The Pink Panther

The Pink Panther refers to a series of American comedic films which feature the bumbling French police detective Jacques Clouseau. The role was originated by and is most closely associated with Peter Sellers, and most of the films were directed and co-written by Blake Edwards, with theme music by Henry Mancini.

Contrary to popular belief, "The Pink Panther" does not actually refer to the Clouseau character, but to a large and valuable diamond which is the macguffin of the first film in the series. The phrase was used again in the title of the fourth film, The Return of the Pink Panther, in which the theft of the diamond is again the center of the plot, but this was also the film in which Sellers returned to the role after a one film hiatus, which may have set up the popular confusion about what "The Pink Panther" refers to. The phrase has been used for all the subsequent films in the series.

The first film in the series had an animated opening sequence set to the theme music by Henry Mancini that featured The Pink Panther cartoon character. This character would get its own series of animated films (as well as being featured in the opening of every film in the series except A Shot in the Dark) and come to be known simply as "The Pink Panther".

The films initially starred Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and were directed and co-written by Blake Edwards. The popular theme music was composed by Henry Mancini.

The Pink Panther of the title is a diamond supposedly containing a flaw which forms the image of a springing panther, which can be seen if held up to light in a certain way. The plot of the first film centers around the theft of this diamond, which is mentioned in only two other films in the series (The Return of the Pink Panther and Trail of the Pink Panther). The name stuck once the Pink Panther became synonymous with Inspector Clouseau, in much the way that Frankenstein was used in film titles to refer to Frankenstein's Monster.

(A Shot in the Dark, a film which was not originally intended to feature Inspector Clouseau, but which was quickly re-written to capitalize on the popularity of the original film, is the only film in the series that features neither the diamond nor the distinctive animated Pink Panther in the opening credits and ending.)

In the original Pink Panther movie, the main focus was on David Niven's role as Sir Charles Lytton, who is the infamous jewel thief "the Phantom", and his plan to steal the Pink Panther from its owner. The Inspector Clouseau character played essentially a supporting role as Lytton's incompetent antagonist, and provided slapstick comic relief to a movie that was a subtle, lighthearted crime drama. The popularity of Clouseau caused him to become the main character in subsequent Pink Panther films, which were more standard slapstick comedy movies.

Mancini's theme, with variations in arrangement, is used at the start of all but a few of the Clouseau films.

As of 2006, ten official films have been made, all but two having "Pink Panther" in the title:

• The Pink Panther (1963)
• A Shot in the Dark (1964)
• Inspector Clouseau (1968) (stars Alan Arkin as Clouseau, and not directed by Edwards)
• The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) (with Sellers and Edwards again and also starring Christopher Plummer)
• The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
• Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
• Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) (features the by-then deceased Peter Sellers by way of clips from previous films)
• Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) (in which Clouseau has conveniently gone missing and returns in the form of an uncredited Roger Moore)
• Son of the Pink Panther (1993) (starring Roberto Benigni as Inspector Clouseau Jr.)
• The Pink Panther (2006) (Starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau).

The original nine films were released by United Artists except for distribution outside the U.S. for 1975's The Return of the Pink Panther. That film is not fully owned by MGM/UA, as UA sold the film rights to British production company ITC Entertainment (although UA does own the copyright as well as the theatrical distribution rights). Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers originally intended to produce a Clouseau television series in 1974, but backers ITC felt a movie would better suit the character. This resulted in Return, which successfully revived the franchise.

Some ancilliary rights to Return have now reverted to Universal's Focus Features, which explains why it was not included in a 2004 DVD box set containing five of the Sellers films.

Although official, the 1968 film Inspector Clouseau is generally not considered part of the Pink Panther "canon" since it did not involve Sellers or Edwards. Some elements of Arkin's performance and costuming, however, were retained when Peter Sellers took back the role for Return in 1975.

