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Pink Panther (character)

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ThePink Pantheris a fictional animated character who appears in the opening or closing credit sequences of every film inThe Pink Pantherseries except forA Shot in the DarkandInspector Clouseau.[1]In the storyline of the original film, the "Pink Panther" is the name of a valuablepink diamondnamed for a flaw that shows a "figure of a springing panther" when held up to the light in a certain way; in the credits this was translated to an animated pink panther. Only the firstPink Pantherfilm and its third sequel,The Return of the Pink Panther,featured the diamond.

Pink Panther
The Pink Panthercharacter
First appearanceThe Pink Panther(1963)
Created byBlake Edwards
Hawley Pratt
Friz Freleng
Designed byHawley Pratt
Voiced by
In-universe information
Alias
  • Pink
  • Pinky
SpeciesPanther (Leopard)
GenderMale

The character's popularity spawned aspin-offfranchise oftheatrical shorts,television cartoons and merchandise. He starred in 124 short films, four TV series and four TV specials. The character is closely associated with "The Pink Panther Theme",composed byHenry Mancini.

DePatie–Freleng/United Artists cartoons

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See also:List of The Pink Panther cartoons

The animated Pink Panther character's initial appearance in the live action film's title sequence, directed byFriz Freleng,was such a success with audiences andUnited Artiststhat the studio signed Freleng and hisDePatie–Freleng Enterprisesstudio to a multi-year contract for a series ofPink Panthertheatrical cartoon shorts. The first entry in the series, 1964'sThe Pink Phink,featured Pink harassing his foil, a little white mustachioed man who is often considered a caricature of Friz Freleng (this character is officially known asThe Little Man[2]), by constantly trying to paint the Little Man's blue house pink.The Pink Phinkwon the 1964Academy 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, Pink generally remained silent, speaking only in two theatrical shorts,Sink Pink(one line) andPink Ice(throughout the film).Rich Littleprovided Pink's voice in these shorts, modeling it on that ofDavid Niven(who had portrayed Clouseau's jewel thief nemesis in the original live-action film). Years later, Little would overdub Niven's voice forTrail of the Pink PantherandCurse of the Pink Panther,due to Niven's ill health. All of the animatedPink Panthershorts utilizedthe distinctive jazzy theme musiccomposed byHenry Mancinifor the 1963 feature film, with additional scores composed byWalter GreeneorWilliam Lava.[3][4][5][6]

The Pink Panther Show

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Main article:The Pink Panther Show

In the fall of 1969, thePink Panthercartoons made their way toNBCtelevision shownSaturday morningsviaThe Pink Panther Show.NBC added alaugh trackto the original cartoons, withMarvin Millerbrought on as an off-camera narrator talking to the Pink Panther duringbumpersegments featuring the Pink Panther and The Inspector together.[4]The series featured a live-action introduction, over the theme song, which featured thePanthermobile.

Pink Panthershorts 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 calledThe Think Pink Panther Show.A number of sister series joinedThe Pink Pantheron movie screens and on the airwaves, among themThe Ant and the Aardvark,Tijuana Toads(a.k.a.Texas Toads),Hoot Kloot,andMisterjaw(a.k.a.Mr. Jaws and Catfish). There were also a series of animated shorts calledThe Inspector,with the Clouseau-inspired Inspector and his sidekick Sgt. Deux-Deux, whom the Inspector is forever correcting. Other DePatie-Freleng series includedRoland and Rattfink,The Dogfather(aGodfatherpastiche), with a canineCorleone familyand twoTijuana Toadsspinoffs,The Blue RacerandCrazylegs Crane.[4]

The German television version, which started airing in 1973, inZDFwas presented in 30-minute episodes, composed of one Pink Panther cartoon, one episode ofThe Inspectorand one episode ofThe 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 actorGert 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, asThe 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.[4]

In 1978,The Pink Panthermoved to ABC and was rebrandedThe All New Pink Panther Show,where it lasted one season before leaving the network realm entirely. The ABC version of the series featured 16 episodes, with 32 newPink Panthercartoons and 16 ofCrazylegs Crane.The 32 entries were later released theatrically byUnited Artists.[4]

Comics

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In 1971,Gold Key Comicsbegan publishing a Pink Panthercomic book,with art byWarren Tufts.The Pink Panther and the Inspectorlasted 87 issues, ending only when Gold Key ceased operations in 1984.[7]The spinoff seriesThe Inspector(also from Gold Key) lasted 19 issues, from 1974 to 1978.[8]

Tribune Media Servicessyndicated aPink Panthercomic strip from May 29, 2005, to May 10, 2009, created byBottom Liners' cartoonists Eric and Bill Teitelbaum.[9]

