Friz Freleng



Isadore "Friz" Freleng (1905-1995) was a prominent animator and director of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts during The Golden Age of Animation and The Dark Age of Animation. Friz got his start during the twilight years of The Silent Age of Animation, working for Walt Disney alongside Ub Iwerks and Harman and Ising on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit comedy shorts.

However, he would later leave the studio to go to the then new Leon Schlesinger cartoon studio alongside Harman and Ising when they requested his help in making their Bosko the Talk Ink Kid short subjects. Even after Harman and Ising left the studio in '33, Friz came back to Leon to help him touch up some rejected "Buddy" comedies. Friz would continue to be a prominent director in the 30's, cranking out many classic cartoons-including "I Haven't Got A Hat", the debut of his character Porky Pig in 1935. However, in the late 30's, Friz became interested in MGM's big budget animation department and quit Leon's studio to work there...only to be put onto the mediocre "Captain and the Kids" cartoon series with little to no creative freedom like he had at Leon's studio. Friz despised working on the cartoons, and as soon as his contract expired, he fled the studio and went straight back to Termite Terrace, where he would work until its demise in the early 60's.

Friz is legendary among animation fans for his strong emphasis on literal, mechanical musical timing-while all of the staff at the studio were capable of this, nobody used in quite the way Friz did. And while the animation of his shorts isn't...so great (Friz himself admitted he never learned how to draw beyond basic 20's rubberhose characters-it was up to his inkers and painters to keep them on model, hence why his drawings are generally so stiff and conservative) he still cranked out some worthy classics, such as the groundbreaking Roger Rabbit Effect short "You Ought to Be In Pictures" and The Wabbit Who Came To Supper. He also directed many, many shorts featuring Sylvester and Tweety. (although Friz didn't create Tweety -that belongs to Bob Clampett)

After the original Warner Bros. animation studio shut down, Friz teamed up with David Depatie to form a new studio on the original lot named "Depatie-Freleng Enterprises". With this studio, they not only attempted to revive Warner Bros. cartoons but also created the smash hit Pink Panther theatrical and TV cartoons. Friz also directed animation for the bridging segments of The Bugs Bunny Show and even made a few anthology movies like The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie and 1001 Rabbit Tales.

Friz passed on in 1995; Chuck Jones dedicated his last cartoon short, made the following year, to his passing.

Some say he was the inspiration for the character of Yosemite Sam (both short, red-haired, mustachioed, and hot-tempered).

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1928

 * Fiery Fireman: An Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short.

1929

 * Homeless Homer
 * Hen Fruit
 * The Wicked West
 * Weary Willies

1933: All shorts are probably co-directed with Harman and Ising.

 * Bosko in Dutch
 * Bosko in Person
 * Beau Bosko
 * Bosko's Picture Show

1934

 * Buddy the Gob
 * Buddy and Towser
 * Beauty and the Beast
 * Buddy's Trolley Troubles
 * Goin' to Heaven on a Mule
 * How Do I Know It's sunday
 * Why Do I Dream Those Dreams
 * The Girl at the Ironing Board
 * The Miller's Daughter
 * Shake Your Power Puff
 * Those Beautiful Dames
 * Pop Goes Your Heart

1935

 * Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name
 * Country Boy
 * I Haven't Got A Hat
 * Along Flirtation Walk
 * My Green Fedora
 * Into Your Dance
 * The Country Mouse
 * The Merry Old Soul
 * The Lady In Red
 * Little Dutch Plate
 * Billboard Frolics
 * Flowers for Madame

1936

 * I Wanna Play House
 * The Cat Came Back
 * I'm a Big Shot Now
 * Let It Be Me
 * Bingo Crosbyana
 * When I Yoo Hoo
 * Sunday Go To Meetin' Time
 * At Your Service Madame
 * Toy Town Hall
 * Boulevardier from the Bronx
 * The Coo Coo Nut Grove

