The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther is a British-American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic Pink Panther film in 1963. The role of Clouseau was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers. Most of the films were written and directed by Blake Edwards, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Elements and characters inspired by the films were adapted into other media, including books, comic books and animated series.
The first film in the series derives its name from the eponymous pink diamond that has an enormous size and value. The diamond is called the "Pink Panther" because the flaw at its centre, when viewed closely, is said to resemble a leaping pink panther. The phrase reappears in the title of the fourth film The Return of the Pink Panther, in which the theft of the diamond is again the centre of the plot. The phrase was used for all the subsequent films in the series, even when the jewel did not figure in the plot. The jewel ultimately appeared in six of the 11 films.
The first film in the series had an animated opening sequence, created by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, featuring "The Pink Panther Theme" by Mancini, as well as the Pink Panther character. This character, designed by Hawley Pratt and Friz Freleng, was subsequently the subject of his own series of theatrical cartoons, beginning with The Pink Phink in 1964. The cartoon series gained its highest profile on television, aired on Saturday mornings as The Pink Panther Show.
The character was featured in the opening of every Clouseau film except A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau.
Original film series
''The Pink Panther''
The Pink Panther, the original film of the series, centered on the Phantom/Sir Charles Lytton, portrayed by David Niven. Peter Sellers's performance was so popular that the resulting series was built on the Clouseau character, rather than the Phantom character. Niven's and Sellers's co-stars included Capucine, Robert Wagner, and Claudia Cardinale.''A Shot in the Dark''
A Shot in the Dark was released less than a year after The Pink Panther, and was the first to feature the Clouseau character as the protagonist of the film, investigating a murder. This film marked the first appearance of many of the tropes and supporting characters long associated with the series, including Commissioner Dreyfus, his assistant François, and Clouseau's manservant, Cato. It also co-starred Elke Sommer, George Sanders, Graham Stark, Tracy Reed and Douglas Wilmer.''Inspector Clouseau''
The 1968 film Inspector Clouseau stars Alan Arkin as Clouseau, and does not feature any other recurring characters from the rest of the series. Although it was produced by the Mirisch Corporation, few people associated with the earlier films such as Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards, and composer Henry Mancini were involved in the making of this film; as a result, Inspector Clouseau is not usually considered a true Pink Panther film.''The Return of the Pink Panther''
More than a decade after his previous portrayal, Peter Sellers returned as Clouseau in 1975's The Return of the Pink Panther. The film marked the return of the famous "Pink Panther" diamond as well as most of the creative team associated with the prior films, including director Blake Edwards, composer Henry Mancini, Herbert Lom as Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as Cato. David Niven did not reprise the role of Sir Charles Lytton; Lytton is portrayed by Christopher Plummer; the film also co-starred Catherine Schell, Peter Arne, and Graham Stark.''The Pink Panther Strikes Again''
In The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Dreyfus' insanity reached its zenith, as he tried to blackmail the rest of the world into killing Clouseau. With co-stars Leonard Rossiter, Lesley-Anne Down and Colin Blakely, and featuring a cameo by Omar Sharif.''Revenge of the Pink Panther''
Revenge of the Pink Panther pitted Clouseau against the French Connection. It is the last in which Sellers played Clouseau. He died two years after its release. With co-stars Robert Webber, Dyan Cannon, Tony Beckley and Robert Loggia.''Romance of the Pink Panther''
Romance of the Pink Panther was to be the sixth film in the franchise, to be written by Peter Sellers. Due to hostility between Sellers and Blake Edwards, Edwards would not have directed the film. The basic plot was to involve Inspector Clouseau becoming smitten with a cat burglar called "the Frog", played by Pamela Stephenson. Two drafts were written before Sellers' death, each with different endings. Shortly afterwards, it was suggested that Dudley Moore should play Clouseau, but Blake Edwards chose to introduce a new character in the series to replace Clouseau.''Trail of the Pink Panther''
Trail of the Pink Panther was the first Pink Panther film made after Peter Sellers' death in 1980. Sellers' role is created by using scenes cut from Strikes Again, as well as flashbacks from the previous Pink Panther films. This movie was intended as a tribute to Sellers, but after its release, Sellers' widow Lynne Frederick successfully sued Edwards and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for tarnishing her late husband's memory. David Niven and Capucine reprise their original roles from the first Pink Panther film. Trail was a critical and commercial failure.''Curse of the Pink Panther''
1983's Curse of the Pink Panther is the first to feature a different lead character, bungling American detective, Sgt. Clifton Sleigh, portrayed by Ted Wass. Inspector Clouseau and the Pink Panther diamond, both of which had disappeared in Trail, are pursued by Sleigh. Clouseau returns, after having plastic surgery to disguise his identity, in a cameo played by Roger Moore. Although intended to spawn a new series of misadventures for Sergeant Sleigh, the film's dismal box-office performance and critical drubbing, along with a series of back-and-forth suing between MGM and Edwards led to a decade-long hiatus of the series. This was eventually settled out of court in 1988, around the time Edwards came up with one final film idea that would ultimately become the unofficial series finale.''Son of the Pink Panther''
In 1993's Son of the Pink Panther, Blake Edwards tried one last time to revive the series, this time by casting Roberto Benigni as Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli, Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son by Maria Gambrelli, the murder suspect from A Shot in the Dark. Once again, many former Panther co-stars return – Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, and Graham Stark, and a star of the original 1963 film, Claudia Cardinale. Although intended to relaunch the series with the bumbling Jacques as a lead, Son failed critically and commercially and became the final installment in the original Pink Panther series. It was also the final film for both Edwards and composer Henry Mancini, the former retiring from directing, writing, and producing, and the latter passing away the following year.Reboot film series
''The Pink Panther'' (2006)
This reboot launches a new series starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau and Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus. Not a remake of the original film, it forms a new starting point for a contemporary series, introducing the Clouseau and Dreyfus characters along with the famous diamond to a new generation.The film was panned by most critics, but was a financial success, grossing $164.1 million on an $80 million budget.
