Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Meet the by Hope Freleng Pink Panther (1964-1980) Pink Panther (1963-1980), was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE Films). 92 shorts were released theatrically and eventually appeared on Saturday mornings via Show starting in 1969. All made-for-television entries (#93-#124) were also distributed to theaters after initially airing on The All-New Pink Panther Show in 1978-1979. The Pink Panther's long-time foil, known simply as The White Man (or The Little Man), appeared in many entries except where noted. . "The Pink Panther Theme" is an instrumental composition by written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the 1964 Academy Award for Best Original Score. The eponymous cartoon character created for the film's opening credits by David DePatie and was animated in time to the tune. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Plas Johnson. The tune was included on the film's soundtrack album and issued as a single in 1964; it reached the Top 10 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart and won three Grammy Awards. Various recordings of the tune were featured in the opening credits of all The Pink Panther films, with the exception of A Shot in the Dark and . It has also been used in countless works featuring the animated Pink Panther character. "The Pink Panther Theme", originally played in the key of E minor, is noted for its quirky, unusual use of chromaticism which is derived from the Hungarian minor scale with raised 4th and 7th degrees. In the 1978 film Revenge of the Pink Panther, the theme, and much of the soundtrack from this entry in the series, draw heavily from the disco sound of the late 1970s. The theme itself was reworked to include a more dancy bassline, electric piano, and guitar solo. A similar thing was done for 1983's Curse of the Pink Panther, where it had more electronic sounds incorporated. The theme was used in John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola's live version of Chick Corea's Short Tales of the Black Forest, from the 1981 album Friday Night in San Francisco. The Tibo Toussaint Orchestra perform a version on the 1988 album Sound of Movies: 20 Great Themes. [3] In the 1993 film , the theme was rearranged and performed by Bobby McFerrin in the opening titles. This version was unique in being the only one to be performed acapella. Christophe Beck rearranged the music for the 2006 reboot, as well as its sequel, . Paul Oakenfold remixed the theme song for the 2006 film. In 2007, saxophonist Dave Koz recorded a version for his album At the Movies. Pink Panther. The Pink Panther is the main and title character in the opening and closing credit sequences of every film in The Pink Panther series except for A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau . His popularity spawned a series of theatrical shorts, merchandise, a comic book, and television cartoons. He starred in 124 short films, 10 television shows and three prime time specials. Contents. DePatie-Freleng/United Artists cartoons. The animated Pink Panther character's initial appearance in the live action film's title sequence, 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 series of Pink Panther theatrical cartoon shorts. The first entry in the series, 1964's , (his debut appearance) featured the Panther harassing his foil, a little white mustached man who is actually a caricature of Friz Freleng (this character is officially known as "The Little White Guy" and/or "The Man" [1] ), 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 Pink Panther opposite the little man, were successful releases. In an early series of Pink Panther animated cartoons, the Panther generally remained silent, speaking only in two theatrical shorts, Sink Pink and Pink Ice . Rich Little provided the Panther's voice in the latter shorts, modelling it on that of David Niven (who had portrayed Clouseau's jewel- thief nemesis in the original live-action film). Years later Little would overdub Niven's voice for Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther , due to Niven's ill health. All of the animated Pink Panther shorts utilized the distinctive jazzy theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the 1963 feature film, with additional scores composed by Walter Greene or . [2] [3] [4] [5] . In the fall of 1969, the Pink Panther cartoons made their way to NBC television shown Saturday mornings via The Pink Panther Show . NBC added a laugh track to the original cartoons, with Marvin Miller brought on as an off-camera narrator talking to the Pink Panther during bumper segments featuring the Pink Panther and together. [3] Pink Panther shorts made after 1969 were produced for both broadcast and film release, typically appearing on television first, and released to theaters by United Artists. One version of the show was called The Think Pink Panther Show . A number of sister series joined The Pink Panther on movie 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 Clouseau-inspired Inspector and his sidekick Sgt. Deux-Deux, whom the Inspector is forever correcting. 