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 Friz Freleng admitted that he rather looked like his cartoon creation, ‘Yosemite
Sam.’ "I’m small and I used to have a red mustache," he
said. As the head animator and director of the Warner Brothers’ cartoon
department, Freleng was responsible for the "Merrie Melodies" and "Looney
Tunes" cartoon series. He had a hand in bringing to life Porky Pig,
Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzalez and a
cast of cartoon characters that brought laughs to movie audiences around
the world.
Friz (Isadore) Freleng was born in Kansas City and attended Westport
High School, where he drew cartoons for the school’s publications
from 1919 to 1923. To earn extra money, he worked as a caddy at the Kansas
City Country Club. He had a natural talent for cartooning and was completely
self taught. While still in high school, he worked for the United Film
Service at 24th and Charlotte Streets, along with Walt Disney, U.B. Iwerks
and other local cartoonists. When Disney moved to Hollywood and started
making cartoons, he sent for Freleng and some of his other fellow workers.
Freleng worked for Disney on cartoons that featured Oswald, the Lucky
Rabbit. He joined the Warner Brothers' cartoon department in 1931, and
had become the director of animation by 1933. He worked with Warner Brothers
for 30 years. More than 260 Warner Brothers cartoons bear Freleng’s
name as animator or director. He was called the most prolific of the
studio’s animators and his cartoons consistently won Academy Awards.
After Warner Brothers quit making cartoons in 1963, Freleng and an associate
formed DePatie-Freleng to produce the Pink Panther television series
and other televised cartoon specials.
Freleng’s fans range from senior citizens to toddlers. Because
of the popularity of cartoons today on cable television channels, moviegoers
who remember laughing at Freleng’s works can revisit Bugs, Daffy,
Sam, Sylvester and others. These cartoons are now being discovered by
new generations who may not know Freleng’s name but recognize his
legacy.
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