' is a series of 17 theatrical cartoons produced by DePatie–Freleng and released through United Artists. Plot The series was about two toads, El Toro and Pancho, who live in the Mexican city of Tijuana. Throughout the carto ...

'', '' The Dogfather'', ''

Roland and Rattfink ''Roland and Rattfink'' is a series of animated shorts produced and released from 1967 to 1972. The main characters also made several guest appearances on ''The Pink Panther'' animated series. The series was produced by David H. DePatie and Friz F ...

'' and ''

Crazylegs Crane ''Crazylegs Crane'' is a 16-episode made-for-television cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises in 1978 for ''The Pink Panther Show, The All New Pink Panther Show'' on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Production This was Craz ...

'', soon followed. In 1969, ''

'', a Saturday morning anthology program featuring DePatie–Freleng cartoons, debuted on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. ''The Pink Panther'' and the other original DePatie–Freleng series would remain in production through 1980, with new cartoons produced for simultaneous Saturday morning broadcast and United Artists theatrical release. Layout artist Hawley Pratt, who worked at DePatie–Freleng during the time, is credited with the creation of

Frito-Lay Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-fla ...

Chester Cheetah Chester Cheetah is a fictional character and the official mascot for Frito-Lay's Cheetos brand snacks as well as Chester's Snacks which consists of flavored fries, popcorn and puffcorn. History 1985–2003: Traditional animation Cheetos' orig ...

, on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

show "Deep Fried Treats Unwrapped", though some sources say it was

DDB Worldwide DDB Worldwide Communications Group LLC, known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies. The international advertising networks ...

, while others credit Brad Morgan. The studio is also known for creating the color opening title sequence for the '' I Dream of Jeannie'' television series. DePatie–Freleng also contributed special effects to the original version of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' (1977), particularly the animation of the lightsaber blades. By 1967, DePatie and Freleng had moved their operations to the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

. Their studio was located on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Van Nuys. One of their projects, titled ''

Goldilocks "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest hom ...

'', featured Bing Crosby and his family, and had songs by the Sherman Brothers. At their new facilities, they continued to produce new cartoons until 1980, when they sold DePatie–Freleng to

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, which renamed it

Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of New World Entertainment ...

Later career and death

Freleng later served as an executive producer on three 1980s ''Looney Tunes'' compilation features, ''

The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie ''The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie'' (credited onscreen as ''Friz Freleng's Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie'') is a 1981 American animated comedy package film with a compilation of classic ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' War ...

'' (1981), '' Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales'' (1982), and ''

Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island ''Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island'' (also known as ''Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island'') is a 1983 ''Looney Tunes'' traditionally animated compilation film directed by Friz Freleng and Phil Monroe with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. c ...

'' (1983), which linked classic shorts with new animated sequences. In 1986, Freleng stepped down and gave his position at Warner Bros. to his secretary at the time, Kathleen Helppie-Shipley, who ended up being the second-longest producer of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies franchise, behind only Leon Schlesinger. Friz Freleng Grave

In 1994, the International Family Film Festival presented its first Lifetime Achievement of Excellence in Animation award to Freleng, and the award has since been referred to as the "Friz Award" in his honor. On May 26, 1995, Friz Freleng died of natural causes in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, aged 89. The WB animated TV series ''

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries ''The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation which aired from September 9, 1995 to February 5, 2000 on Kids' WB. The final episode, containing the segments "The Tail End?" and ...

'', and the ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon ''

From Hare to Eternity ''From Hare to Eternity'' is a 1997 Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, directed by Chuck Jones (in his last role as director and his only role as director of a Bugs Bunny short since '' Transylvania 6-5000'' in 1963, as ...

'' (which was the last one directed by Chuck Jones), were both dedicated to his memory. After his death,

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

aired a variation of one of their station idents with the words "Friz Freleng: 1906–1995" (the birth year is disputed) appearing and an announcer paying tribute to Freleng and his works. He is interred in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery. Freleng is portrayed by Taylor Gray in the film ''

Walt Before Mickey ''Walt Before Mickey'' is a 2015 American biographical drama film about the early years of Walt Disney based on the book ''Walt Before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, 1919–1928'' by Timothy S. Susanin, with a foreword written by Diane Disney. The ...

'' (2015).

Partial filmography

* Alice's Picnic (Short) (animator, 1927) *

Trolley Troubles ''Trolley Troubles'' is a 1927 animated short subject film, produced by Charles Mintz and George Winkler and directed by Walt Disney. The cartoon is the first appearance of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character that Disney and Ub Iwerks created ...

