The Pink Panther (character)

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The Pink Panther cartoon character is the protagonist and main character in a series of animated short films. The character originally appeared in the opening and closing sequences of the 1963 film The Pink Panther. The popularity of the character spawned a series of animated short films, and the character would appear in the opening sequence of every film in The Pink Panther series (except A Shot in the Dark). 124 Pink Panther animated shorts were made.

The Pink Panther cartoon character.

[edit] DePatie-Freleng/United Artists cartoons

The animated Pink Panther character's appearance in the opening title sequence of the original 1963 film, directed by Friz Freleng, was such a success with audiences and United Artists that the studio signed Freleng and his DePatie-Freleng Enterprises studio to a multi-year contract for a Pink Panther theatrical cartoon series.

The first short in the series, 1964's The Pink Phink, featured the Panther harassing his foil, a little moustached man resembling an animated version of Clouseau, by constantly trying to paint the little man's blue house pink. The Pink Phink won the 1964 Academy Award for Animated Short Film, and subsequent shorts in the series, usually featuring the Panther opposite the little man, were successful releases.

In an early series of Pink Panther animated cartoons, the Pink Panther generally remained silent, speaking only in two theatrical shorts, Sink Pink and Pink Ice. Rich Little provided the voice of The Pink Panther, modelling the voice on that of David Niven. Years later he would overdub Niven's voice for Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther.

By the late-1960s, the Pink Panther cartoons were being shown Saturday mornings on NBC. Pink Panther shorts made after 1969 were produced for both broadcast and film release, typically appearing on television first, and released to theatres by United Artists. A number of sister series joined The Pink Panther on movies screens and on the airwaves, among them The Ant and the Aardvark, The Tijuana Toads (a.k.a. The Texas Toads), Hoot Kloot, and Misterjaw (a.k.a. Mr. Jaws and Catfish). There were also a series of animated shorts called The Inspector, with the bumbling Clouseau inspired Inspector and his Spanish-speaking sidekick Sgt. Deux-Deux, whom the Inspector is forever correcting. ("Deux" is French for "two", meaning the little man's name is both a scatological pun and a play on words, "two" appearing two times in the name.) Other DePatie-Freleng series included Roland and Rattfink, The Dogfather (a Godfather pastiche), with a canine Corleone family. and two Tijuana Toads spinoffs, The Blue Racer & Crazylegs Crane.

In 1976, the half-hour series was revamped into a 90-minute format, as The Pink Panther Laugh and a Half Hour and a Half Show; this version included a live-action segment, where the show's host, comedian Lenny Schultz, would read letters and jokes from viewers. This version flopped, and would change back to the original half-hour version in 1977.

In 1978, after nine years on NBC, The Pink Panther moved to ABC, where it lasted one season before leaving the network realm entirely.

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises was the last studio to produce new theatrical cartoons, finally ending production on Pink Panther and the other series in 1980. That year, United Artists Television syndicated a half-hour, repackaged version of the series, complete with original theatrical intros, outros and NBC-produced commercial bumpers, to local stations. Perhaps due to contractual obligations, many stations showed the series in the evening, as opposed to mornings or afternoons.

A single cartoon preceded the main feature in older James Bond VHS releases. In February 2006, all of the Pink Panther cartoons were released on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

[edit] Later television specials and shows

After ending the Panther's theatrical run, DePatie-Freleng produced a series of three primetime Pink Panther television specials for ABC. The first of the specials was 1978's "A Pink Christmas".(which premered on ABC during the panther's theatrical run for movie theaters) It featured the panther in New York being cold and hungry looking for a juicy holiday dinner. Two other primetime specials premered after the Panther shorts ended in theaters. 1980's "Olympinks" and 1981's "Pink At First Sight".

The studio was sold to Marvel Comics in 1981, and became "Marvel Productions". In 1984, the Pink Panther was licensed to Hanna-Barbera Productions, who produced the short-lived Saturday morning series The Pink Panther and Sons, in which the still-silent Pink Panther was given two talking sons, Pinky and Panky.

A new series of cartoons produced by MGM televison animation appeared in 1993, and had the Pink Panther speaking with the voice of Matt Frewer (of Max Headroom fame). Unlike the classic animated shorts, not all episode titles contained the word "pink", instead many contained the word "panther".

[edit] Comics and advertising

A long-running comic book titled The Pink Panther was published by Gold Key Comics (and its Whitman imprint) beginning in April 1971; this series ended in 1984 after 87 issues. Harvey Comics also published a 9-issue Pink Panther series (and a Pink Panther Super Special) from 1993 to 1994.

In 1973 a breakfast cereal called "Pink Panther Flakes" was made by Post Cereal. The cereal resembled Frosted Flakes in taste and texture but the sugar coating was pink, which would eventually be the color of your milk after a few seconds. The jingle included Mancini's theme and went something like this: "Pink Panther Flakes, are pink, and sweet as you can tell, the color of pink, tickles me pink." The front of the box featured the Pink Panther character and included a toy prize inside. The cereal was short lived, however, lasting only about a year.

