Pancho's Hideaway.

Hey kids (of all ages), it's Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!

The last couple Saturday uploads have covered how the rise of television caused many theatrical short subject properties to first be abandoned by Hollywood, then almost immediately revived due to the demand created by the new medium. (POPEYE. TOM & JERRY.)

The most popular theatrical cartoon series, Warner Bros. LOONEY TUNES and MERRIE MELODIES was not immune to this... In fact, they kinda did it more than once.

When it looked like 3-D was going to be the future of theatrical films in mid-1953, Warner Bros. shut down the animation department because 3-D cartoons were too expensive to be profitable. Then the fad passed and they were able to get right back into production in early 1954... But, by the early '60s, theatrical cartoons were truly a fading form, and Warner Bros. shut down again.

A couple of Warner vets went into business for themselves, forming DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Their best-known work was their own PINK PANTHER and related series, but they did all sorts of animation. Including being hired to produce new cartoons for Warner Bros.

This first DFE entry into the Looney Tunes series from 1964 features Speedy Gonzales up against what we can only assume to be Yosemite Sam's half-brother or bastard son, Pancho Vanilla. Most of their 'toons would pit The Fastest Mouse In All Mexico against Daffy Duck. (Which makes no sense, but that's what they went with.) They also did a few Roadrunners, assembled mostly from old clips. Format Productions would make most of the Roadrunner shorts during this period.

Warner Bros re-relaunched their own production in '67, ending the DFE era in the series. (They had plenty to do elsewhere.) Then Warner shut down altogether in '69... Until they re-re-relaunched in 1980...

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