(Short) (animator, 1927) * The Banker's Daughter (Short) (animator, 1927) * Fiery Fireman (Short) (director, 1928) * Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (Short) (animator – uncredited, 1929) * Hold Anything (Short) (animator, 1930) * Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (Short) (animator, 1931) *

Big Man from the North ''Big Man from the North'' is an American animated short film. It is a ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, featuring Bosko, the first star of the series. It was released in January 1931, although some sourcesMaltin, Leonard. ''Of Mice and Magic: a History ...

(Short) (animator, 1931) *

The Tree's Knees ''The Tree's Knees'' is a 1931 one-reel short subject featuring Bosko, part of the '' Looney Tunes'' series. It was released in August 1931 and is directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, the last cartoon in the series to be directed by the ...

(Short) (animator, 1931) * Battling Bosko (Short) (animator, 1932) *

Moonlight for Two ''Moonlight for Two'' is a 1932 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on June 11, 1932, and stars Goopy Geer, one of the few recurring characters in the early ''Merrie Melodies'' series. Summa ...

(Short) (animator, 1932) *

It's Got Me Again! ''It's Got Me Again!'' is a 1932 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' animated short film directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on May 14, 1932. It is one of the first films released under the ''Merrie Melodies'' brand and the first no ...

(Short) (animator, 1932) *

Bosko in Person ''Bosko in Person'' is an American animated short film featuring Bosko. It is a ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, featuring Bosko, the original star of the series. It was released on February 11, 1933, though one source claims the release date is April ...

(Short) (animator, 1933) *

Buddy's Day Out ''Buddy's Day Out'' is a 1933 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Tom Palmer. The short was released in theaters on September 9, 1933, premiering with '' Goodbye Again'', and was the first cartoon to feature Buddy, the second st ...

(Short) (story editor – uncredited; 1933) * We're in the Money (Short) (animator, 1933) *

I Like Mountain Music ''I Like Mountain Music'' is a 1933 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on June 14, 1933. This cartoon is a follow-up to the 1932 short ''Three's a Crowd (1932 film), Three's a Crowd'', in w ...

(Short) (animator, 1933) * Poultry Pirates (Short) (story – uncredited, 1938) * The Honduras Hurricane (Short) (story – uncredited, 1938) *

Shishkabugs ''Shishkabugs'' is a 1962 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on December 8, 1962, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The title of the short is a play on shish kebab, a culinary dish. ...

(Short) (director, 1962) * The Jet Cage (Short) (writer, 1962) * Philbert (Three's a Crowd) (Short) (animation director, 1963) *

Nuts and Volts ''Nuts and Volts'' is a bimonthly American magazine for the hands-on hobbyist, design engineer, technician, and experimenter. It has been published by T&L Publications since 1980 and leans heavily toward microcontroller and digital electronics pr ...

(Short) (director, 1964) *

It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House ''It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House'' is a 1965 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on January 16, 1965, and stars Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester and Granny. The ...

(Short) (producer, 1965) * The Wild Chase (Short) (producer, 1965) * Tease for Two (Short) (producer, 1965) * Cats and Bruises (Short) (director, 1965) *

The Solid Tin Coyote ''The Solid Tin Coyote'' is a 1966 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Rudy Larriva. The short was released on February 19, 1966, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of car ...

(Short) (producer, 1966) * Pink Is a Many Splintered Thing (Short) (producer, 1968) * Slink Pink (Short) (producer, 1969) * Shot and Bothered (Short) (producer, 1969) * The Ant and the Aardvark (Short) (producer, 1969) * Therapeutic Pink (Short) (producer, 1977) * Pink Press (Short) (producer, 1978) * Pinktails for Two (Short) (producer, 1978) *

Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales ''Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales'' is a 1979 animated Christmas television special featuring Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters in three newly created cartoon shorts with seasonal themes. It premiered on CBS on November 27, 1979. ...

(TV Short) (director of "Bugs Bunny" sequences, 1979)

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* * *
1940 census record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freleng, Friz 1905 births 1995 deaths Artists from Kansas City, Missouri American animated film producers Animators from Missouri Animation screenwriters Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Film directors from Missouri Articles containing video clips Jewish American artists Jewish American writers Primetime Emmy Award winners Warner Bros. Cartoons directors Walt Disney Animation Studios people Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Producers who won the Best Animated Short Academy Award Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people Laugh-O-Gram Studio people 20th-century screenwriters