1937

 * He was Her Man
 * Pigs is Pigs
 * The Fella With the Fiddle
 * She was an Acrobat's Daughter
 * Clean Pastures
 * Streamlined Greta Green
 * Sweet Sioux
 * Plenty of Money and You
 * Dog Daze
 * The Lyin' Mouse
 * September in the Rain

1938

 * My Little Buckeroo
 * Jungle Jitters
 * A Star is Hatched
 * Poultry Pirates
 * A Day at the Beach: First MGM cartoon.
 * The Pygmy Hunt
 * The Captain's Christmas

1939

 * Petunia Natural Park
 * Seal Skinners
 * Mama's New Hat
 * The Bookworm
 * The Mad Maestro

1940

 * Confederate Honey
 * The Hardship of Miles Standish
 * You Ought to Be In Pictures
 * Little Blabbermouse
 * Porky's Baseball Broadcast
 * Malibu Beach Party
 * Calling Dr. Porky
 * Porky's Hired Hand
 * Shop Look & Listen

1941

 * The Fighting 61 1/2th
 * The Cat's Tale
 * Porky's Bear Facts
 * The Trial of Mr. Wolf
 * Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt
 * The Wacky Worm
 * Sport Chumpions
 * Notes to You
 * Rookie Revue
 * Rhapsody in Rivets

1942

 * Hop, Skip and a Chump
 * Porky's Pastry Pirates
 * The Wabbit Who Came to Supper
 * Saps in Chaps
 * Lights Fantastic
 * Double Chaser
 * Foney Fables
 * Fresh Hare
 * The Sheepish Wolf
 * The Hare-Brained Hypnotist
 * Ding Dog Daddy

1943

 * Pigs in a Polka
 * The Fifth-Column Mouse
 * Greetings Bait
 * Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk
 * Yankee Doodle Daffy
 * Gripes
 * Hiss and Make Up
 * Daffy the Commando
 * Rumors

1944

 * Little Red Riding Rabbit
 * Meatless Flyday
 * Hare Force
 * Snafuperman
 * Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips
 * Duck Soup to Nuts
 * Slightly Daffy
 * Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears
 * Pay Day
 * Three Brothers
 * Target Snafu
 * Stage Door Cartoon

1945

 * Herr Meets Hare
 * Life with Feathers
 * Hare Trigger
 * Ain't That Ducky
 * Hot Spot
 * Peck Up Your Troubles
 * Operation Snafu

1946

 * Baseball Bugs
 * Holiday for Shoestrings
 * Hollywood Daffy
 * Of Thee I Sting
 * Racketeer Rabbit
 * Rhapsody Rabbit

1947

 * The Gay Anties
 * Tweetie Pie
 * Rabbit Transit
 * A Hare Grows In Manhattan
 * Along Came Daffy
 * Slick Hare

1948

 * Back Alley Oproar
 * I Taw a Putty Tat
 * Buccaneer Bunny
 * Bugs Bunny Rides Again
 * Hare Splitter
 * Kit for Cat

1949

 * Wise Quackers
 * Hare Do
 * High Diving Hare
 * Curtain Razor
 * Mouse Mazurka
 * Knights Must Fall
 * Bad Ol' Putty Tat
 * Dough for the Do-Do: Remake of Porky in Wackyland.
 * Each Dawn I Crow
 * Which is Witch

1950

 * Home, Tweet Home
 * Mutiny on the Bunny
 * The Lion's Busy
 * Big House Bunny
 * His Bitter Half
 * All a Bir-r-r-rd
 * Golden Yeggs
 * Bunker Hill Bunny
 * Canary Row
 * Stooge for a Mouse

1951

 * Canned Feud
 * Rabbit Every Monday
 * Putty Tat Trouble
 * The Fair Haired Hare
 * A Bone for a Bone
 * Room and Bird
 * His Hare Raising Tale
 * Tweety's S.O.S.
 * Ballot Box Bunny
 * Tweet Tweet Tweety