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 and Crazylegs Crane . [3] The German television version which started airing in 1973 in ZDF was presented in 30-minute episodes, composed of one Pink Panther cartoon, one episode of The Inspector and one episode of The Ant and the Aardvark . Most notably, the difference between the German and the English version of the Pink Panther is a rhymed narration in the German version (spoken by voice actor Gert Günther Hoffmann), commenting and describing the plot. For this show, custom intro and end sequences were cut together from existing pieces of animation. 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. [3] In 1978, The Pink Panther moved to ABC and was rebranded The All New Pink Panther Show , where it lasted one season before leaving the network realm entirely. The ABC version of the series featured sixteen episodes with 32 new Pink Panther cartoons, and 16 of Crazylegs Crane . The 32 entries were later released theatrically by United Artists. [3] Comic book. In 1971, Gold Key Comics began publishing a Pink Panther comic book, with art by Warren Tufts. The Pink Panther and the Inspector lasted 87 issues, ending only when Gold Key ceased operations in 1984. [6] The spinoff series The Inspector (also from Gold Key) lasted 19 issues, from 1974 to 1978. [7] Later television shows and specials. During the final years of the Panther's theatrical run, DePatie-Freleng produced a series of three primetime Pink Panther television specials for ABC. The first was 1978's A Pink Christmas . It featured the panther in New York being cold and hungry looking for a holiday dinner. The other two specials premiered on ABC after the shorts officially ended in theaters, 1980's Olym-Pinks and 1981's Pink at First Sight . In November 2007, the three specials were released on a single disc DVD collection, The Pink Panther: A Pink Christmas from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The studio was sold to Marvel Comics in 1981, and became (now a part of The Walt Disney Company). In 1984, a new Saturday morning series was produced entitled Pink Panther and Sons . In this incarnation (produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions with Freleng serving as creative producer for the series), the still-silent Pink Panther was a father of his two talking sons, Pinky and Panky. While popular, critics complained that there was not enough Pink Panther to maintain interest for a full 30 minutes. [3] A new series of cartoon were created in 1993, simply titled The Pink Panther , produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation, premiered in syndication in 1993, and had the Pink Panther speaking with the voice of Matt Frewer (of Max Headroom fame). Unlike the original shorts, not all episode titles contained the word "pink," although many instead contained the word "panther." Voice impressionist John Byner returned to voice both the Ant and the Aardvark. [3] In July 2007, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Jordan's Rubicon animation company began co-production of the animated series Pink Panther and Pals portraying a teenaged panther and his friends. The 26 episode TV series premiered worldwide in spring 2010 on Cartoon Network. In 2011, a new 22-minute holiday special entitled A Very Pink Christmas aired on ABC Family and later Boomerang in the U.S., YTV in Canada, and Boomerang in the U.K. in December. [3] After acquiring United Artists in the early 1980s, MGM continues to own the ancillary rights and trademarks to the Pink Panther franchise. In popular culture. The Pink Panther is known as Nathu and Pangu in East and South Asia and Paulchen Panther (Little Paul the Panther) in Germany. He remains a popular character. In addition to the regular airing of the classic cartoon, the panther also appears in the following: The Pink Panther Show opening theme was used by Nike in a viral campaign of Pink Mercurial Vapor IV football boots using the French football star Franck Ribery mimicking the character of the Pink Panther. [8] have featured the character for many years as an advertising mascot for their pink-colored residential building insulation. [9][10] The character has also been used as an advertising mascot for Sweet'n Low artificial sweetener, which is housed in pink-colored packets. One television commercial for the product features Regis Philbin talking to a taxi cab driver. After the camera changes the view, the driver is revealed