Later television shows and specials

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During the final years of the Panther's theatrical run, DePatie–Freleng produced a series of three primetime Pink Panthertelevision specialsfor ABC. The first was in 1978A Pink Christmas.It featured Pink inNew Yorkbeing cold and hungry looking for a holiday dinner. The other two specials premiered on ABC after the shorts officially ended in theaters, 1980'sOlym-Pinksand in 1981Pink at First Sight.In November 2007, the three specials were released on a single disc DVD collection,The Pink Panther: A Pink ChristmasfromMGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

The studio was sold toMarvel Comicsin 1981, and becameMarvel Productions(now a part ofThe Walt Disney Company). During this time, the Pink Panther made a cameo appearance in Marvel's rivalDC Comicscartoon, which was "Flight 601 Has Vanished," an episode ofThe Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam.In this episode, he was one of many characters plucked from their native dimensions and planets and brought to the fourth dimension to live life as a doll by a giant girl. He and the others were rescued by theMarvel Family.[10]In 1984, a new Saturday morning series was produced entitledPink 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.

A new series of cartoons were created in 1993, simply titledThe Pink Panther,produced byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation,premiered insyndicationin 1993, and had the Pink Panther speaking with the voice ofMatt Frewer(ofMax Headroomfame). DePatie and Freleng served as creative consultants on the series. Unlike the original shorts, not all episode titles contained the word "pink", although many instead contained the word "panther". Voice impressionistJohn Bynerreturned to voice boththe Ant and the Aardvark.[4]

In July 2007,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.andJordan's Rubicon animation company began co-production of the animated seriesPink Panther and Pals,aprequeltoThe Pink Panther Show,portraying a teenaged panther and his friends. The 26 episode TV series premiered worldwide in spring 2010 onCartoon Network.On December 7, 2011, a new 22-minute holiday special entitledA Very Pink Christmas,starring the classic iteration of the panther, aired on ABC Family.[4]

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Engraving of the Pink Panther inA Coruña,Spain

The Pink Panther is known asNathuandPanguin East and South Asia,Paulchen Panther(Little Paul the Panther) in Germany andПинко розовата пантера(Pinko the Pink panther) inBulgaria.He remains a popular character. In addition to the regular airing of the classic cartoon, the panther also appears in the following:

Advertising

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  • The Pink Panther Showopening theme was used byNikein a viral campaign of Pink Mercurial Vapor IV football boots using the French football starFranck Riberymimicking the character of the Pink Panther.[11]
  • Owens Corninghas featured the character since 1980[12]as an advertisingmascotfor their pink-colored Fiberglas residentialbuilding insulation.[13][14][15]The year 2020 marked the 40th anniversary of the ongoing marketing agreement.[16]
  • The character has also been used as an advertising mascot forSweet'n Lowartificial sweetener, which is distributed in pink-colored packets. One television commercial for the product to promoteThe Pink Panther 2featuresRegis Philbintalking to ataxi cabdriver. After the camera changes the view, the driver is revealed to be the Pink Panther.[17]

Feature films

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The Pink Panther was considered for one of the possible cameos in the 1988 filmWho Framed Roger Rabbit.[18]

Games

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See also:List of Pink Panther games

The Pink Panther is featured in multiple computer and video games:

Products

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  • In Spain, aPantera Rosacake is sold. It is coated in pink icing.[22][23]
  • Pink Panther wafers are available in the United Kingdom.
  • In the U.S. From 1972 to about the late 1970s, Post Cereal produced Pink Panther Flakes as a sponsorship deal withUnited Artists Corporation.They consisted of smaller sphere-shaped corn cereal colored bubblegum-pink.

Television appearances

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List of animated shows

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Series number Title Broadcast run Original channel Total # episodes Total # seasons
1 The Pink Panther Show 1969–1979 NBC(1969–1978)
ABC(1978–1979) 		Three 6-minute shorts + bumpers per half-hour 10
2 Pink Panther and Sons 1984–1986 NBC (1984–1985)
ABC (1986) 		26 episodes 1
3 The Pink Panther 1993–1995 Syndication 60 episodes 2
4 Pink Panther and Pals 2010 Cartoon Network 26 episodes 1

List of animated specials

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Charity

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The Pink Panther is associated with a number of cancer awareness and support organizations. The Pink Panther is the mascot of the New Zealand Child Cancer foundation[24]and for a line of clothing to promote breast cancer awareness.[25]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.[26]

Critical reception

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Animation historianJerry Beckhas 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 likeWarner Bros.cartoons, orDisneycartoons, or theUPAlook ofMister MagooandGerald McBoing-Boing.They came up with their own clever new style. The only other important cartoon of the '60s wasYellow Submarine."[2][4]

The Pink Panther was a notable contribution to the animation art form. Top animation directors such asHawley Pratt,Gerry Chiniquy,Robert McKimson,and Sid Marcus contributed to a distinctive style, supported by master story writerJohn W. Dunn.Produced after theatrical cartooning's golden age of the 1940s and '50s, they were constrained to thelimited animationtechniques applied toSaturday morning cartoonsof 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 ofCharlie ChaplinandBuster Keaton.[4]

Cultural references were more muted and stylized, resulting in a cartoon with longer-term, more cross-cultural appeal not shared by contemporaries such asYogi BearandThe 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 ofThe 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.

