Origins
DFE was founded by Warner Bros. Cartoons alumni Friz Freleng and partner David H. DePatie after Warner Bros. quit the animated cartoon business in 1963. Although Freleng and DePatie were no longer working for Warner Bros., a generous gesture from a WB executive allowed Freleng and DePatie to continue to work at the old WB cartoon plant on California Street in Burbank, complete with equipment and supplies for a few dollars each year. Although DFE's initial business was commercials and industrial films, several lucky breaks put the new studio into the theatrical cartoon business.
Director Blake Edwards contacted DFE and asked them to design a panther character for Edwards's new movie, The Pink Panther. Pleased with the design for the character, Edwards contracted with DFE to produce the animated titles for the movie. When the movie was released, the titles garnered a tremendous amount of attention, so much in fact that a huge amount of the picture's gross is believed to have been generated by the success of DFE's title sequence.
DFE soon agreed to a contract with United Artists (once the owner of the pre-1950 Warner feature library, along with all color cartoons released prior to August 1, 1948 and all but the first Harman/Ising Merrie Melodies) to produce over 100 new theatrical cartoons featuring the Pink Panther and friends over a 10+ year period. Around the same time, Freleng and DePatie's old employer, Warner Bros., decided to make more WB cartoons.
Contracting with DFE in the old Warner Cartoon studio, on the Warner lot, DePatie and Freleng found themselves overflowing with work. Many of the animators who had worked at Warner Bros. in the 1950s and 1960s returned to the old Warner studio working for DFE. Beginning the new Pink Panther series with The Pink Phink, which was directed by Freleng, DFE won their only Oscar in 1964. A few years later, in 1967, DFE would receive another nomination for The Pink Blueprint.
Read more about this topic: DePatie-Freleng Enterprises
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