This cartoon character made his screen debut back in 1963 when he appeared under the direction of Friz Freleng in the opening and closing sequences of the film, “The Pink Panther.” Created by DePatie-Frelong/ United Artists cartoons, this cool pink cat became so popular that he was transformed into a screen personality all his own, and became the star of a series of animated short films. Inbetween his busy movie-star tight schedule, he would always find the time to appear in the opening sequence of every film in the “Pink Panther” series except for “A Shot In The Dark.” United Artists soon signed this cat and his creators to a multi-year contract for a “Pink Panther” theatrical cartoon series.
The first short in the series, “The Pink Phink”, featured our guy harassing a little man with a moustache who bore an amazing resemblance to his cinematic foil, Clousseau. In this short, he is seen trying to paint the poor little man’s blue house pink. His efforts won him the 1964 Academy Award for “Animated Short Film.” All subsequent releases featuring these two characters were very successful. In these early series, the panther was generally quiet, speaking only in “Sink Pink” and “Pink Ice”. When he did utter words, they were made to sound like they might have been spoken by David Niven, a feat accomplished by the incredible talent of voice impersonator, Rich Little.
The late 1960s marked the feature appearance of the “Pink Panther” cartoon on Saturday morning television. Any shorts made after 1969 were produced both for broadcast and film release, but were usually shown for the first time on television. Soon the pink guy had some company, whether he wanted to go solo or not. He was joined on the airways by the likes of “The Ant and the Aardvark,” The Tijuana Toads”, “Hoot Kloot,” and “MisterJaw.” There was also “The Inspector,” an animated short that featured a bumbling inspector and his Spanish-speaking sidekick, Deux-Deux. Production on the “Pink Panther ended in 1980, at which point the studio produced a series of television specials. Marvel Comics bought the studio in 1981 and became Marvel Productions in 1984.
The “Pink Panther” also knew fame as a long running comic book, which began in 1971 by Gold Key Comics, and ended in 1984 after 87 issues. In February of 2006, all of the Pink Panther cartoons were released on DVD enabling many generations to come to enjoy his very pink and priceless antics.
What are some of your favorite moments from the Pink Panther cartoons? Please share.
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