Line #4 Creator/DepatieFrelengEnterprises


1	[[quoteright:400:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/depatie_freleng_enterprises.png]]
2	David Hudson [=DePatie=] and [[Creator/FrizFreleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng]] founded this animation studio in 1963 after Creator/WarnerBros shut down its animation department. [=DePatie=] was the executive in charge of the then-ailing studio at the time of the shutdown, while Freleng had left the studio the previous year (following a decades-long tenure as a director) for a brief stint at Creator/HannaBarbera: the duo's new company leased the former animation studio building from Warner. Their first collaboration was the opening titles to Creator/BlakeEdwards' comedy-mystery ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'', featuring an animated pink feline of the same name. Due to his immense popularity with audiences, the Pink Panther character later starred in a long-running series of [[WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther short theatrical cartoons]] released by Creator/UnitedArtists (which also released the film), most of which were {{No Dialogue Episode}}s. (The first one, ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPhink'', won an Oscar.) Other theatrical series included ''WesternAnimation/TheInspector'', ''[[WesternAnimation/RolandAndRattfink Roland and Rattfink]]'', ''WesternAnimation/TheAntAndTheAardvark'', ''Tijuana Toads'', ''Hoot Kloot'', ''The Dogfather'', ''WesternAnimation/TheBlueRacer'', ''Crazylegs Crane'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Misterjaw}}'', all of which were also released by UA from the mid-'60s to the late '70s. They also produced new ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts from 1963 to 1967, with the majority of them (at least not the ones outsourced to Format Films) directed by WB veteran Creator/RobertMcKimson, and would also animate new sequences for use in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheBugsBunnyRoadRunnerShow The Road Runner Show]]''. The studio notably employed a myriad of veteran animators from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, among them former Warner animators Manny Perez, Art Davis, Gerry Chiniquy and Manny Gould and Creator/WalterLantz veteran La Verne Harding, some of whom remained with DFE (and its successors) until the close of the 1980s.
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4	[=DePatie=] and Freleng also did a very long string of prime-time television animated specials in 1969, starting with an offbeat Richard and Robert Sherman musical with Music/BingCrosby, Creator/PaulWinchell and Mary Frances Crosby, titled "Goldilocks", [though not first broadcast till March 1970, ironically when Freleng's fellow WB director Creator/ChuckJones released his final Creator/DrSeuss special, ''Horton Hears a Who''], and then Allan Sherman as ''WesternAnimation/TheCatInTheHat'', among many others through the pre–Marvel Productions Ltd. era. [=DePatie=] and Freleng also produced several {{Saturday morning cartoon}}s, including ''WesternAnimation/HereComesTheGrump''; ''Bailey's Comets'' (created by [=DePatie=] and Freleng "in association with [[Creator/RubySpears Joe Ruby and Ken Spears]]"); ''WesternAnimation/TheHoundcats'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSuper6''; ''Super President'' (an OldShame for [=DePatie=], who admitted he was relieved when it was cancelled after one season); ''[[WesternAnimation/MrMagoo What's New, Mr. Magoo?]]''; ''Baggy Pants and the Nitwits''; ''WesternAnimation/TheOddballCouple''; ''[[Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes Return to the Planet of the Apes]]''; ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1978'', and the later episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DoctorSnuggles'', taking over from Creator/{{Topcraft}}. They also took the reins for TV adaptations of Dr. Seuss books after Chuck Jones' studio closed down. They would also animate the [[AnimatedCreditsOpening opening theme]] to ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'' (though not its AnimatedAdaptation, ''WesternAnimation/{{Jeannie}}'') and the "Time for Timer" and "The Bod Squad'' [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSAs]] for Creator/{{ABC}}.
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6	Their biggest success in TV, however, would come after DFE was sold to Creator/MarvelComics, following Freleng's return to Warners in 1979. The company was renamed to '''Marvel Productions Ltd.''', and produced some of the most famous animated shows of TheEighties, including ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', the first few seasons of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'', and ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'', as well as a small amount of Marvel superhero programs (including ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends''). However, the going was rough at first -- the DFE veterans, including David [=DePatie=] and Dennis Marks, [[WeAreStrugglingTogether weren't exactly fond of their comics counterparts]] (with [=DePatie=] being quoted by Creator/JimShooter as calling the Marvel Comics people "amateurish morons"); [=DePatie=] further refused to use any Marvel elements in the corporate branding. [[RightHandVsLeftHand These internal issues (which derailed certain projects and gave others issues)]] wouldn't be ironed out until [=DePatie=] left MP for Creator/HannaBarbera in 1984. Margaret Loesch took over and immediately began cooperating with the comics side much more, including working closely with Creator/StanLee on projects, and added a CGI version of Spider-Man to the company branding. Loesch also repeatedly attempted more Marvel-based shows, but found little success in that area. In 1986, Marvel was acquired by New World Entertainment, a media company formerly run by Creator/RogerCorman that had ambitions of becoming a media conglomerate.