to be the Pink Panther. [11] The Family Guy episodes "The Former Life of Brian" and "Halloween on Spooner Street" feature cameo appearances by the character. In Spain, a Pantera Rosa cake is sold. It is coated in pink. [12][13] The Pink Panther is featured in two computer games, The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril and its sequel The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink . Charity. The Pink Panther is associated with a number of cancer awareness and support organisations. The Pink Panther is the mascot of the New Zealand Child Cancer foundation [14] and for a line of clothing to promote breast cancer awareness. [15] California based children's cancer charity The Gary L. Hoop Foundation humorously places The Pink Panther in various locations on its website and in its advertisements, paying homage to both the cartoon and their late namesake Gary Hoop, who once carried "The Pink Panther" as a nickname. [16] Critical reception. Animation historian Jerry Beck has called the Pink Panther "the last great Hollywood cartoon character", noting that "Classic animation pretty much died in the '60s, everyone had kind of bailed out. But his creators didn't rest on their laurels. They didn't make the cartoons to look like Warner Bros. cartoons, or Disney cartoons, or the UPA look of Mister Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing. They came up with their own clever new style. The only other important cartoon of the '60s was Yellow Submarine ." [3] [1] The Pink Panther was a notable contribution to the animation art form. Top animation directors such as , Gerry Chiniquy, Robert McKimson, and Sid Marcus contributed to a distinctive style, supported by master story writer John W. Dunn. Produced after theatrical cartooning's golden age of the 1940s and 50s, they were 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. [3] 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. The Pink Panther also remained constrained to the classic six-minute form of theatrical shorts, 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 Pink Panther as his finest achievement and the character he most identified with, according to family and colleagues interviewed on the 2006 DVD release. Pink Panther (character) The Pink Panther is the main and title character in the opening and closing credit sequences of every film in The Pink Panther series except for A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau . His popularity spawned a series of theatrical shorts, merchandise, a comic book, and television cartoons. He starred in 124 short films, 10 television shows and three prime time specials. Contents. DePatie-Freleng/United Artists cartoons. The animated Pink Panther character's initial appearance in the live action film's title sequence, 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 series of Pink Panther theatrical cartoon shorts. The first entry in the series, 1964's The Pink Phink , featured the Panther harassing his foil, a little white mustachioed man who is actually a caricature of Friz Freleng (this character is officially known as "The Little White Guy" and/or "The Man" [1] ), 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 Pink Panther opposite the Little Man, were successful releases. In an early series of Pink Panther animated cartoons, the Panther generally remained silent, speaking only in two theatrical shorts, Sink Pink and Pink Ice . Rich Little provided the Panther's voice in the latter shorts, modelling it on that of David Niven (who had portrayed Clouseau's jewel thief nemesis in the original live-action film). Years later, Little would overdub Niven's voice for Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther , due to Niven's ill health. All of the animated Pink Panther shorts utilized the distinctive jazzy theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the 1963 feature film, with additional scores composed by Walter Greene or William Lava. [2] [3] [4] [5] The Pink Panther Show. In the fall of 1969, the Pink Panther cartoons made their way to NBC television shown Saturday mornings via The Pink Panther Show . NBC added a laugh track to the original cartoons, with Marvin Miller brought on as an off-camera narrator talking to the Pink Panther during bumper segments featuring the Pink Panther and The Inspector together. [3] Pink Panther shorts made after 1969 were produced for both broadcast and film release, typically appearing on television first, and released to theaters by United Artists. One version of the show was called The Think Pink Panther Show . A number of sister series joined The Pink Panther on movie 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 Clouseau-inspired Inspector and his sidekick Sgt. Deux-Deux, whom the Inspector is forever correcting. 