In 2005, a new Pink Panther Sunday strip, also featuring the Inspector Clouseau character, began syndication through Tribune Media Services. The strip is written and drawn by Eric and Bill Teitelbaum.

The Pink Panther character has been, since August 15, 1980, a mascot for Owens Corning's line of pink fiberglass thermal insulation.

Since 2001, the Pink Panther has also been a mascot for Sweet'N Low artificial sweetener. As with Owens Corning, the association comes from the pink color of Sweet'N Low packets.

[edit] Cultural references

Ramón Valdéz played a bumbling thief nicknamed Peterete, who walked to the Pink Panther theme in a few Chespirito shorts. Random characters played by him in El Chapulin Colorado were often mentioned to bear a resemblance with the cartoon during the episodes. There have also been a few mentioned references in El Chavo Del Ocho.

A short cartoon featured in the animated series Dexter's Laboratory, entitled "A Silent Cartoon", pays homage to the Pink Panther shorts (specifically the episode The Pink Phink) by emulating their visual style, music, and humor. The short features Dexter (filling the role of the pale man) trying to construct a blue laboratory, while an all-pink version of his sister DeeDee (filling the role of the Pink Panther, complete with his mannerisms) finds clever ways to turn the blue lab into a completely pink lab.

In the first episode of the British comedy series Mr. Bean starring Rowan Atkinson, while preparing for an exam, Mr. Bean takes from his bag several pencils and toys, including a rubber Pink Panther figurine, to which Mr. Bean hums the classic theme music.

The video for Japanese singer Namie Amuro's song "WoWa" featured new sequences with the Pink Panther character, also introducing a female pink panther as a symbol for the singer.

[edit] Critical notes

The Pink Panther is a notable contribution to the animation art form. Produced after theatrical cartooning's golden age of the 1940s and 50s, it was constrained to the limited animation techniques applied to Saturday morning cartoons of 1960s and after. Within these limitations, the Pink Panther made creative use of absurd and surreal themes and visual puns and an almost completely wordless pantomime style, set to the ubiquitous Pink Panther theme and its variations by Henry Mancini. The overall approach is reminiscent of the classic silent movies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

Cultural references were more muted and stylized, resulting in a cartoon with longer-term, more cross-cultural appeal not shared by contemporaries such as Yogi Bear and The Flintstones, with their greater reliance on contemporary American pop culture.

Pink Panther also remained constrained to the classic Looney Tunes 6-minute form, while contemporaries expanded into longer, sitcom-like storylines, up to a full 30 minutes of broadcast TV in the case of The Flintstones.

Freleng's colleagues credit his sense of creative timing as a key element to the cartoon's artistic success. Freleng himself regarded the Panther as his finest achievement and the character he most identified with, according to family and colleagues interviewed on the 2006 DVD release.

[edit] Friends of the Pink Panther

[edit] List of animated shorts

[edit] 1960s

[edit] 1964

The Pink Phink (Academy Award winning short)

The Pink Phink title card

Pink Pajamas

[edit] 1965

We Give Pink Stamps
Dial 'P' for Pink
Sink Pink (one of only two shorts in which the Pink Panther has dialogue)
Pickled Pink
Pinkfinger
Shocking Pink
Pink Ice (one of only two shorts in which the Pink Panther has dialogue)
The Pink Tail Fly
Pink Panzer
An Ounce of Pink
Reel Pink
Bully for Pink

[edit] 1966

Pink Punch
Pink Pistons
Vitamin Pink
The Pink Blueprint (Academy Award nominee)
Pink, Plunk, Plink (contains a cameo appearance by Henry Mancini, composer of the Pink Panther Theme music)
Smile Pretty, Say Pink
Pink-A-Boo
Genie with the Light Pink Fur
Super Pink
Rock-A-Bye Pinky

[edit] 1967

Pinknic
Pink Panic
Pink Posies
Pink of the Litter
In the Pink
Jet Pink
Pink Paradise
Pinto Pink
Congragulations! It's Pink
Prefabricated Pink
The Hand Is Pinker Than the Eye
Pink Outs

[edit] 1968

Sky Blue Pink
Pinkadilly Circus
Psychedelic Pink
Come On In! The Water's Pink
Put-Put Pink
G.I. Pink
Lucky Pink
The Pink Quarterback
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Pink
Pink Valiant
The Pink Pill
Prehistoric Pink
Pink in the Clink
Little Beaux Pink
Tickled Pink
Pink Sphinks
Pink is a Many Splintered Thing
The Pink Package Plot
Pink-come Tax

[edit] 1969

Pink-A-Rella
Pink Pest Control
Think Before You Pink
Slink Pink
In The Pink of the Night
Pink on the Cob
Extinct Pink

[edit] 1970s

[edit] 1971

A Fly in the Pink
Pink Blue Plate
Pink Tuba-Dore
Pink Pranks
The Pink Flea
PSST Pink
Gong with the Pink
Pink-In (In this short, the name of the little white man is revealed to be Loudmouth Louie)