I. Freleng
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Honored by the American Film Institute with a major retrospective of his work in 1981.
Honored by the British Film Institute with a major retrospective of his work in 1981.
Biography
The career of animation giant Friz Freleng encompassed much of the history of his chosen medium. He entered the industry in 1927 during the silent era as an animator on the popular Oswald the Rabbit series produced by the young visionary Walt Disney. Freleng also helped usher in the sound era in cartoons--notably with the three-minute pilot film "Bosko the Talk Ink Kid" (1929)--as the chief animator during the early days of the Harman-Ising studio (which soon evolved into producer Leon Schlesinger's animation unit at Warner Brothers). After a brief but transformative stint as a director at Fred Quimby's cartoon unit at MGM from late 1937 through early 1939, Freleng entered his multi-Oscar-winning glory days at Termite Terrace (the bungalow on the Warner lot where the animation department was housed) in the 1940s and 50s. Even during the artistically diminished era of 60s and 70s Saturday morning TV cartoons, he emerged as a major player in a very different field. Freleng truly saw it all and played a substantial role in making it happen.
While Bob Clampett was achieving new heights with Porky Pig--whom Freleng had introduced in "I Haven't Got a Hat" (1935)--in the black-and-white "Looney Tunes" series, Freleng helped enliven the color "Merrie Melodies" with a series of Hollywood caricatures in such mid-30s releases as "At Your Service Madame" featuring W.C. Squeals and "Coo Coo Nut Grove" (both 1936) which boasted a galaxy of stars (e.g. Clark Gable, Johnny Weismuller, Katherine Hepburn, Harpo Marx) in cartoon form. Freleng's solid if unremarkable work at Warners in the 30s was followed by a period of mastery in the 40s and 50s as he supervised some of the studio's most fondly remembered cartoons featuring the likes of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzales, Road Runner, Sylvester and Tweety.
Unlike some of his peers (e.g. Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett), Freleng has rarely been hailed as an innovator. Nonetheless his best Warner Brothers cartoons display an impeccable sense of comic timing, a flair for character and a rare ability to balance slapstick action and punchy verbal humor with tenderness. Freleng helmed the first appearance of the red moustachioed bandit Yosemite Sam in "Hare Trigger" (1945). Reportedly, writer Michael Maltese based the volatile little villain's personality on that of Freleng himself. Freleng became the primary director of Sam's many subsequent confrontations with Bugs Bunny. In 1947, Freleng revised Bob Clampett's original design of Tweety, paired him with Sylvester the Cat and won the Warner Brothers cartoon division its first Oscar with "Tweety Pie." Subsequently the exclusive director of Tweety, Freleng was responsible for many wacky scenarios featuring the little bird, Sylvester and Granny. He also redesigned Robert McKimson's fleet-footed Mexican rodent and directed him in the Oscar-winning "Speedy Gonzales" (1955).
A music lover and amateur musician, Freleng timed his cartoons to music and gave many of them musical motifs. Outstanding examples include "A Hare Grows in Manhattan" (1947), set to the rabbit's catchy rendition of "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" ("...a regular old-fashioned goil"), and "Showbiz Bugs" (1957) in which a murderously envious Daffy plants a bomb set to detonate when Bugs hits a certain note on the xylophone while playing "Those Endearing Young Charms." Freleng also directed a series of purely musical cartoons beginning with "Rhapsody in Rivets" (1941) which featured a group of animals building a skyscraper to the accompaniment of Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2."
When the animation department shut down in 1963, Freleng became a mogul by forming DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, a successful and prolific producer of animated cartoon fare primarily for children's TV, with David H. DePatie. They leased the Warner animation studio and set up shop. Ironically their first assignment was reviving the Warner Brothers cartoon series--on about half the previous budget--for a few more uninspired years (1964-67). Director Blake Edwards helped put the new company on the map by hiring them to animate the title sequence for his new detective comedy vehicle for Peter Sellers, "The Pink Panther" (1964). The success of this feature led to a popular series of theatrical shorts featuring the silent but colorful feline beginning with the Oscar-winning "The Pink Phink" (1964). These, in turn, generated a long running (1969-79) children's series featuring the panther, the Inspector, the Ant and the Aardvark and assorted critters.
Joining Hanna-Barbera and Filmation as the primary suppliers of TV kiddie fodder, DePatie-Freleng also produced numerous series and specials including several well-received Dr. Seuss projects beginning with the holiday classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (CBS, 1966). Though they featured limited animation, the Depatie-Freleng product was never quite as numbingly formulaic as their competitors'. Long after the Pink Panther cartoons ceased to be funny, they were still blessed with attractive and distinctive design. There were even ocassional glimmers of Freleng's once celebrated sense of comic timing. DePatie-Freleng also designed the title sequences for various features including the first "Panther" sequel, "A Shot in the Dark," and "The Best Man" (both 1964).
