Think Pink! The DePatie-Freleng Story

by Mark Arnold

Think Pink! The Depatie-Freleng Story 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. “. . . DFE’s cartoons will continue to bring amusement and delight to millions of future cartoon enthusiasts to come! I would like to thank Mark for including me in the writing of his fantastic book.” – Art Leonardi, Animator, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. “Mark Arnold captures perfectly the behind-the-scenes of the making of DePatie-Freleng cartoons . . . Even if you are already an expert animation fan, you will learn the names John Dunn, Sid Marcus, Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis, and all the theatrical animation greats whose television work has until now been ignored.” – Joe Bevilacqua, veteran award-winning producer, director, writer, and actor. “Think Pink! is an impressive result of exhaustive research . . . Arnold’s efforts help the reader to further connect the dots from Yosemite Sam to the Pink Panther to Spider-Man.” – Bryan Stroud, writer, Back Issue magazine.

638 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2015

Reviews

[Mark Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm the author, so I am a bit biased, but this is probably my best book yet. Animation Historian Jerry Beck told me it would be back in February 2014, before I even had the book written.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

If like me you enjoy animation and/or have fond memories of the Pink Panther cartoon on Saturday mornings, then this book will give you a comprehensive, thoroughly researched insight into DFE, the studio that created him and a slew of other cartoons, commercials and animated credits for movies. Having said that, seldom, if ever, have I read a book that more ably demonstrates the importance of a good editor than this book; it is disjointed, repetitive and disorganized to the point that I docked 1-2 stars in my rating.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the chance to peek into the lives and personalities of the doodle who created the cartoons that shaped my life. We are quickly losing the folks from this era, and without books like Think Pink, the stories would most likely be lost forever.