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 and Crazylegs Crane . [3] The German television version which started airing in 1973 in ZDF was presented in 30-minute episodes, composed of one Pink Panther cartoon, one episode of The Inspector and one episode of The Ant and the Aardvark. Most notably, the difference between the German and the English version of the Pink Panther is a rhymed narration in the German version (spoken by voice actor Gert Günther Hoffmann), commenting and describing the plot. For this show, custom intro and end sequences were cut together from existing pieces of animation. 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. [3] In 1978, The Pink Panther moved to ABC and was rebranded The All New Pink Panther Show , where it lasted one season before leaving the network realm entirely. The ABC version of the series featured sixteen episodes with 32 new Pink Panther cartoons, and 16 of Crazylegs Crane. The 32 entries were later released theatrically by United Artists. [3] Comic book. In 1971, Gold Key Comics began publishing a Pink Panther comic book, with art by Warren Tufts. The Pink Panther and the Inspector lasted 87 issues, ending only when Gold Key ceased operations in 1984. [6] The spinoff series The Inspector (also from Gold Key) lasted 19 issues, from 1974 to 1978. [7] Later television shows and specials. During the final years of the Panther's theatrical run, DePatie-Freleng produced a series of three primetime Pink Panther television specials for ABC. The first was 1978's A Pink Christmas . It featured the panther in New York being cold and hungry looking for a holiday dinner. The other two specials premiered on ABC after the shorts officially ended in theaters, 1980's Olym-Pinks and 1981's Pink at First Sight . In November 2007, the three specials were released on a single disc DVD collection, The Pink Panther: A Pink Christmas from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The studio was sold to Marvel Comics in 1981, and became Marvel Productions (now a part of The Walt Disney Company). In 1984, a new Saturday morning series was produced entitled Pink Panther and Sons . In this incarnation (produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions with Freleng serving as creative producer for the series), the still-silent Pink Panther was a father of his two talking sons, Pinky and Panky. While popular, critics complained that there was not enough Pink Panther to maintain interest for a full 30 minutes. [3] A new series of cartoon were created in 1993, simply titled The Pink Panther , produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation, premiered in syndication in 1993, and had the Pink Panther speaking with the voice of Matt Frewer (of Max Headroom fame). Unlike the original shorts, not all episode titles contained the word "pink," although many instead contained the word "panther." Voice impressionist John Byner returned to voice both the Ant and the Aardvark. [3] In July 2007, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Jordan's Rubicon animation company began co-production of the animated series Pink Panther and Pals portraying a teenaged panther and his friends. The 26 episode TV series premiered worldwide in spring 2010 on Cartoon Network. In 2011, a new 22-minute holiday special entitled A Very Pink Christmas aired on ABC Family and later Boomerang in the U.S., YTV in Canada, and Boomerang in the U.K. in December. [3] After acquiring United Artists in the early 1980s, MGM continues to own the ancillary rights and trademarks to the Pink Panther franchise. Popular culture. The Pink Panther is known as Nathu and Pangu in East and South Asia, Paulchen Panther (Little Paul the Panther) in Germany and Пинко розовата пантера (Pinko the Pink panther) in Bulgaria. He remains a popular character. In addition to the regular airing of the classic cartoon, the panther also appears in the following: Advertising. The Pink Panther Show opening theme was used by Nike in a viral campaign of Pink Mercurial Vapor IV football boots using the French football star Franck Ribery mimicking the character of the Pink Panther. [8] have featured the character for many years as an advertising mascot for their pink-colored residential building insulation. [9][10] The character has also been used as an advertising mascot for Sweet'n Low artificial sweetener, which is housed in pink-colored packets. One television commercial for the product features Regis Philbin talking to a taxi cab driver. After the camera changes the view, the driver is revealed to be the Pink Panther. [11] Games. The Pink Panther is featured in multiple computer and video games: The Pink Panther (1983), a hand-held LCD game from Tiger Electronics. [12] The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril (1996) The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink (1997) The Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit (2003) for PlayStation and GameBoy Advance [13] for the Sega Genesis/Megadrive and Super Nintendo [14] In 2004, CR Pink Panther ( CRピンクパンサー , CR pinkupansā ? ) , a series of four pachinko games has been released in Japan by Fuji Shogi. Products. In Spain, a Pantera Rosa cake is sold. It is coated in pink. [15][16] Television appearances. List of animated shows. The Pink Panther Show (1969–1980 and various spinoffs) Pink Panther and Sons (1984–1986) The Pink Panther (1993–1996) Pink Panther and Pals (2010) List of animated specials. The Pink Panther in: A Pink Christmas (1978) The Pink Panther in: Olym-Pinks (1980) The Pink Panther in: Pink at First Sight (1981, Valentine's Day special) A Very Pink Christmas (2011) Charity. The Pink Panther is associated with a number of cancer awareness and support organisations. The Pink Panther is the mascot of the New Zealand Child Cancer foundation [17] and for a line of clothing to promote breast cancer awareness. [18] California based children's cancer charity The Gary L. Hoop Foundation humorously places The Pink Panther in various locations on its website and in its advertisements, paying homage to both the cartoon and their late namesake Gary Hoop, who once carried "The Pink Panther" as a nickname. [19] Critical reception. Animation historian Jerry Beck has called the Pink Panther "the last great Hollywood cartoon character", noting that "Classic animation pretty much died in the '60s, everyone had kind of bailed out. But his creators didn't rest on their laurels. They didn't make the cartoons to look like Warner Bros. cartoons, or Disney cartoons, or the UPA look of Mister Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing. They came up with their own clever new style. The only other important cartoon of the '60s was Yellow Submarine ." [3] [1] The Pink Panther was a notable contribution to the animation art form. Top animation directors such as Hawley Pratt, Gerry Chiniquy, Robert McKimson, and Sid Marcus contributed to a distinctive style, supported by master story writer John W. Dunn. Produced after theatrical cartooning's golden age of the 1940s and 50s, they were constrained to the limited animation techniques applied to Saturday morning cartoons of the 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. [3] 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. The Pink Panther also remained constrained to the classic six-minute form of theatrical shorts, 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 Pink Panther as his finest achievement and the character he most identified with, according to family and colleagues interviewed on the 2006 DVD release. Tracking the Many Sides of The Pink Panther. Some pink ink about the cartoon character who is also a precious gem, a famous song, a series of movies and a recording star. THE PINK PANTHER Music from the Film Score Henry Mancini and His Orchestra & Chorus RCA Victor Records LSP-2795 (Stereo) LPM- 2795 (Mono) (12” 33 1/3 RPM LP) CD Reissue: Buddha 74465 99725 2 (2001), available for streaming and download Record Store Day 50th Anniversary Pink Vinyl LP: #888433050811 (2014) Released in 1963 . Producer: Joe Reisman. Engineer: Jim Malloy. Recorded at RCA Victor’s Music Center of the World, Hollywood from September 16-18, 1963. Running Time: 29 minutes. Instrumental: “The Pink Panther Theme,” “It Had Better Be Tonight (Instrumental),” “Royal Blue,” “Champagne and Quail,” “Village Inn,” “The Tiber Twist,” “Cortina,” “The Lonely Princess,” “Something for Sellers,” “Piano and Strings,” “Shades of Sennett” by Henry Mancini. Song : “It Had Better Be Tonight” by Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer, Francesco Magliacci. This album introduced the Pink Panther character and “The Pink Panther Theme” to long-playing records, in time for the release of the 1963 live- action “heist caper” comedy feature that initiated all that was to follow. Like a certain floor wax/dessert topping, “The Pink Panther” is more than just one thing. The actual “pink panther” in the film story refers to a precious diamond first seen in the prologue. When the camera closes in on the gem, there is a gauzy dissolve to the animated title, upon which DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (also known as DFE Films) based the openings of their Pink Panther cartoons, beginning in 1964. Within the cartoons as well as the movie title sequences, the Panther is an animated character who has only rarely spoken and rides a fine line between surrealism and slapstick. Peter Sellers became an international star as the clueless, accident-prone yet determined Inspector Clouseau in the first film and its sequel, which did not mention a “Pink Panther” in the title, but was called A Shot in the Dark (1964). This feature’s animated opening titles introduced an animated version of Sellers in the role. The character was redesigned for the second DePatie-Freleng “Inspector” theatrical series. Alan Arkin played the title role in the third feature, Inspector Clouseau (1968) which was not directed by Blake Edwards, but Bud Yorkin, who with creative partner Norman Lear would shortly produce the first of several pilots for what would become TV’s All in the Family . The animated Clouseau feature in this feature more closely resembled The Inspector of the cartoon series, who was voiced by Pat Harrington, Jr. (Dwayne Schneider of another Lear sitcom, One Day at a Time ). By 1975, long after DePatie-Freleng’s cartoon counterparts had taken on lives of its own, Peter Sellers came back to the big screen for the very successful Return of The Pink Panther . This film and its further sequels, all using “Pink Panther” in their titles, created a mindset that a “Pink Panther movie” was synonymous with an “Inspector Clouseau movie” at first because it starred Sellers and always because it had an animated title sequence with the cartoon Panther. The cartoon Inspector made occasional appearances on record album covers, including a 1984 RCA LP called In The Pink with Henry Mancini and flutist James Galway. Also in the eighties, Kid’s Stuff Records produced a number of children’s records featuring The Pink Panther and The Inspector. The albums were explored in this previous Animation Spin. Director Blake Edwards and DFE’s David DePatie recalled how it happened: DAVID DePATIE : One day, the telephone rang and it was Blake Edwards. I went over to his office and he handed me this script called The Pink Panther. He said, “I want you to design for me a Pink Panther character.” BLAKE EDWARDS : One of us suggested that we actually bring the Panther to life. It most likely was either me or my uncle, who was [a second unit director]on that. Owen Crump, who had a career at Warner Brothers and was very close to David DePatie and Friz Freleng. Once it was mentioned, then I can remember constantly sending telegrams back and forth about how I saw the character. I made up a background for the character. DAVID DePATIE: So Friz and I went back to the shop and got some of our top designers together and we came up probably a week later with, I’d say, a hundred or more different variations on what a Pink Panther would look like. So we hauled all these over to Blake’s house one Sunday afternoon and laid them out on his living room floor, and he walked around and looked–and Blake is a very decisive guy–and what he did was, he went over and he pointed to this way says, “That’s the one I want. “The character was born. Probably more than anyone else, including Friz and myself, Hawley Pratt made the major contribution to the Pink Panther because it was Hawley’s design that Blake picked that day. All he did with the character was, he put it on his production letterhead and, I think, on business cards, and that type of thing and that was it. I’d say three months went by and I got a telephone call again. Blake says, “Come on over.” He says, “David, I have the film in the can now and I know exactly what I want to do with this character. I want you guys to create an opening title sequence, a main title sequence, featuring the Panther.” DAVID DePATIE : We take the picture out to preview. After the main title sequence is over with, they had turned on the lights and shut off the projector. People were jumping up and down in the aisles and applauding, and just it was screaming and yelling! I’ve never seen such a reaction. After that screening, I started to think, you know, there may be life after the main title. This character may have a place in animation.” These are a few behind-the-scenes stories shared in Behind the Feline – The Cartoon Phenomenon , a 2003 video that is including among the pink plethora of audio commentaries and documentaries (many with our own Jerry Beck) in the six volumes of The Pink Panther , just released on Blu- ray (separately or as a set) and looking as crispy and bright as a bowl of Post Pink Panther Flakes . “The Pink Panther,” as a theatrical cartoon series, is perhaps the last great ones of its era. It is certainly the last one with a direct connection to the early days of animation by way of Friz Freleng, who was not only a great Warner Bros. cartoon director, but was also an artist from the early days of Walt Disney and MGM, even before cartoons had sound and color. The series also was, according to veteran animator/director Art Leonardi, the “Pink Power” that drove the DePatie-Freleng studio during its highly unique boutique run of theatrical shorts, TV series, commercials and iconic titles—including this