''The Pink Panther 2'' (2009)
The sequel to Steve Martin's 2006 film. Martin reprises his role, but John Cleese replaces Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus.This film received negative reviews and was also not as successful at the box office as its predecessor, which resulted in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cancelling the planned third film.
Development
20th century film series
Most of the films in the series starred Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and were directed and co-written by Blake Edwards. As detailed in the director's commentary for the first film, the Inspector Clouseau character was originally conceived as a vehicle for David Niven, but once written it was decided he should play the raconteur/thief. Then the role was offered to Peter Ustinov, with Ava Gardner to play his wife. When Gardner dropped out, so did Ustinov, so the role went to Sellers. Apparently, the tone changed when Edwards picked up Sellers from the airport and during the ride to the hotel they bonded over old comedians like Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. The role was then modified to include elements of slapstick. The jazz-based theme music was composed by Henry Mancini. In addition to the credits sequences, the theme often accompanies any suspenseful sequence in the first film and in subsequent films using the character.The "Pink Panther" of the title is a diamond supposedly containing a flaw that forms the image of a "leaping panther" which can be seen if held up to the light in a certain way. This is explained at the beginning of the first film, and the camera zooms in on the diamond to reveal the blurry flaw, which focuses into the cartoon Panther to start the opening credits sequence. The plot of the first film is based on the theft of this diamond. The diamond reappears in several later films in the series, The Return of the Pink Panther, Trail of the Pink Panther, and Curse of the Pink Panther. It also appears in the revival of the Inspector Clouseau character in the much later Steve Martin films The Pink Panther, and its sequel The Pink Panther 2. The name "the Pink Panther" became attached to Inspector Clouseau in much the same way that Frankenstein has been used in film titles to refer to Dr. Frankenstein's creation, or The Thin Man was used in a series of detective films.
A Shot in the Dark, a film which was not originally intended to feature Clouseau, is the first of two films in the series that features neither the diamond nor the distinctive animated Pink Panther character in the opening credits and ending. Many critics, including Leonard Maltin, regard this film as the best in the series.
In the original film, released in 1963, the main focus was on David Niven's role as Sir Charles Litton, the infamous jewel thief nicknamed "the Phantom," and his plan to steal the Pink Panther. Inspector Clouseau was only a secondary character as Litton's incompetent antagonist and provided slapstick to an otherwise subtle, lighthearted caper film, a somewhat jarring contrast of styles which is typical of Edwards's films. The popularity of Clouseau caused him to become the main character in subsequent Pink Panther films, which were more straightforward slapstick comedies.
Mancini's theme, with variations in arrangement, is used at the start of all but the first two of the subsequent films. Mancini's other themes for the first film include an Italian-language set-piece called "Meglio stasera", whose purpose seems primarily to introduce young actress Fran Jeffries. Portions of an instrumental version also appear in the film's musical score several times. Other segments include "Shades of Sennett", a "honky-tonk" piano number introducing the film's climactic chase scene through the streets of Rome. Most of the remaining tracks on the soundtrack album are early 1960s orchestral jazz pieces, matching the style of the era. Although variations of the main theme would reprise for many of the Pink Panther series entries, as well as the cartoon series, Mancini composed different theme music for A Shot in the Dark; this was later adopted by the animated spin-off series, The Inspector.
Although official, the live-action film Inspector Clouseau starring Alan Arkin, is generally not considered by fans to be part of the series canon, since it involved neither Sellers nor Edwards. Some elements of Arkin's performance and costuming, however, were retained when Peter Sellers resumed the role of Clouseau for Return in 1975. Despite speculation, Alan Arkin does not appear in Trail of the Pink Panther.
