DePatie-Freleng Enterprises

Logo descriptions by Kris Starring
Logo captures by Eric S., Bob Fish, Logoboy95, V of Doom, Gilblitz112, TrickyMario7654, and Edc4
Video capture courtesy of Eric S., and Edc4

Background: The men of this company are David H. DePatie and Isadore "Friz" Freleng. Famous for Pink Panther, the company released theatrical Looney Tunes cartoons under Warner Bros. from 1963 to 1967, as well as original theatrical series for United Artists from 1963 to 1980. After Freleng's departure to Warner Bros. in 1980, the company was sold to Marvel Comics as their new animation division in 1981. Today, with some exceptions (all co-produced cartoons with UA/Mirisch such as Pink Panther are currently owned by MGM, the Dr. Seuss cartoons from 1971-1982 are currently owned by Dr. Seuss Enterprises (with licensing and distribution by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, previously held by Universal Studios), and the Looney Tunes shorts and specials are currently owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment), the remaining properties in the DePatie-Freleng/Marvel library are owned by the Walt Disney Company with the acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide Inc. in 2001. Ironically on August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced to acquire Marvel, and it was completed on December 31 of that year.

1st Logo
(December 18, 1964-1980)

Logo: Superimposed on the screen, this is the opening text saying: "(David H.) DePatie-(Friz) Freleng Presents", in some cases with the title of the show or short below. At the end, this is the text saying: "A DePatie-Freleng Production", in some cases with a copyright stamp or a byline below.

Variant: Sometimes the word "Geoffrey" was cut and simply called "Mirisch-DePatie-Freleng".

FX/SFX: The letters appearing, or none.

Music/Sounds: The opening and closing themes of the show or short.

Availability: Appears intact on various DFE shorts and early shows, included on later theatrical Pink Panther and The Inspector cartoons on DVD. This might also be on the official Pink Panther channel on YouTube.

2nd Logo
(September 10, 1966-December 28, 1968)

Logo: There are 2 different variants of this, depending on the show.

Super President: On a black background, an mixture of colors wipe into the screen, revealing the DFE Films logo. The logo is consisted of the text "DFE", with the "FE" being connected at the stem and leading off to an oval, forming an paintbrush-like shape. The oval itself has "films" in a cartoony font. The colors continue to scroll through the logo as "Released by United Artists" appears below in a cursive font, also with the flowing colors.
Super 6: On a pink background, the "DFE" text can be seen in white, but without the oval and the stem. The paintbrush-like piece then wipes in, as well as "films" (this time slightly thicker and curved) appears on the oval. The text from before appears again, but smaller and in white.

Variant: Depending on the film quality, the "DFE Films" words may be in white.

FX/SFX: The formation of the DFE logo.

Music/Sounds: Depends on the variant:

Super President: It begins with a 6-note trumpet fanfare, which then is followed by a clarinet playing the exact same notes, only in a lower key pitch, and brass instruments that play out two notes. This was composed by William Lava.
Super 6: A 11-note trumpet fanfare, with the last note held out.

Availability: Rare. It was seen on Super 6 and Super President. This is intact on the DVD of the former.

3rd Logo
(September 6, 1969-December 19, 1970)

Nicknames: "(Zooming-Out) DFE Films", "DFE of Flash"

Logo: On a muddled maroon background, the "DFE" text are seen in black. The letters then get filled with a large amount of colors sliding through the logo one-by-one before zooming out to the side. This reveals the ovals with "films" on it, in which it also gets a color fill. After a bit, it then flashes with different color schemes (white on black, black on yellow, white on light green, then white on black again in that order) before switching back to the color scheme from before.

FX/SFX: The "DFE" zooming out, and the flowing colors.

Music/Sounds: A brass score that appears to be in synchronization with the logo's animations, composed by Doug Goodwin.

Availability: Rare. It appears on early '70s episodes of the TV Pink Panther cartoons and DVD releases of Here Comes the Grump.Also recently appeared on Light TV's reruns ofThe Pink Panther Show(1969).

4th Logo
(July 4, 1971-May 2, 1980, 1994?)

Logo: At the end of the credits, we see the DFE Films logo (as in the 2nd logo). Below it, we see the text "A DePATIE-FRELENG PRODUCTION".

Variants:

On The Cat in the Hat, the cat's hat appears on "films".
On The Blue Racer, the logo appears on a light blue background, we see the letter "D" fading-in and flashing in multi-colors, followed by part of the letter "F" fading-in and part of the letter "E". The line fades in through the letters "F" and "E" to reveal the 1969 logo. The logo would turn solid red and the word "Presents" fades-in below. Sometimes, it would zoom-out while animating.

FX/SFX: None. On The Barkleys, it's superimposed, otherwise placed on a background in the color scheme of the show's credits (i.e. pink on Pink Panther). And, on the 1971 TV special On The Blue Racer, the logo would sometimes zoom-out while animating.

Music/Sounds: The opening/closing theme to the show.

Availability: Should still show up when DFE shows and specials from the late '70s are reran, as it is in-credit and usually left alone. It's most likely to be found on Dr. Seuss special from 1971-1980 VHS tapes, DVDs and Blu-rays. (As of this posting, it can be seen on the closings of both The Houndcats and The Barkleys on Retro TV Saturday mornings.)

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises

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