David Hudson DePatie and
Isidore "Friz" Freleng founded this animation studio in 1963 after
Warner Bros. shut down their animation department. Their first collaboration was the opening titles to Blake Edwards' comedy-mystery
The Pink Panther. The Pink Panther character later starred in a long-running series of short theatrical cartoons released by
United Artists (which also released the film), most of which were
No Dialogue Episodes. Other theatrical series included
The Inspector,
Roland and Rattfink,
The Ant And The Aardvark,
Tijuana Toads,
Hoot Kloot and
The Dogfather, all of which are also released by UA. They also produced new
Looney Tunes shorts from 1963-1967, with the majority of them (at least not the ones outsourced to Format Films) directed by WB veteran
Robert McKimson.
DePatie and Freleng also produced several
Animated Shows for television, including
Here Comes the Grump,
Baileys Comets,
The Houndcats,
The Super 6,
Super President,
Baggypants And The Nitwits,
The Oddball Couple and the 1978 version of
The Fantastic Four. Their biggest success in TV, however, would come after DFE was sold to
Marvel Comics after Freleng retired; renamed
Marvel Productions Ltd., the studio produced some of the most famous animated shows of
The Eighties, including
The Transformers, the first few series of
G.I. Joe, and
Muppet Babies, as well as a considerable amount of Marvel superhero programs.
One of the company's animators (Nelson Shin) was also the creator of the
Star Wars Lightsaber effect and founder of
AKOM, and lord knows how they've been treated.
