Friz Freleng ( August 21, 1905 - May 26, 1995 ) is a production staff that worked on most of the original Doctor Seuss Adaptations.
Introduction[]
He first teamed up with Dr. Seuss during World War II for the Private Sanfu series. After the war, he continued to collaborate with Dr. Seuss to make the animated versions of The Cat in the Hat (1971 cartoon), Dr. Seuss on the Loose, The Lorax (TV Special), The Hoober-Bloob Highway, Halloween is Grinch Night, Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?, and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat.
Early Life[]
Friz Freleng is a musician, which helped him find work in animation.
Career[]
Friz Freleng had been active since 1920. His very early work includes Disney, a very early version of Screen Gems, and Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising ( August 31, 1903 – November 25, 1982 and (August 07, 1903 – July 18, 1992 ). After that, he worked at Warner Brothers beginning at 1933. He was one of the leading Directors of Termite Terrace. He stayed at Termite Terrace the entire time, except a few months in 1938 where he rejoined his former employers Harman and Ising. Another man that had been around that long is David H. DePatie, who had been an assistant to Jack Leonard Warner. ( August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978 ) The other directors alternated production companies or in the case of Bob Clampett, was exiled completely. Even Chuck Jones left multiple times, making Friz Freleng around the longest and directed the most Entries at Termite Terrace.
Eventually, Leon Schlesinger ( May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949 ), Edward Selzer ( January 12, 1893 – February 22, 1970 ), and John W. Burton ( August 18, 1906 – June 01, 1978 ) were out of the production company (Burton going to Pacific Title And Art). David H. DePatie became the producer in 1960 during the final years of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Renowned writers Frank Tashlin ( February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972 ) and Doctor Seuss worked at these production companies. Dr. Seuss himself was able to make And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (at Paramount) and Horton Hatches the Egg (1942 film) (at Warner Brothers).
There was a gradual shift to Television as the Termite Terrace production methods were not possible any more. They moved to Television with less money and even less time as well as competition with the prolific Jay Ward ( September 20, 1920 – October 12, 1989 ) and Bill Scott ( August 02, 1920 – November 29, 1985 ). William Hanna and Joseph Barbera ( July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001 and March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006 ) left Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Tex Avery ( February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980 ) moved to Universal with Walter Lantz ( April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994 ). Chuck Jones attempted to make Adventures Of The Road Runner, which eventually became To Beep Or Not To Beep. Chuck Jones made a full length movie Gay Purr - Ee, which ended up being one of his last productions for Warner Brothers so he moved to Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
David H. DePatie promoted Friz Freleng to Producer. Also around this time the Entries took the intro and outro from Now Hear This! and were credited for the first time. The rest of Adventures Of The Road Runner was released as Zip Zip Hurray! and Road Runner A Go Go. Unfortunately, the budget for most cartoons was changed. DePatie and Freleng took jobs making Commercials and Animated Credits for the Pink Panther films, featuring an animated version of an actual Pink Panther. The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (with different theme music) was co - produced by Format Productions while Pink Panther was co - produced by Mirisch. Some of the directors included: Gerry Adolph Chiniquy ( June 23, 1912 – November 22, 1989 ), Arthur Davis, ( June 14, 1905 – May 09, 2000 ), Rudy Larriva ( February 12, 1916 – February 19, 2010 ), Robert McKimson ( October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977 ), and Hawley Pratt ( June 09, 1911 – March 04, 1999 ). Herbert Klynn ( November 11, 1917 – February 03, 1999 ) was the producer for Format Productions and also Warner Brothers - Seven Arts.
Characters were to Daffy, Sylvester, Speedy, Granny, Porky, The Goofy Gophers, Witch Hazel, and of course Wile E. Coyote, and Road Runner.
After the success of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Chuck Jones was going to make multiple specials per year. During 1967 Metro Goldwyn Mayer closed down Theatrical Entries. By 1970, they temporarily closed Television Animation as well. Horton Hears a Who! (TV Special), Doctor Whoovey Hears A Who!, The Cat in the Hat (1971 cartoon), and The Cat And The Hat Comes Back, and possibly others were in pre production at the time. Horton Hears a Who! (TV Special) was mostly unaffected. However, the music budget seemed to be negatively impacted. Most of the rest were abandoned except for The Cat in the Hat (1971 cartoon) which was picked up by D.F.E. Films, sacrificing the quality of Pink Panther. D.F.E. Films allocated most of its budget for specials such as The Doctor Seuss specials and Pink Panther Specials (Olympinks), earning money for work on the animated credits for The Live Action Pink Panther.
