Disney went to New York in February 1928 to negotiate a higher fee per short and was shocked when Mintz told him that not only did he want to reduce the fee he paid Disney per short but also that he had most of his main animators, including Harman, Ising, Maxwell, and Freleng — but not Iwerks, who refused to leave Disney — under contract and would start his own studio if Disney did not accept the reduced production budgets.

Freleng also produced several TV specials based on Dr. Seuss books throughout the 1970s, including The Cat in the Hat and The Lorax.

The senior director at Warners ' Termite Terrace studio, Freleng directed more cartoons than any other director in the studio ( a total of 266 ), and is also the most honored of the Warner directors, having won four Academy Awards.

Clampett's story won first prize was made into My Green Fedora, also directed by Freleng.

He also created Speedy Gonzales for the 1953 short Cat-Tails for Two and directed many others periodically ( along with Freleng and other directors ) for the remainder of his theatrical career.

Freleng also cited the Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang, a character in the Toonerville Trolley comic strip, as an influence.

Freleng also redesigned Rocky for this short, making him a more generalized caricature of the " tough guy " gangster rather than Robinson in particular.

Mugsy also appears without his boss in a cameo as one of Napoleon Bonaparte's guards in the 1956 Freleng short Napoleon Bunny-Part and also appeared as a bank robber in Satan's Waitin '.

By 1986, Freleng had departed, and Hal Geer also stepped down the following year.

The DVDs also feature several special features including interviews / documentaries of the people behind the cartoons such as Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Robert McKimson, Chuck Jones, musical conductor Carl Stalling, and voice-artist Mel Blanc, pencil tests, and audio commentaries by animation historians Jerry Beck, Michael Barrier, and Greg Ford, as well as current animators Paul Dini, Eric Goldberg, and John Kricfalusi.

Some historians also claim that Friz Freleng nearly resigned after butting heads with Selzer, who did not think that pairing Sylvester the cat and Tweety was a viable decision.

It was also believed that it was Selzer's edict that " camels aren't funny " that inspired Friz Freleng to disprove him by making Sahara Hare, a cartoon in which much of the comedy arises from Yosemite Sam's attempts to control his dim-witted camel.

Friz Freleng also adapted the tale in his Warner Bros. cartoon Porky's Bear Facts in which Porky Pig works hard while his lazy neighbor refuses to do anything, only to suffer during winter.

Cultural studies scholar William Anthony Nericcio sees the film as representative of a pattern in the works of Friz Freleng, who also produced such stereotype-ridden films as Jungle Jitters, Goldilocks and the Jivin ' Bears, and the Speedy Gonzales cartoons.

Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng produced, directed, and created the storyboards for the earliest of these, with Robert McKimson later taking over the direction while Jones and Freleng continued producing and writing.

After leaving the remnants of Termite Terrace behind for good, Friz Freleng and his new partner David H. DePatie went on to produce the Pink Panther cartoons during the 1960s and 1970s, with the cartoons appearing almost simultaneously on television and in theaters through a distribution deal with United Artists.

The Pink Panther cartoon character became so popular that United Artists, distributors of The Pink Panther, had Freleng produce a short cartoon starring the character, The Pink Phink ( 1964 ).

In 1981, Freleng and DePatie sold DFE Films to Marvel Comics, and Freleng returned to Warner Bros. Studios to produce a series of feature films featuring the older Warner cartoons with new connecting footage.

* Back Alley Oproar ( 1948 ), a Friz Freleng cartoon ( actually a remake of the 1941 short Notes To You ) wherein Sylvester pesters the sleep-deprived Elmer Fudd by performing several amazing musical numbers in the alley ( and even a sweet lullaby (" go to sleep ... go to sleep ... close your big bloodshot eyes ...") to temporarily ease Elmer back to the dream world, though very temporarily.

It was produced by Leon Schlesinger and directed by Friz Freleng, with musical supervision by Carl W. Stalling.

He was caricatured by Tex Avery and Friz Freleng in the musical cartoon, " My Green Fedora ", " Can You Take It?

The cartoon was supervised ( directed ) by Friz Freleng, with animation by Robert McKimson and Sandy Walker and musical score by Carl Stalling.

It was the first cartoon supervised by Friz Freleng ; the musical score is by Bernard Brown.

It was directed by Friz Freleng ; the musical score is by Norman Spencer.

* Freleng — Zadavia's and Optimatus ' homeworld in the animated series Loonatics Unleashed.

The series failed to achieve much success, much as Freleng had predicted: Though skillfully animated, the characters could not compete with the " funny animals " that prevailed at the time.

Freleng later served as an executive producer on three 1980s Looney Tunes compilation features, which linked together several of the classic shorts with new animated sequences.

Beginning with I Like Mountain Music ( 1933 ), other animated Cantor cameos include Shuffle Off to Buffalo ( Harman-Ising, 1933 ) and Billboard Frolics ( Friz Freleng, 1935 ).

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.

The Pink Phink is a 1964 animated short comedy film, directed by Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt starring Blake Edwards ' Pink Panther

Directed by Friz Freleng ; written by Michael Maltese ; animated by Manuel Perez, Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy and Ken Champin ; music by Carl Stalling, and voices by Mel Blanc and, uncredited, Dick Nelson ( as " Robinson ").

Golden Yeggs is a 1950 Merrie Melodies short animated film, released on August 5, 1950 by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. and directed by Friz Freleng.

In 1941, Maltese was hired by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which three years later became Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. ( Maltese had actually appeared on camera in a 1940 Porky Pig cartoon as a live-action guard at the Warner Brothers entrance gate, who winds up chasing the animated Porky around the Warners lot ; the short is entitled You Ought to Be in Pictures and was directed by Friz Freleng ).

Rhapsody Rabbit is a 1946 Merrie Melodies animated short subject, featuring Bugs Bunny and directed by Friz Freleng.

Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, and released to theaters on April 22, 1944 by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation.

Directed by Friz Freleng and produced in 1952, the animated short was first released on May 2, 1953.

The opening title sequence, animated by Freleng unit animator Gerry Chiniquy, features Bugs and Daffy Duck performing the song in unison.

I Haven't Got a Hat is a 1935 animated short film, directed by Isadore Freleng for Leon Schlesinger Productions as part of Warner Bros .' Merrie Melodies series.

Sunday Go to Meetin ' Time is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, and released to theatres on August 8, 1936 by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation.

Clean Pastures is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by I. Freleng, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and released to theatres on May 22, 1937 by Warner Bros. and Vitaphone.

Goldilocks and the Jivin ' Bears is an animated cartoon short written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Friz Freleng.

Birds Anonymous is a 1957 Merrie Melodies animated short, directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster, starring Tweety Bird, Sylvester and Sam.

She Was an Acrobat's Daughter is an animated short in the Merrie Melodies series, released by Warner Brothers in April 1937 and directed by Friz Freleng.