The Ant and the Aardvark



The Ant and the Aardvark was a series of theatrical cartoons produced at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises from 1969 to 1971, about a blue aardvark always trying to catch a red ant named Charlie.

It was released by United Artists. Directors included Friz Freleng, George Gordon, Gerry Chiniquy, Hawley Pratt and Art Davis. 17 cartoons were produced.

Actor and comedian John Byner (Soap) voiced both the aardvark (as an imitation of Jackie Mason) and the ant (imitating Dean Martin). In two episodes the aardvark tussled against a green aardvark, similar to the way Sylvester fought a one-eyed cat over Tweety in a few of Freleng's earlier shorts at Warner Brothers. In fact, since many Warner alumni worked for DFE, a lot of familiar plots were recycled. In another, the aardvark is using a computer to help think up ideas to catch the ant--very similar in concept to a Chuck Jones short with Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Bugs Bunny. The computer sounds like Paul Lynde, but is actually Byner doing a passable impersonation.

This series constantly contradicts itself by having the titular ant refer to the titular aardvark as an "anteater" (which the aardvark himself often does; The Ant from U.N.C.L.E. is an exception), although anteater and aardvark are not closely related in the biological tree.

All of the cartoons are viewable on http://users.telenet.be/U96/AA/

Filmography
1969
 * The Ant and the Aardvark (Friz Freleng)
 * Hasty But Tasty (Gerry Chiniquy)
 * The Ant From Uncle (George Gordon)
 * I've Got Ants in My Plans (Gerry Chiniquy)
 * Technology, Phooey (Gerry Chiniquy)
 * Never Bug an Ant (Gerry Chiniquy)
 * Dune Bug (Art Davis)
 * Isle of Caprice (Gerry Chiniquy)

1970
 * Scratch a Tiger (Hawley Pratt)
 * Odd Ant Out (Gerry Chiniquy)
 * Ants in the Pantry (Hawley Pratt)
 * Science Friction (Gerry Chiniquy)
 * Mumbo Jumbo (Art Davis)
 * The Froze Nose Knows (Gerry Chiniquy)
 * Don't Hustle an Ant with Muscle (Art Davis)

1971
 * Rough Brunch (Art Davis)
 * From Bed to Worse (Art Davis)

Credits

 * Produced by: David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng
 * Backgrounds: Yves Faulkner
 * Music: Doug Goodwin
 * Musicians: Ray Brown, Billy Byers, Pete Candoli, Shelly Manne, Jimmy Rowles, Tommy Tedesco
 * Checking: George Grandpre, Edith Zeigler, Lee Mulligan
 * Ink and Paint: Constance Crawley
 * Talent Coordinators: Dottie Mullens, Shaun Hartman, Maxine Cowling, Joe Alexander, Sandy Malone
 * Supervising Editor: Ken A. Watkins
 * Storylines: Jim Mendenhall
 * Graphic Designer: Corny Cole
 * Character Designers: Sam Weiss, Lorraine A. Derma, T.M. Yakutis, Peter Sullivan, Peter Wilson, Justin Baldwin, Shirley Silvey, Barrie Levy
 * Prop Designers: Corrine Hutchinson, Phil Duncan, Gordon Crawley, Derek Campbell, Ken Cooke
 * Sound Effects: Bob Smith, John Chapman
 * Engineering: Keith Collyspocia, Francis Chaffee
 * Associate Producers: Alec S. Broughton, Cynthia Cargg, Gerri London

Club/Fan Links

 * The Ant and the Aarvark Website
 * The Ant and the Aarvark Club at Myspace
 * The Ant and the Aardvark Community Livejournal
 * The Ant and the Aardvark Club at Deviantart