DePatie-Freleng Enterprises

Background

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises was founded by David H. DePatie and Isadore "Friz" Freleng. Famous for the Pink Panther animated character, 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. Series made for 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), and the Looney Tunes shorts and specials are currently owned by Warner Bros. 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.

Up until 1966, the company mainly used in-credit notices.

Contents

1st Logo (September 10, 1966-January 21, 1967)	2nd Logo (September 16, 1967-December 28, 1968)	3rd Logo (September 6, 1969-December 19, 1970)	4th Logo (In-credit variants) (July 4, 1971-May 2, 1980, 1994?)

1st Logo (September 10, 1966-January 21, 1967)

Visuals: On a pink background, the text "DFE" is in white. A paintbrush-like piece then wipes in, as "films" in a cartoony font appears on the oval. The text "Released by United Artists" appears under it.

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: A 11-note trumpet fanfare, with the last note held out. This was possibly composed by William Lava.

Availability: Only seen on The Super 6, in which it has a DVD release.

2nd Logo (September 16, 1967-December 28, 1968)

Visuals: On a black background, an mixture of colors wipe into the screen, revealing the DFE Films logo, but "films" is less curved and thinner. Again, "Released by United Artists" appears under it, but bigger and in a cursive font.

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

Technique: Motion-control animation.

Audio: 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 also composed by William Lava.

Availability: Only seen on Super President.

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

Visuals: On a muddled maroon background, the "DFE" text is 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 blue, black on yellow, then white on blue again in that order) before switching back to the color scheme from before.

Variants:

On pre-1986 LWT airings of The Pink Panther Show (1969), the logo fades into the 1978 London Weekend Television Presentation endcap.
On 1986-1989 LWT airings of The Pink Panther Show (1969), the logo fades into the 1986 LWT endcap.
On pre-1989 Thames Television airings of The Pink Panther Show (1969), the logo fades into the 1969 From Thames In Colour endcap.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation.

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

Audio Variant: A longer version of the music exists. It appeared on the short-lived animated adaptation of Doctor Dolittle.

Availability: Used on programmes from the company until 1970.

It appears on early '70s episodes of the TV Pink Panther cartoons and DVD releases of Here Comes the Grump, respectively.
It also last appeared on the Light TV reruns of The Pink Panther Show (1969).
It was also still intact on ITV and Cartoon Network UK reruns of The Pink Panther Show (1969), while remastered prints on the BBC remove it.

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

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

Variants:

On The Cat in the Hat, the logo is on a red-and-white striped background. After about four seconds, the Cat's hat appears on "films".
On The Blue Racer, the logo appears on a light blue background, there is 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.

Technique: A still image. 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 The Blue Racer, the logo would sometimes zoom-out while animating.

Audio: The opening/closing theme to the show.

Audio Variant: On The Cat in the Hat (1971), an eight-note fanfare is heard.

Availability: Seen on programmes from the company until 1980.

Most of DFE's shows and specials haven't been rerun in decades, but it should still show up when they are as it is in-credit and usually left alone.
The Dr. Seuss variants are common, with them being preserved on the 1971-1980 Dr. Seuss specials on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray releases.
- ABC Family (now Freeform) airings of some of these specials kept them intact before the compressed credits, albeit with the CBS in-credit logo replaced by the short 1999 KingWorld logo.
The logo was also originally shown on The New Fantastic Four and Spider-Woman; however, the logo is plastered by the 1986 Marvel Productions logo on current prints, but it is preserved on the 1985 Prism Entertainment VHS releases.