one (after the introductory Paul Frees version): David DePatie was a Warner executive in charge of TV ad placement (for shows like Maverick) before he was assigned to Warner’s animation studio. He oversaw such projects as segments and 1964’s The Incredible Mr. Limpet . But as the latter was in production, Warner decided to shutter the cartoon studio. DePatie partnered with Freleng and rented space on the Warner lot, continuing to produce cartoons with Warner characters, as well as other projects. All of this is detailed further in Think Pink! The DePatie-Freleng Story by Mark Arnold. It would stand to reason that The Pink Panther titles and cartoon series were music driven. Friz Freleng had a musical background and was responsible for some of the most memorable music-related Warner Bros. cartoon classics, including Three Little Bops, Rhapsody in Rivets and Rhapsody Rabbit . Once DePatie-Freleng was handed the title assignment for Blake Edwards’ 1963 live-action heist caper comedy starring David Niven, Peter Sellers and Capucine, among his first steps was to approach Oscar-winning composer Henry Mancini about the music he was planning. Mancini had not worked the theme through yet, but he provided the beats, and that is what Freleng used to make the titles. “The Pink Panther” has yet another renowned identity as a piece of music and a series of recordings. The theme is probably Henry Mancini’s most recognizable composition among hundreds of scores for film, TV and stage. (He can be seen applauding both the musical and animated “Panthers” in the 1966 short, Pink, Plunk Plink .) The DePatie-Freleng cartoon image of the Pink Panther is usually somewhere on albums that features the theme itself, related film scores (there were several sequels and remakes) or Mancini music compilations. “The Pink Panther Theme” as heard in the short cartoons was not arranged and conducted by Mancini but first by William Lava, a staff composer at Warner Bros. who was also scoring later produced by DePatie-Freleng. When DFE moved off the Warner lot (first to a Union Bank building that makes an appearance in 1969’s Think Before You Pink ), Walter Greene handled most of the scoring, followed by DePatie’s son, Steve. All of these scores interpolate the Mancini theme into various music cues, along with other bits of music that do not use the theme. When The Pink Panther Show came to television in 1969, Doug Goodwin wrote and performed what would be a succession of catchy theme songs for various series incarnations. Goodwin became a musical mainstay of DePatie-Freleng, but his first big break came at Hanna-Barbera when he wrote songs for Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear and The Man Called Flintstone , on the recommendation of Freleng, who was working on the Yogi feature at the time. We’ve explored some of Goodwin’s work in previous Animation Spins , this one for The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas , the Goldilocks TV special soundtrack with Bing Crosby and the groovy “Grasshoppers” album based on the Doctor Dolittle series (note the Leonardi cover art and lettering). This was Goodwin’s theme song for the Panther’s 1969 NBC Saturday morning debut, featuring the “Pink Panthermobile” by George Barris, designer of such custom classics as the Batmobile, the Munster Koach and My Mother the Car’ s 1928 Porter. PINK PANTHER READ-ALONG BOOK & RECORDING SETS Kid Stuff 7” 33 RPM LP Records or Cassettes. KSR-925 The Pink Panther’s Jungle Safari (1981 / 11 minutes) KSR-926 The Pink Panther’s Numbers Caper (1981 / 12 minutes) KSR-981 The Pink Panther Fun Book (1982 / 6 minutes) There are very few records related to DePatie-Freleng cartoons. None of the music or any other audio material from Pink Panther cartoons were commercially released in soundtrack form. But the popularity of the Pink Panther as a merchandise license was such that Kid Stuff Records managed to produce a stack of vinyl albums and read-along recordings about him. The Kid Stuff Pink Panther LPs are described in this Animation Spin. Like the albums, the seven-inch read-alongs are narration-based because the Panther is a pantomime character, but at least a read-along book provides a greater number of visuals, even if in this case they are very simple, lower-cost line drawings, excusing them as “coloring pages.” These three titles were produced at time in the Kid Stuff era before the label began to released read-alongs with full-color books. Jungle Safari and Numbers Caper are educational lessons with a Pink Panther adventure to tie the elements together. The third of the three Pink Panther Kid Stuff read-along is narrated by The Inspector (voice actor uncredited), guiding the listener through various adventures as a way to set up the activity pages. PINK PANTHER AND SONS READ-ALONG