1952

 * Gift Wrapped
 * 14 Carrot Rabbit
 * Foxy By Proxy
 * Little Red Rodent Hood
 * Ain't She Tweet
 * Cracked Quack
 * A Bird In a Guilty Cage
 * Tree for Two
 * Hare Life

1953

 * Snow Business
 * A Mouse Divided
 * Fowl Weather
 * Southern Fried Rabbit
 * Ant Pasted
 * Hare Trimmed
 * Tom Tom Tomcat
 * A Street Cat Named Sylvester
 * Catty Cornered
 * Robot Rabbit

1954

 * Sandy Claws
 * Dog Pounded
 * I Gopher You
 * Captain Hairblower
 * Bugs and Thugs
 * Dr Jerkyl's Hide
 * Muzzle Tough
 * Satan's Waitin'
 * Yankee Doodle Bugs
 * Goo Goo Goliath
 * By Word of Mouse

1955

 * Pizzicato Pussycat
 * Pests for Guests
 * Stork Naked
 * Sahara Hare
 * Hare Brush
 * Tweety's Circus
 * Lumber Jerks
 * This is a Life?
 * A Kiddies Kitty
 * Hyde and Hare
 * Speedy Gonzales
 * Red Riding Hoodwinked
 * Roman Legion-Hare
 * Heir-Conditioned
 * Pappy's Puppy

1956

 * Tweet and Sour
 * Rabbitson Crusoe
 * Tree Cornered Tweety
 * Napoleon Bunny-Part
 * Tugboat Granny
 * A Star is Bored
 * Yankee Dood It
 * Two Crows from Tacos

1957

 * Three Little Bops
 * Tweet Zoo
 * Tweety and the Beanstalk
 * Piker's Peak
 * Birds Anonymous
 * Bugsy and Mugsy
 * Greedy for Tweety
 * Show Biz Bugs
 * Gonzales Tamales

1958

 * Hare-Less Wolf
 * A Pizza Tweety-Pie
 * A Waggily Tale
 * Knighty Knight Bugs
 * A Bird in a Bonnet

1959

 * Hare-Abian Nights
 * Trick or Tweet
 * Apes of Wrath
 * Mexicali Shmoes
 * Tweet and Lovely
 * Wild and Wooly Hare
 * Here Today, Gone Tamale
 * Tweet Dreams

1960

 * Horse Hare
 * Goldimouse and the Three Cats
 * Person to Bunny
 * Hyde and Go Tweet
 * Mouse and Garden
 * From Hare to Heir
 * Trip for Tat
 * Lighter Than Hare

1961

 * D'Fightin' Ones
 * The Rebel without Claws
 * The Pied Piper of Guadalupe
 * Prince Violent
 * The Last Hungry Cat

1962

 * Crows' Feat
 * Mexican Boarders

1963

 * Devil's Feud Cake
 * Mexican Cat Dance
 * Chili Weather
 * The Unmentionables

1964

 * Nuts and Volts
 * Pancho's Hideaway
 * Road to Andalay

1965

 * It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House
 * Cats and Bruises
 * The Wild Chase

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 * Do Not Call Me Paul: Friz didn't hate being called Isadore per se, but he really preferred being called by his nickname.
 * Ink Suit Actor: Freleng can be seen as one of the Gremlins From The Kremlin in Russian Rhapsody and as astronomist I. Frisby in Chuck Jones' Bugs Bunny cartoon The Hasty Hare.
 * Inspired By: You Ought To Be In Pictures was based on Friz's experiences of leaving WB for MGM.
 * Mickey Mousing
 * Prima Donna Director: Friz was this, apparently (which explains why people have claimed that Yosemite Sam was Freleng's Author Avatar). He often forced his animators to redo scenes over and over again. One of those animators, Manny Perez (who was given the title "Friz's Whipping Boy"), later said in an interview that he grew to hate the guy.
 * Roger Rabbit Effect: You Ought To Be In Pictures.