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).
Warner Bros. Theatrical Cartoon Filmography
- 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.
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