Friz Freleng

Isadore "Friz" Freleng (21st August 1905- 26th May 1995) was an animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer from the United States. He is often known as I. Freleng. He is most known for his work on Warner Bros.'s " Looney Tunes During the golden age of American animation, one o >> Read More... " and " Merrie Melodies Merrie Melodies is also known as the Looney Tunes >> Read More... " cartoon series. Freleng grew up in a Jewish family. He hails from Kansas City, Missouri. Later, he started his animation career at “United Film Ad Service.” He met renowned animators Hugh Harman Hugh Harman was an American artist, most known for >> Read More... and Ub Iwerks while working in the studio. Walt Disney Walt Disney or Walter Elias Disney was an American >> Read More... , Iwerks' friend, moved to Hollywood in 1923. He invited his Kansas City colleagues to join him. Freleng resisted his offer until January 1927. In the same year, he shifted to California and joined the “Walt Disney” studio.

He introduced Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, and Sylvester. Freleng is the most prestigious of the Warner directors with five Academy Awards and three Emmy Awards. He is the most honored of the Warner directors. He was the studio's most prolific filmmaker, directing more cartoons than anyone else (a total of 266). Freleng is the senior director of Warners' “Termite Terrace” studio. Freleng and his business partner David H. DePatie formed DePatie–Freleng Enterprises after “Warner Animation Studios” closed in 1963. The enterprise produced cartoons, including “The Pink Panther Show,” feature film title sequences, and Saturday morning cartoons until the early 1980s.

Hugh Harman, one of his closest friends, gave him the nickname "Congressman Frisby.” He received the name after a fictional senator in the Los Angeles Examiner. The senator appeared in satirical pieces. Freleng’s name was abbreviated to "Friz" over time. Freleng collaborated with Kansas City animators Iwerks, Harman, Carman Maxwell, and Rudolph Ising. He worked for Margaret Winkler and Charles Mintz on the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons aired on Disney. He eventually joined forces with Harman and Ising to form their studio. The group created a pilot film starring Bosko, a new Mickey Mouse-like character.

Freleng relocated to New York Click to look into! >> Read More... to work on the Krazy Kat cartoons produced by Mintz. He also tried to sell the Harman-Ising Bosko feature. He was afraid of losing his job if the animation didn't succeed in attracting attention. Freleng was living a miserable life in New York. He still managed to survive with all possible means. Friz Freleng directed a significant proportion of the animations on the Censored Eleven, a compilation of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Warner Bros originally produced and released the cartoons.

Freleng received the first “Lifetime Achievement of Excellence” in Animation award from the “International Family Film Festival in 1994.” The award was renamed "Friz Award" in his honor. He died in Los Angeles on 26th May 1995, at the age of 89, from natural causes. “The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries,” a WB animated TV series, and the Looney Tunes animation “From Hare to Eternity,” directed by Chuck Jones   Chuck Jones (September 21, 1912, Spokane, Washi >> Read More... , were both dedicated to him. Cartoon Network played a variation of one of their network advertisements with the words "Friz Freleng: 1906–1995.” The announcer paid honor to Freleng and his works after his death. “Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery” serves as his final resting place.