A new film, called The Pink Panther, starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau, directed by Shawn Levy, and produced by Robert Simonds, started filming in the Spring of 2004 and was released in February 2006. This is the first Panther film to be released by Columbia Pictures, which along with UA sister studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is part of the Sony/Comcast consortium. Although advance publicity suggested this film to be a prequel to the original 1963 film, it is set in the present day. Prior to Martin signing to the picture, which he also co-wrote the screenplay for, Mike Myers, Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker had all been announced as candidates to play the role of Clouseau. It remains to be seen whether fans of Clouseau will consider the film to be canonical since Blake Edwards is not involved in the writing or directing of the project.

Jacques Clouseau is a bumbling simpleton who believes himself to be a detective, if not a genius. He inexplicably speaks in English with a ludicrous French accent, while other characters in the films speak English in whatever accent is normal for the actor playing the part. (Clouseau's accent is far less pronounced in the early films; it was only starting in the 1970s that an exaggerated accent became part of the joke). It has been suggested that portraying the incompetent policeman as French is based on a British stereotype of the French police in general.

Sheer luck or clumsiness usually saves him. For example, in one film, assassins from all over the world are sent to kill him; Clouseau bends down to tie his shoelace, falls over, etc., at just the right moment to ensure that the killers' attempts eliminate one another. Sellers remarked that in his opinion, deep down inside, Clouseau knew he was a buffoon.

Played by Peter Sellers, Alan Arkin, Roger Moore, and Steve Martin.

Clouseau's superior, Inspector Dreyfus, was introduced in A Shot in the Dark. He is eventually driven murderously insane by his exasperation with Clouseau's stupidity. One film (The Return of the Pink Panther) ends with him straitjacketed in a padded cell writing "Kill Clouseau" on the wall with his feet. In The Pink Panther Strikes Again he attempts to take over the world for the sole purpose of guaranteeing the death of Clouseau by kidnapping a scientist and forcing him to build a disintegrator ray. Dreyfus appears to disintegrate himself at the end of this film, but subsequently, without any explanation, returns to his Chief Inspector post in later films.

In Son of the Pink Panther, he deals with Clouseau's equally buffoonish son Jacques Gambrelli but, going by the track record of his nemesis, is more accepting of him than he was of Clouseau himself.

Played by Herbert Lom in the Blake Edwards films, and by Kevin Kline in the remake.

Cato is Clouseau's servant, and an expert in martial arts. It's unclear whether he believes Clouseau to be a great detective or whether he merely humors him. It is a running joke that he is required to attack Clouseau when he least expects it to keep Clouseau's combat skills and vigilance sharp. One memorable scene offers a twist whereby Clouseau stealthily searches the entire apartment on returning from grocery shopping; upon not finding Cato, he opens the refrigerator for a snack. The hiding place of Cato is left to the viewer's imagination.

In later films, Cato helps Clouseau on some cases, including one in Hong Kong. The ever-faithful Cato wears glasses to be inconspicuous, but he ends up running into various objects because of his now-impaired vision.

At first, Cato appears to conform to the Chinese racial stereotype of speaking in "broken English" and grinning; however, Revenge of the Pink Panther reveals him to actually be a cultured gentleman, fluent in English, who adopts the stereotype as an act for Clouseau. It is suggested that a love-hate relationship exists between the two men, sometimes bordering more on the hate side for Cato.

In the movie Revenge of the Pink Panther, Cato, believing his master to be dead, ran a covert brothel in his apartment. The code to get into the brothel was to claim to be Inspector Clouseau, which caused a humorous scene when the real Inspector Clouseau showed up. He later opened another brothel in Curse of the Pink Panther, and converted Clouseau's apartment into a museum featuring all the disguises he had worn over the years.

The name Cato seems to be based on Kato, the partner of the Green Hornet. He was played by Burt Kwouk. Kwouk was also considered for a part in the 2006 revival, but was overlooked in favour of Jackie Chan. Ultimately the character was scrapped completely when French actor Jean Reno took on the role of Clouseau's partner. In the new film, it is Clouseau who attacks Reno's character, and who always loses the fight.

François, Dreyfus' assistant, generally observes his boss's interactions with Clouseau (and subsequent emotional breakdowns) with placid bemusement. He was played by André Maranne.

