Think Pink: The Story of DePatie-Freleng

In 1963, Warner Bros. closed down their long-running cartoon facility that had produced such memorable merrymakers as the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Director/producer Friz Freleng and executive David H. DePatie faced unwanted early retirement. A generous parting gesture from a Warner executive allowed Freleng and DePatie to lease the former Warner cartoons studio on California Street in Burbank, complete with equipment and supplies, for a few dollars each year.

They teamed up to create animated cartoons for advertising, but not everything behind their enterprise was enchanting. They struggled to keep their small animation studio running against odds and obstacles such as rising costs, heavy competition, outsourcing of labor to other countries, strikes, death, changing directions, and buyouts. They never anticipated how they would soon style a series of cartoon characters that would paint memorable colors over movie animation history.

When director Blake Edwards produced The Pink Panther starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine, and Claudia Cardinale, he envisioned a cartoon character of the same name to illustrate the opening credits sequence. Edwards hired Freleng and DePatie, together with artists at their DePatie-Freleng Enterprises studio, to design the animated sequence. The crafty magenta furry feline minced his way into moviegoer’s hearts.

The inspiration behind the ink was the people that worked at the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE) animation studio. Their hilarious cartoons caused a generation of moviegoers to rock theaters with laughter.

Author Mark Arnold returns you to the nostalgic memories of the exhilarating Pink Panther series and other cartoons DFE created. Discover the craftsmen behind the cartoons in an exciting exploration of the Pink Panther, Inspector Clouseau, Ant and the Aardvark, Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, The Lorax, Doctor Dolittle, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Mr. Magoo, The Fantastic Four, Planet of the Apes, Doctor Snuggles, Baggy Pants, The Nitwits, The Barkleys, The Houndcats, The Grump, The Super Six, Super President, Spy Shadow, Hoot Kloot, Blue Racer, Crazylegs Crane, Misterjaw, Tijuana Toads, The Dogfather, The Oddball Couple, Charlie the tuna, David DePatie, Friz Freleng, Blake Edwards, Peter Sellers, and various animators.

Over 400 photos and illustrations. Indexed. Appendixes.  

About the author: Mark Arnold is a comic book and animation historian. He has written for various magazines, including Back Issue, Alter Ego, Hogan’s Alley, Comic Book Artist, and Comic Book Marketplace. He is the author of seven other books, including two about Harvey Comics, two about Cracked magazine, one about TTV (Underdog), one about The Beatles, and one about Disney. He also helped Craig Yoe with a book about Archie. He has also performed commentary for the Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, and Casper DVD sets for Shout Factory. He is currently at work on a book about Dennis the Menace. He lives in Eugene, OR.