Co-stars ofThe Pink Panther Show

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Television

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  • Misterjaw(1976)
  • Texas Toads(1976) (rebranded version ofTijuana Toads,using Texan themes instead of Mexican ones)
  • Crazylegs Crane(1978)
  • Annie (1984)
  • Chatta (1984)
  • Murfel (1984)
  • Panky (1984)
  • Pinky(1984)
  • Punkin (1984)
  • Rocko (1984)
  • Thelma (1993)
  • Horse (2010)

Theatrical

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See also

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References

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  1. ^Rovin, Jeff (1991).The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals.Prentice Hall Press. p.205.ISBN0-13-275561-0.Retrieved8 April2020.
  2. ^ab""Struttin' with the Pink Panther" - Interview with Jerry Beck, by T.S. Warren ".Ottawa XPress.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-02-11.
  3. ^Hope Freleng Shaw; Hope Freleng; Sybil Freleng Bergman; Sybil Freleng; Art Leonardi (2005).Meet the Pink Panther.Rizzoli.ISBN0-7893-1308-1.
  4. ^abcdefghiBeck, Jerry(2006).Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town!.London:DK Publishing.ISBN0-7566-1033-8.
  5. ^Walter Mirisch(2008).I thought we were making movies, not history.University of Wisconsin Press. pp.162–169.ISBN978-0-299-22640-4.
  6. ^Christopher P. Lehman (2006).American animated cartoons of the Vietnam era: a study of social commentary.McFarland. p. 54.ISBN0-7864-2818-X.
  7. ^THE PINK PANTHER,Don Markstein's Toonopedia,retrieved February 11, 2011
  8. ^THE INSPECTOR,Don Markstein's Toonopedia,retrieved February 11, 2011
  9. ^Holtz, Allan (2012).American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide.Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 315.ISBN9780472117567.
  10. ^The image of Pink Panther and the other aliens captured by the giant girl
  11. ^"YouTube".YouTube. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-12-01.Retrieved2013-12-13.
  12. ^Dougherty, Philip H. (July 21, 1980)."Advertising; Wells Gets New Chief In Chicago Town & Country Ads To Be Aimed at Agencies Pink Panther Enlisted For Fiberglas Campaign L'Officiel Reducing Its Staff Amid Advertising Decline Turning Out a Winner Addendum".New York Times.p. B8.ProQuest423965234.When the creative juices flow at Ogilvy & Mather, they really flow. When searching for the appropriate spokesman for Owens-Corning Fiberglas insulation, which happens to be pink and woolly, the agency came up with the Pink Panther.
  13. ^"Pink Panther" Fuel Bill Monster "Attic Blanket ad".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-19.
  14. ^"MGM and Owens Corning continue Pink Panther licensing agreement".M&C Movie News.April 24, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon December 5, 2008.
  15. ^Harris-Taylor, Marlen (October 27, 2013)."Pink Panther, color carry considerable value in Owens Corning marketing efforts".Toledo Blade.
  16. ^"Owens Corning Marks 40 Years with MGM's 'Pink Panther'".License Global.August 19, 2020.
  17. ^"Regis Philbin Touts Sweet 'N Low".Adweek. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-06-05.Retrieved2013-12-13.
  18. ^"Who Framed Roger Rabbit Sequel or Prequel".6 September 2008.
  19. ^The Pink PantherLCD gameat Electronic Handheld Game Museum
  20. ^"Pink Goes to Hollywood for Genesis - GameFAQs".
  21. ^"The Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit (Game Boy Advance)".
  22. ^Official pageof the Pantera Rosa cake at the site ofBimbo,its maker.
  23. ^Nostalgic weblog postin a Spanish-language weblog. It includes pictures.
  24. ^CCF MascotPink Panther is the mascot of the New Zealand Child Cancer Foundation
  25. ^PiNKiTUDE clothingArchived2009-08-20 at theWayback MachineThe Pink Panther is used for a breast cancer awareness clothing line
  26. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-25.Retrieved2014-03-25.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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