Friz Freleng

Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905–May 26, 1995) was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. He introduced several of the studio's biggest stars, including Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, and Speedy Gonzalez. The senior director at Warners' Termite Terrace studio, Freleng is also the most honored of the Warners directors, having won four Academy Awards. After Warners shut down the animation studio in 1963, Freleng and business partner David DePatie founded DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, which produced cartoons, feature film title sequences, and Saturday morning cartoons through the early 1980s.

Early career

Freleng was born in Kansas City, Missouri, where he began his career in animation at Walt Disney Pictures. He worked alongside other early animators, including Carmen Maxwell, Ub Iwerks, Hugh Harman, and Rudy Ising. Freleng accompanied Disney to Hollywood, California, where they worked on Disney's Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit films for producers Margaret Winkler and Charles Mintz.

Related Topics:
Kansas City - Missouri - Walt Disney Pictures - Carmen Maxwell - Ub Iwerks - Hugh Harman - Rudy Ising - Disney - Hollywood - California - Alice Comedies - Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - Margaret Winkler - Charles Mintz

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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 to work on Mintz' Krazy Kat cartoons, all the while still trying to sell the Harman-Ising Bosko picture. The cartoon finally sold to Leon Schlesinger, who soon secured Harman and Ising to star Bosko in the Looney Tunes series he was producing for Warner Bros. Freleng soon moved back to California to work with Harman and Ising once again.

Related Topics:
Mickey Mouse - Bosko - New York City - Krazy Kat - Leon Schlesinger - Looney Tunes - Warner Bros.

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