BOOK & RECORDING SETS Kid Stuff 7” 33 RPM LP Records or Cassettes. KSR-299 The Rainbow Panthers’ Carnival (1984 / 14 minutes) KSR-300 Pinky Saves the Beach Bullies (1984 / 14 minutes) Pink Panther and Sons (1984-1986) was the first TV series with the character, produced at Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with DePatie-Freleng (and Mirisch-Geoffrey who co-owned the character). Friz Freleng was Creative Producer. But four years earlier, DePatie- Freleng Enterprises as a company had already become Marvel Productions (not to be confused with today’s Marvel Studios) in 1980. The DFE staff had been merged into the Marvel culture and personnel and Friz Freleng retired in 1983. “Of course, Stan Lee is Stan Lee, and I think he became a very big voice and in the transition to Marvel because of all his characters and all his approach,” recalled layout artist Martin Strudler. “There were almost two studios… we’re in the same building and everything, but we didn’t interact artistically at all.” The transition period is chronicled in Mark Arnold’s aforementioned Think Pink! book; Strudler’s interview and many others can be seen in the short documentary called Tales of Production (and Production Overload) , included on both The Dogfather and Misterjaw Blu-rays. Freleng came out of retirement in 1984 to do Pink Panther and Sons. He had been friends with Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera since the thirties when they worked at MGM’s animation studio. David DePatie participated in the series as well, before retiring in 1984. “A lot of footage had gone through the projectors since the days when Friz and I had worked with rather disgruntled diligence on the old Captain and the Kids pictures during that period much characterized by Joe Barbera and me as ‘BTJ’ (‘Before Tom and Jerry’),” recalled Bill Hanna in his 1996 autobiography A Cast of Friends . “Having Friz on the lot helped bring back memories of the callow excitement of those sophomore years,” wrote Hanna. “Despite the fact that he was pushing eighty around then, Friz was still one of the best animation directors in the industry. He was with us at H-B for two years.” The Pink Panther and Sons half-hour was designed to showcase the new and the classic alongside each other, so both the original cartoons and the “reimagined” segments were alongside each other in the same show, a highly unusual and mutually respectful concept for a reboot. The series premiered on NBC and was picked up by ABC. Kid Stuff Records adapted two softcover Golden Books into Pink Panther and Sons read-alongs. The label, which by 1984 had become an aggressive contender in the children’s record market with a competitive roster of major licensed characters, was now providing higher-quality, full- color books like their competitors. The recorded output itself continued to be uneven in scope. The story is performed by uncredited actors with an original theme not connected to the TV series. It’s done in a very low-key, homespun style. 11 Comments. The original “Pink Panther” feature film is surprisingly adult in tone and content. It is actually a bedroom comedy, with Inspector Clouseau clueless about his wife’s infidelity, even when it is going on right under his nose. And yet there are broadly comedic bits scattered throughout the film that could appeal to adults or children. The intent of who “The Pink Panther” films are intended for is thus somewhat blurred. The theatrical shorts appear to be designed for all ages to enjoy, while the feature films are primarily adult in nature, going by the PG or PG-13 rated language and the adult situations. And yet, there is the Pink Panther to bring a sense of juvenile humor to the proceedings. I would not describe any of the entries in the original feature film franchise to be exactly family-friendly. Not to disparage the work of Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers, which is of course brilliant. By comparison, the Steve Martin films are more toned-down. But not to disparage those, either. I personally enjoy most if not all of the theatrical feature films based on the pastel-hued feline. But the question remains of who they are intended for. I guess the best answer is–anyone who enjoys cartoons, slapstick humor, cartoon-style violence, adult themes and adult language all blended together. Later efforts such as the “Pink Panther and Sons” series are so definitely aimed at children that it’s easy to forget the Panther’s more “adult” origins. Also worth noting is the continuation of the Pink Panther as a theatrical short cartoon series long after the other cartoon studios had boarded up their doors. New theatrical Panther cartoons continued well into the 80’s. Proving that the character has truly universal appeal that transcends the generations.