Larry,
Sorry to hear about your virus problems. Here is the blog entry I sent for yesterday. Use it as you will. Friz Freleng's 100th B-Day!

The great Looney Tunes Director Isadore "Friz" Freleng was born in Kansas City 100 years ago Aug 21st . Friz (not Fritz) was one of the earliest Disney animators, who came out to LA with Walt in 1923.

He left Disney in 1929 ("too much politics" he said)and helped start the Leon Schlesinger Studio that were going to make Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies for Warner Bros. Friz became one of the great Warner Bros directors. Back Alley Op-Roar, Buccaneer Bugs, Miss Glory, the 3D cartoon Lumberjack Rabbit, and many more. His at times bad temper and short stature were lampooned in the creation of the character Yosemite Sam. The foot stomping "ooooooohhhhh!!" was reportedly inspired from one of Friz's meltdowns. He not only could take a joke, he took the character and made it a standard in his repertoire.

By 1964 when it seemed Warners wanted out of the animation business Friz took the crew and formed DePatie-Freleng. There he created the Pink Panther character among many other shows. He died in 1995 at age 89. A skillful office diplomat and businessman, He once told me "Never tell people what you really think until you are 89 or a millionaire". He became both. Happy Birthday Friz!

Tom Sito

¶ 7:45 AM