The first Doctor Seuss Special made by D.F.E. Films had David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng credited together as Executive Producer. Chuck Jones was given a credit next to Ted Giesel, which is unusual since most of Chuck Jones work has him credited by himself. D.F.E. Films also hired the Chuck Jones staff. However, the production design mainly reflects that of DePatie - Freleng instead. For example, The shapes of eyes are noticeably different with Chuck Jones and Doctor Seuss characters. Chuck Jones was mostly uninvolved with The Cat in the Hat (1971 cartoon) so the eye shapes are modeled after Doctor Seuss style only. They also drastically toned down the facial expressions. The next three specials removed Friz Freleng from the Executive Producer credits to fill the vacant position from Chuck Jones; This time all were credited separately until Halloween is Grinch Night where Freleng is moved to Executive Producer, credited the same time with DePatie.
Chuck Jones, who had been coordinating Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies and Tom & Jerry for television, compiled numerous "movies". They occasionally made new Entries, usually part of Specials. One of them included Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales with Chuck Jones taking charge of the Freeze Frame segment. It continued to use the DePatie - Freleng production design. However, the story itself and timing was noticeably from Chuck Jones.
Something else interesting about Friz Freleng is that he produced a special about Dennis The Menace with David H. DePatie, around the same time Chuck Jones produced a special about Alvin & The Chipmunks. Neither won these contracts. Dennis The Menace got produced by The Incredible World Of Dic. Alvin And The Chipmunks got produced by Ruby - Spears Enterprises and later Dic also.
Later, DePatie expressed the rising production costs and moved Freleng to Producer (this time credited together with Ted) who would eventually retire. DePatie and what was left of his staff were in the middle of joining Cadence Industries who were going to start Marvel Productions which unfortunately became part of Disney. DePatie now used overseas animation studios for shows such as Muppet Babies starring The Muppets which also is unfortunately belongs to Disney. He also made one of the G.I. Joe adaptations. The subsequent versions were produced by The Incredible World Of DiC which was a rival to Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Toei Animation Studios. DiC, formerly owned by Disney / American Broadcasting Company, eventually became a part of Wild Brain, a company that continues to change its name. Marvel itself was acquired by New World Pictures, which became a part of Disney. Marvel attempted to reorganize itself as Marvel Entertainment, which is now Disney also.
Instead, Friz Freleng followed the foot steps of Chuck Jones regarding the Compilation "Movies". Friz Freleng worked with other producers as well to make even more of these Compilations. Friz Freleng retired by 1986 with David H. DePatie retiring around that time also. Chuck Jones continued to work as a Teacher and Museum Curator and an uncredited junior staff worker. He would in the 1990s resume production with his daughter one Entry per year, attempting to catch up with Friz Freleng's work.
Filmography[]
- Numerous Looney Tunes Entries And Specials: Director, Producer
- Numerous Merrie Melodies Entries And Specials: Director, Producer
- Pink Panther Credits: Animation Staff
- Numerous Pink Panther Entries And Specials And Series And Video Games: Producer, Creative Consultant
- Numerous Mister Magoo Productions: Producer
- Numerous Specials For American Broadcasting Company: Executive Producer
- Gay Purr - Ee: Co - Producer
- Sesame Street: Animator
- The Super 6: Producer
- Here Comes The Grump: Producer
- Doctor Dolittle: Producer, Developed For Television
- The Barkleys: Producer, Creator
- The Houndcats: Producer, Creator
- Bailey's Comets: Producer, Creator
- Return To Planet Of The Apes: Producer, Developed For Television
- Baggy Pants And The Nit Wits: Producer
- Mister Jaw: Director
- The Fantastic Four: Producer
- Dennis The Menace: Producer
- Spider Woman: Producer
- Pink Panther And Sons: Producer