Late in his career, Freleng produced several theatrical compilation features, showcasing some of his memorable Warner Brothers work; "Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" (1981), "Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales" (1982) and "Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island" (1983). He also turned up as a grand old man in several TV specials honoring Bugs Bunny and Company. Fortunate to live long enough to be recognized and hailed as a genius, Freleng received numerous awards and retrospectives including the 1,962nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Animation (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Cast (Special)
Producer (Special)
Director (Short)
Director (TV Mini-Series)
Writer (TV Mini-Series)
Producer (TV Mini-Series)
Animation (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1924
Joined United Film Ad Service in Kansas City, MO (colleagues included future luminaries Ub Iwerks and Hugh Harman)
1927
Joined Walt Disney's studio in California to work on the Oswald the Rabbit series; left after disagreements and returned to United Film Ad Service
1928
Joined other Disney deserters including Harman and Rudolf Ising to make a cheaper version of Oswald the Rabbit for the Charles Mintz animation unit in NYC under producer George Winkler
1928
Formed cartoon production company with Harman and Ising; became their chief animator
1929
Worked as an animator on "Bosko the Talk Ink Kid", a three-minute "pilot" cartoon that was one of the first "talkies"; attracted the interest of Leon Schlesinger, head of Pacific Art and Title
1930
With Schlesinger producing and Warner Bros. distributing, began working on the first series of "Looney Tunes" created by Harman-Ising
1930
Credited as animator on "Sinkin' in the Bathtub", the first "Looney Tunes", starring Bosko
1933
Directing debut on "Bosko in Dutch"
1934
Broke with Harman-Ising and worked directly for Schlesinger after the duo departed following financial/artistic disputes with the producer (date approximate)
1935
Directed the first appearance of Porky Pig in "I Haven't Got a Hat"
1937
Left Warner Bros. to work as an animation director for Fred Quimby's unit at MGM
1939
Returned to Warner Bros. (date approximate)
1940
Directed "You Ought To Be in Pictures" featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck at the Leon Schlesinger studio, one of the few Warner Brothers cartoons to make extensive use of live-action film
1941
Directed "Rhapsody in Rivets", a cartoon without dialogue set to Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody"; the first of a series of musical cartoons directed by Freleng
1945
Directed the first appearance of red moustachioed bandit Yosemite Sam (whose personality writer Michael Maltese patterned after Freleng's) in "Hare Trigger", a Bugs Bunny cartoon
1947
Revised Bob Clampett's design of Tweety (the tiny androgynous canary) and paired him with Sylvester the Cat for "Tweety Pie"
1947
"Tweety Pie" became the first Warner Bros. cartoon to win an Oscar for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)
1947
Became the exclusive director of Tweety
1948
Directed a cartoon sequence for "Two Guys from Texas", a live-action musical feature starring Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan; Bugs Bunny appears with caricatures of Carson and Morgan
1949
Directed an animated dream sequence featuring Bugs Bunny in the Warner Brothers musical comedy "My Dream Is Yours"
1950
Introduced the recurring supporting characters Rocky and Mugsy, a tiny but tough gangster and his large oafish sidekick, in "Golden Yeggs", a Bugs Bunny cartoon
1955
Redisigned Robert McKimson's Speedy Gonzales and directed him in the Oscar-winning cartoon "Speedy Gonzales"
1957
Directed the Oscar winning cartoon "Birds Anonymous"
1958
Directed the Oscar winning cartoon "Knighty Knight Bugs"
1960
TV debut, worked with Chuck Jones for the first time on ABC's "Bugs Bunny Show" assembling classic six-minute cartoons into unified half-hour programs using new animation and other linking devices
1963
Left Warners after the cartoon unit closed; founded DePatie-Freleng Enterprises with Warners executive David H DePatie and leased the animation plant
1964
Contracted to produce additional theatrical shorts starring Warners cartoon characters on about half the previous budget (dates approximate)
1964
Hired by director Blake Edwards to create animated opening titles for "The Pink Panther"
1964
Produced (with DePatie) and directed (with Hawley Pratt) "The Pink Phink", the first Pink Panther cartoon
1966
Produced (with Theodor Geisel [Dr. Seuss], Chuck Jones and DePatie) "Dr. Seuss' 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'", a classic CBS holiday special
1981
Feature producing and directing debut, "Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie", a compilation film
1982
Produced the compilation feature "Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales"
1983
Produced the compilation feature "Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island"
1991
Exhibit of Freleng's animation cels opened at the Circle Gallery in New York
1992
Awarded the 1,962nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 20th, the day before his 87th birthday
1993
Final feature credit, "animated 'Pink Panther' character creator" on "Blake Edwards' Son of the Pink Panther"
1993
Final TV credit, consultant on "The Pink Panther", a syndicated revival of the children's cartoon series featuring Matt Frewer as the voice of the colorful feline
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Honored by the American Film Institute with a major retrospective of his work in 1981.
Honored by the British Film Institute with a major retrospective of his work in 1981.
Honored with a gala tribute by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1982
Honored by the Museum of Modern Art as part of their Golden Anniversary Salute to Warner Bros. Animation in 1985.
"Live-action directors find it difficult to believe what directors at Warner Bros. cartoon division were called upon to do: pre-time and pre-edit a picture to within eight frames (one-third of a second) of its ultimate length BEFORE going to the camera or the animator. That's what we had to do, and the master of this arcane art was Friz Freleng."--From "Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist" by Chuck Jones (NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1989).
"...Actually, shooting motion pictures, including animation, and performing music are very similar indeed--one, impinging a successive series of varied sounds on the ear; the other, impinging a successive series of varied sights on the eyes. It is no coincidence then, it is just plain good sense, that Friz Freleng set down the timing of his films on musical bar sheets.""Friz is a musician as well as an excellent draftsman, and it is not surprising that many of his films are a disarming and intricate web of music (a flurry of sounds) and animation ( a flurry of drawings). No student of animation can safely ignore the wizardry of these cartoons--if he can stop laughing long enough to seriously study their beauty."--From "Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist" by Chuck Jones (NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1989).
"The key to cartoons is creating characters people like and are comfortable with, characters with their own personalities. That's why Sylvester and Tweety were so popular and why Porky Pig was so beloved. I always tell people that Bugs Bunny is not a cartoon. He is a tall rabbit who lives somewhere in California whom I sometimes draw pictures of. He is as real a person as a real person."--Friz Freleng (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, December 17, 1991)
