Pink Panther (Animation)

The 1963 film The Pink Panther had animated credits, produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, that featured a "literal" representation of the flaw in the diamond for which it was named. This proved so popular with audiences -- indeed, all the films thus have animated credits (during the end credits for Return he even appears alongside the institutionalized Dreyfus as a hallucination), including the reboot -- that the character, an anthropomorphic mute, was spun off into a series of animated shorts the following year.

The Panther's status was increased when the newly founded DePatie-Freleng studio's first short, "The Pink Phink," won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject -- the first time an animation studio had won one with its very first cartoon. The shorts put the Panther in situations ranging from the mundane to the fantastic, always with Henry Mancini's popular theme music somewhere in the score (the shorts were silent save for gibberish, sound effects, and music; attempts to give the Panther a voice were washes).

Along with the Panther's shorts, the original TV run also included The Inspector, shorts inspired by Clouseau's character. The Inspector in these shorts was more competent than his movie counterpart, though still prone to bad judgement calls, and the general Butt Monkey of the series overall, even when he did succeed in the end. These shorts were soon joined by other series':

  • The Ant and the Aardvark: A 17-episode Cat-And-Mouse series about the two titular characters, a red ant and the blue aardvark who constantly tries to eat him.
  • Tijuana Toads: A series about a pair of Mexican toads who usually fail in catching food, but are luckier in avoiding the hunger of one Crazylegs Crane (who later got his own series). This was eventually redubbed into Texas Toads to be less offensive.
  • Roland and Rattfink: A series of shorts about the conflict between the perfectly pacifistic Roland and the Dastardly Whiplash-like Rattfink.
  • Hoot Kloot: The misadventures of Wild West lawman Kloot and his horse.
  • Misterjaw: A series about an affable German-accented shark and his catfish buddy, with many takeoffs from Jaws.

While the shorts were specifically made for Saturday morning TV by the end of the original run in the late 1970s, even those were released to theatres into the early 1980s, making the Panther the last great theatrical shorts character. The character also starred in three prime time specials (1978's A Pink Christmas Special, 1980's Olym-Pinks, and 1982's Pink at First Sight) and was later revived for TV with Pink Panther and Sons (1984, though the Panther himself was reduced to mere cameos, the focus being instead on sons "Pinky" and "Panky" and a group of kids called "The Rainbow Panthers"), The Pink Panther (1993) (which had the character voiced by Matt Frewer), and Pink Panther and Pals (2010). He continues to be a popular commercial mascot, most notably for Owens Corning (pink) fiberglass insulation.

The German translation of the series however featured an ever-present, rhymed voice-over reminiscent of Wilhelm Busch's work, spoken by the German voice of Sean Connery. It was also only in this dub that the Panther was given a name: Paul. But more often than not, the cutsey version "Paulchen" was used.

Tropes used in Pink Panther (Animation) include:
  • Animated Anthology: When the animated shorts began airing on Saturday morning TV in 1969 as The Pink Panther Show, it was in a half-hour timeslot and an ABA format: two Pink Panther shorts and an Inspector short. This particular setup persisted via syndicated airings and (later) Cartoon Network for years. As The Seventies progressed, the various Pink Panther anthology shows came to include other DePatie-Freleng shorts.
  • Color Character
  • Depth Deception: A faked alien invasion in an episode.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The Pink Panther shorts all have the word "pink" in the title, and most of the Inspector shorts are puns on French words or phrases.
  • In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: The cartoons have the title "Blake Edwards' Pink Panther" when he appears.
  • Instrumental Theme Tune: One of the catchiest ever, courtesy of Henry Mancini.
  • Non-Fatal Explosions
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