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8	In 1989, as New World entered into financial trouble, Marvel Productions was separated from their comics bretheren... sort of; Marvel Entertainment Group was sold by New World, but NW kept Marvel Productions; not long after, New World was bought by the Andrews Group, the same company that had purchased the comics side! In any case, New World retained MP, and renamed it to '''New World Animation''' in 1993. By that time, Loesch has moved on to become the head honcho of the fledgling Creator/FoxKids Network, and got her and Lee's dream project on the air: ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries''. Several years later, New World was sold in its entirety to News Corporation, which in turn placed the Marvel/DFE catalog into Creator/SabanEntertainment (a co-producer of ''X-Men''). Saban merged with Fox's Children's Entertainment division that year to form Fox Family Worldwide, Inc; New World Animation closed up shop around this time. Finally, in 2001, Fox Family Worldwide, Inc. was sold to Creator/{{Disney}}. Currently, with some exceptions, most of the all-original [=DePatie=]-Freleng and Marvel Productions/New World Animation library are owned by Disney, through Marvel Animation. The rest of New World's library (not including their pre-1984 library, currently in the hands of Creator/ShoutFactory, their 1984-90 theatrical catalog, currently owned by Vine Alternative Investments, or parts of their TV library which are now owned by Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision) would later be sold to Disney as part of its merger with 21st Century Fox, the legal successor to News Corporation, in March 2019 (New World itself still lives on as the licensee name for television stations still managed by the spun-out Fox, which consists of the remnants of News Corp not sold to Disney).
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10	One of the company's animators, Nelson Shin, was also the creator of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' Lightsaber effect for ''Film/ANewHope'' (of which the studio received credit for) and the founder of South Korean animation studio Creator/{{AKOM}}.
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12	!!Animated programs/movies made under the Marvel Productions name (entries marked with an * mean it was co-produced with Creator/SunbowEntertainment):
13	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1981'' (1981 syndicated solo series, serving as a sort-of test run for the newly renamed Marvel Productions)
14	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' (1981-83; reran until 1986 on Creator/{{NBC}})
15	* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1982'' (1982-83; paired up with ''Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends'' on NBC as an hour-long block)
16	* ''Meatballs and Spaghetti'' (1982, Creator/{{CBS}}; co-production with [=InterMedia=])
17	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pandamonium}}'' (1982, CBS; co-production with [=InterMedia=])
18	* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' (1983-85, CBS)
19	* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero''* (1983/84 miniseries, 1985-86 series)
20	** ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeTheMovie''* (1986; direct-to-video)
21	* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' (1984-91, CBS)
22	** ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMuppetMonsters Little Muppet Monsters]]'' (short-lived 1985 companion show; Marvel provided animated segments)
23	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''* (1984-87)
24	** ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''* (1986; theatrical release through DEG)
25	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials''* (1984/85)
26	** ''{{WesternAnimation/My Little Pony The Movie\|1986}}''* (1986; theatrical release through DEG)
27	** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends''* (1986-87; included ''Glo Friends'', ''Moondreamers'', and ''Potato Head Kids'')
28	* ''WesternAnimation/SuperSunday''* (1985-86; anthology series featuring multiple segments, two of which became solo series)
29	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}''* (1986-88)
30	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}}''* (1986)
31	* ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'' (1986-87; co-production with Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate)
32	* ''WesternAnimation/LittleClownsOfHappytown'' (1987, ABC; co-production with Murakami-Wolf-Swenson)
33	* ''WesternAnimation/LittleWizards'' (1987, ABC)
34	* ''Series/FraggleRock'' (1987, NBC)
35	* ''[[ComicStrip/Blondie1930 Blondie and Dagwood]]'' (1987 special for CBS; co-produced with King Features)
36	** ''Blondie and Dagwood: Second Wedding Workout'' (1989 sequel special)
37	* The ''Marvel Action Universe'' syndicated block (1988-89), which consisted of the following shows plus reruns of some earlier DFE/Marvel series:
38	** ''WesternAnimation/DinoRiders'' (based off a Tyco toyline)
39	** ''Franchise/RoboCop: The Animated Series'' (based off the [[Film/RoboCop1987 1987 movie]])
40	** ''WesternAnimation/PrydeOfTheXMen'' (failed pilot for a proposed ''X-Men'' series on NBC)
41	* ''WesternAnimation/AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'' (1990-91, one of the launch shows for Creator/FoxKids)
42	* ''ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars''* (1991)
43	* ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' (1993-96; as New World Animation)
44	* ''Marvel Action Hour'' syndicated block (1994-96; as New World Animation/Marvel Films), which consisted of the following shows plus ''Biker Mice From Mars'' (when ''BMFM'' joined, it was renamed as the ''Marvel Action Universe''):
45	** ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourTheAnimatedSeries''
46	** ''WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries''
47	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' (1994-98; as New World Animation/Marvel Films)
48	* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1996'' (1996-97; as New World Animation/Marvel Films, final series produced)

Context Creator / DepatieFrelengEnterprises