• In an episode of the anime series Lupin the Third, entitled "Black Panther" (American-dub title "My Birthday Pursuit"), master criminal and title character Lupin attempts to steal the Black Panther diamond as a birthday gift for his girlfriend/rival Fujiko. Normally, Lupin has to deal with the interfering Inspector Zenigata, but in this episode, Zenigata is aided by a clearly Clouseau-inspired character, Inspector Conaiseau. Conaiseau is even assisted by a Cato-inspired character, Hageito. Also within the episode, Lupin and Conaiseau both infiltrate a nudist colony, much like Clouseau does in A Shot in the Dark. Also, as a note of interest, the Black Panther diamond, when light shines on it at a certain angle, shows within it a black version of the Pink Panther cartoon character. This "toon" seems to give the diamond a life of its own, as whenever it is unexpectedly dropped, the diamond appears to run off like a loose panther, with the "toon" visable to the audience as it does so.

• In an episode of the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures, entitled "Enter...the Viper", Jackie Chan and his niece Jade must protect the "Pink Puma" diamond from a female jewel thief called Viper.

The Pink Panther animated shorts, originally directed by Friz Freleng, were first created for the opening of the Blake Edwards series of films, but they were soon spun off in their own series, sometimes with a little moustached man, resembling the animated version of Clouseau, as foil. The cartoon series was initially produced for theatrical release, and the 1964 animated short film The Pink Phink won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film (Freleng's third Oscar). The series eventually moved to television, with several Saturday morning cartoon series (including one called The Think Pink Panther Show) producing a number of additional Pink Panther cartoons. It also added episodes starring other characters including The Ant and the Aardvark, the Tijuana Toads (a.k.a. the Texas Toads), 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.) In 1984, the Pink Panther got two sons, Pinky and Panky, in the short-lived series The Pink Panther and Sons.

Other shorts featured in various incarnations of the show:

• "Hoot Kloot" — The misadventures of a sheriff and his horse in the old west.
• "Roland and Rattfink" — A spy spoof set in the conflict between Hawkland and Doveland. Roland is usually the "good guy" and Rattfink is the fly in his ointment.
• "The Dogfather" — A Godfather pastiche with a canine Corleone family.
• "Crazylegs Crane" — The original antagonist from the "Tijuana Toads" series and his son on the hunt for a "fire-breathing dragonfly."
• "The Blue Racer" — A hapless snake and his search for human acceptance. Another "Tijuana Toads" spinoff.

In the early series of Pink Panther cartoons, the 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. A series of cartoons in 1993 and 1994 had the Pink Panther speaking with the voice of Matt Frewer (of Max Headroom fame), a move that was initially controversial with fans who felt that the panther should never speak. (Unlike the classic animated features, not all episode titles contained the word "pink", instead many contained the word "panther".)

The cartoon character of the Pink Panther has been, since August 15, 1980, a mascot for Owens Corning fiberglass thermal insulation. The association comes from the pink coloration of the 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. In 2005, the 'Pink Panther' Sunday strip, also featuring the Inspector Clouseau character, has been syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip is written and drawn by Eric and Bill Teitelbaum.

Jacques Clouseau, Dreyfus and Cato seem to have inspired the popular animated series Inspector Gadget.

Ramón Valdés played the Pink Panther 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.

• List of The Pink Panther cartoons
• List of The Inspector cartoons
• List of The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons
• List of Tijuana Toads cartoons
• List of Hoot Kloot cartoons
• List of Roland and Rattfink cartoons
• List of Dogfather cartoons
• List of Crazylegs Crane cartoons
• List of The Blue Racer cartoons
• List of Misterjaw cartoons

• A short cartoon featured in the animated series Dexter's Laboratory, entitled "A Silent Cartoon", pays homage to the Pink Panther shorts by emulating their visual style, music, and humor. The short features Dexter (filling the role of the Inspector) 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 Pink Panther Page
• Inspector Clouseau Page - Tribute Site to Peter Sellers
• Official Page of Peter Sellers
• Pink Panther at the Internet Movie Database
• Pink Panther at TV.com