Animation director Friz Freleng may have died 21 years ago, but he’s having more success in Hollywood this month than many living directors. Yesterday we announced that Warner Bros. was developing an animated feature starring Speedy Gonzales, a character that was popularized by Freleng in the 1950s.
Later this month, film distributor Kino Lorber will release complete collections of shorts featuring The Ant and the Aardvark, The Inspector
, and Crazylegs Crane
, three characters that came out of Freleng’s animation studio, DePatie-Freleng, which he co-owned between 1963 and 1981.
Kino Lorber’s Studio Classics division is releasing new HD transfers of the shorts in both Blu-ray and DVD editions. Later this year, the company plans to release additional collections of DePatie-Freleng series including Roland and Rattfink, Tijuana Toads, Blue Racer, Sheriff Hoot Kloot, Dogfather, and Misterjaw.