DePatie-Freleng Enterprises

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE) was a based Hollywood-broadcast animated production company, active from 1963 to 1981.

Contents

[edit] Origins

DFE was founded by Warner Bros. Cartoons alumni, Friz Freleng and partner David H. DePatie after Warner Bros. left the animated cartoon business. Many of the animators who had worked at Warners in the 1950s and 1960s went with them, as well. Their first major production was the opening titles to the first Pink Panther film in 1963, which led to a series of cartoons inspired by the concurrently-running movie series. They won their only Oscar for The Pink Phink in 1964, receiving a further nomination for The Pink Blueprint in 1967.

[edit] List of theatrical and television cartoons

DePatie-Freleng created more cartoons to be released for theaters and television. They are as follows:

Theatrical series:

Television series:

The Pink Panther series of cartoons became the basis of a Saturday morning television series, The Pink Panther Show, which also included cartoons of The Inspector and The Ant and the Aardvark. Like most animated television comedies at the time, The Pink Panther Show contained a laugh track. They also include The Inspector (loosely based on the main character of the live-action Pink Panther movie series.

[edit] Other cartoons and television series

DFE was one of the subcontractors for the 1960s Warner Bros. cartoons, along with Format Films. The Looney Tunes shorts made by the studio can be easily identified by their modernized "Abstract WB" opening and closing sequences.

DFE made the animated overture from the television show I Dream of Jeannie, created and produced by Sidney Sheldon for Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures between 1965 and 1970. The studio also produced the innovative animated sequences in the 1969-1970 television series My World and Welcome to It, based on the drawings of James Thurber. They also created Return to the Planet of the Apes which ran on NBC from 1975 to 1976 and The Oddball Couple, which ran on Saturday mornings on ABC from 1975 to 1977.

They also produced TV specials (notably a line of Dr. Seuss adaptations made for CBS including 1971's The Cat in the Hat and 1973's Dr. Seuss on the Loose), and together with Hanna-Barbera Productions and Filmation were responsible for most of the cartoons shown on Saturday morning in the U.S. by the 1970s. One of the TV specials was 1972's The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas, with Tommy Smothers voicing the little bruin who goes out to find Christmas (in the human world) while his fellow bears head for hibernation instead.

[edit] Warner Bros. Members at DePatie-Freleng

Directors:

Writers:

Voices:

Music:

[edit] Later years

In 1981, Freleng retired and returned to Warner Animation Studios. DePatie sold the company to Marvel Comics, and it continued under his lead as Marvel Productions. Marvel sold their back catalog to Saban Entertainment in the late 1990s.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises
Founders
Cartoons
The Pink Panther (Theatrical, 1964-1980) • The Inspector (Theatrical, 1965-1969)   • Roland and Rattfink (Theatrical, 1968-1971) • The Ant and the Aardvark (Theatrical, 1969-1971) • Tijuana Toads (Theatrical, 1969-1972) • The Blue Racer (Theatrical, 1972-1974) • Hoot Kloot (Theatrical, 1973-1972) • The Dogfather (Theatrical, 1974-1976) • Misterjaw (Television, 1976) • Crazylegs Crane (Television, 1978) • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (Theatrical, 1964-1967)
Shows
Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat (CBS/TV special, 1971) • The Lorax (CBS/TV special, 1972) • Dr. Seuss on the Loose (CBS/TV special, 1973) • The Hoober-Bloob Highway (CBS/TV special, 1975) • Halloween is Grinch Night (ABC/TV special, 1977) • Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (ABC/TV special, 1980)
See also