2000s film series
The film that launched the second Pink Panther series, The Pink Panther, starring Martin as Clouseau, directed by Shawn Levy and produced by Robert Simonds, was released in February 2006 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was co-produced with Columbia Pictures. It is set in the present day and introduces different main characters, therefore belonging to a different continuity. Martin also stars in the sequel, The Pink Panther 2, released in 2009.Recurring characters
Recurring cast members
Crew
Statistics
In popular culture
- In the 1974 El Chapulín Colorado episode "El disfraz, el antifaz y algo más" the character Peterete appears disguised as the Pink Panther at the costume party. The actor wears this same costume in the 1978 episode "La Función Debe Continuar - Parte 2", but acting like the real character instead of another character in disguise.
- In a 1978 episode of the anime series Lupin the Third, titled "Black Panther", Lupin attempts to steal the Black Panther diamond as a birthday gift for his girlfriend. Inspector 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.
- The Simpsons: in the season five episode "Homer the Vigilante", when the Springfield Cat Burglar burgles the Simpsons's house, the background music resembles the Pink Panther theme, and he steals the world's largest cubic zirconia from a museum, much like the Phantom stealing the Pink Panther diamond. When he is captured he turns out to be a suave, David Niven-like character. In another season five episode, "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", when it was revealed the waiter's injuries were self-inflicted due to his clumsiness and not a result of Freddie Quimby assaulting him, the waiter proclaims "This is an outrage! I am not a clumsy Clouseau-esque waiter!" before tripping over a chair and falling out of the window into an open-roof truck filled with rat traps. In the 1998 episode "This Little Wiggy", an announcer on Chief Wiggum's television is heard saying, "We now return to The Return of the Pink Panther Returns, starring Ken Wahl as Inspector Clouseau".
- Cato appears in the 1999 movie Inspector Gadget during the Minions Anonymous meeting.
- In a 2000 episode of the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures titled "Enter the Viper", Jackie Chan and his niece Jade must protect the "Pink Puma" diamond from a female jewel thief called the Viper.
- In The Life and Death of Peter Sellers great homage is paid to the character of Clouseau in scenes played by Geoffrey Rush, and also the story covers Sellers' relationship with Blake Edwards, notably where Sellers describes his relationship with Edwards via Clouseau dressed as the Swedish sailor from Revenge of the Pink Panther.
- In the 2005 Family Guy episode Breaking Out Is Hard to Do, there is a chase scene through Asiantown which is a parody of the original chase scene near the end of Revenge of the Pink Panther, using the same music. The Pink Panther appears in two other episodes, where he claims that being pink is hell, and another where he dies due to inhaling a fatal amount of fiberglass.
- In the Taiwanese series Hi My Sweetheart, the Pink Panther is an essential point in the series ambient, and appearing a lot of times in the form of plushes or several other items. Also, the male protagonist takes the name of "Da lung" in reference to the Pink Panther song.
- In the 2012 30 Rock episode "Standards and Practices", Jack hires a man named Kato to attack him at random. As with Inspector Clouseau, these attacks take place in his apartment.
- In the 2016 movie Why Him?, Ned Fleming observes that Laird Mayhew and Laird's best friend and butler, Gustav engage in random attack/defense interactions that are reminiscent of Inspector Closeau/Cato surprise attacks to keep him alert. Neither Laird nor Gustav are aware of the Pink Panther reference.
Future
Cartoons
The opening title sequence in the original 1963 The Pink Panther film was such a success with the United Artists executives that they decided to adapt the title sequence into a series of theatrical animated shorts. DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, run by former Warner Bros. Cartoons creators David H. DePatie and Isadore "Friz" Freleng, produced the opening sequences, with Freleng as director. United Artists commissioned a long series of The Pink Panther shorts, the first of which, 1964's The Pink Phink, won the 1964 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. This was the first time a studio's first work won an Oscar.By the autumn of 1969, the shorts were being broadcast on NBC during Saturday mornings on The Pink Panther Show; after 1969, new shorts were produced for both television broadcast and theatrical release. A number of sister series also joined the Pink Panther character on movie screens and on the airwaves, including The Inspector, featuring a comical French police officer based on the Jacques Clouseau character.
Traditionally mute, the Pink Panther was given the voice of actor Matt Frewer for a 1993-1996 animated TV series.
The animated Pink Panther character has also appeared in computer and console video games, as well as advertising campaigns for several companies, most notably for Owens Corning Fiberglass insulation. There was also a short-lived animated series called Pink Panther and Pals which is aimed at younger children. In 2014, MGM announced that it was planning an animation / live-action hybrid film reboot of the franchise, to be directed by David Silverman and produced by Walter Mirisch and Julie Andrews.
The animated Pink Panther character also appeared in a short animated segment on the educational TV series Sesame Street, demonstrating his karate skills to carve the letter K out of a block of stone, only for it to crumble quickly afterwards.