You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Pink Panther films’ category.
Director: Gerry Chiniquy
Release Date: June 13, 1967
Stars: The Pink Panther
Rating: ★
Review:
In ‘Jet Pink’ the Pink Panther enters a secret airport and climbs in test jet X13, which immediately goes astray.
This cartoon marks former Warner Brothers animator Gerry Chiniquy’s debut as a director. Unfortunately, it’s far from an overnight success: ‘Jet Pink’ is inconsistent, and rather unfunny.
The cartoon reuses the ‘count to ten and pull string’ gag from ‘Goofy’s Glider‘ (1940), but its execution is terrible when compared to the original.
Watch ‘Jet Pink’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: May 18, 1967
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘In The Pink’, weirdly enough, the Pink Panther is getting fat. So, our pink hero tries his luck at the gym, where he hinders the little guy a great deal.
‘In the Pink’ is an average Pink Panther cartoon, consisting of blackout gags, the most bizarre one being a chicken hatching a punching ball. The opening sequence reuses animation from ‘Pink Panic’ from earlier that year.
Watch ‘In the Pink’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: May 17, 1967
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
In ‘Pink of the Litter’, the Pink Panther is punished for littering by the little guy, who, in this cartoon, stars as a cop, a judge, a ranger, a fireman and a mayor. The Pink Panther has to clean ‘Litterburg’ from its rubbish. His methods include ‘instant shrink’ and making a giant paper plane out of the litter.
This is an original cartoon with a great story using blackout gags, building up to a great finale. The very idea of the little guy appearing in different functions is brilliant. In short, ‘Pink of the Litter’ is easily one of the best Pink Panther cartoons.
Watch ‘Pink of the Litter’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: April 26, 1967
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
‘Pink Posies’ could be summarized as ‘The Pink Phink‘ set in a garden: this time the little guy is a gardener planting yellow flowers, while the Pink Panther replaces them for pink ones.
Most of the gags are variations on those in ‘The Pink Phink’, which make this cartoon a very enjoyable one, even though it’s not very original. The designs of this cartoon are also attractive, the very stylized trees in the background in particular.
Watch ‘Pink Posies’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Pink Posies’ is available on the DVD Box set ‘The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection’
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: December 23, 1966
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘Rock-a-bye Pinky’ the little guy is camping out, but his snoring troubles the Pink Panther, who’s sleeping in the tree above.
The Pink Panther tries to get rid of the little guy, but it is the little guy’s dog who gets the blame. When finally man and dog discover that the Pink Panther is the real cause of their trouble, they chase him out of the park into the distance.
‘Rock-A-Bye Pinky’ is one of the better Pink Panther cartoons: it has a good story and some great gags. The dog would reappear in ‘Pink Paradise’, the following year.
Watch ‘Rock-A-Bye Pinky’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: May 25, 1966
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘Pink, Plunk, Plink’ the Pink Panther spoils a performance of Beethoven’s fifth symphony by trying to play his own theme music, much to dismay of the conductor (the little guy).
The Pink Panther finally succeeds to replace the conductor, but there appears only to be one man in the audience, Henry Mancini, composer of the Pink Panther’s theme music, himself (live action footage).
‘Pink, Plunk, Plink’ is not one of the best concert cartoons ever made, but the little guy’s frustrations are wonderfully animated.
Watch ‘Pink, Plunk, Plink’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: May 25, 1966
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
The little guy from ‘The Pink Phink‘ (1964) and ‘We Give Pink Stamps’ (1965) returns and this time to stay.
Luckily so, for the little guy unwillingly helped to make better Pink Panther cartoons, being the perfect foil for the panther’s antics.
In ‘The Pink Blue Print’ the little guy is a construction worker trying to build a house. He’s hindered by the Pink Panther the same way he was in ‘The Pink Phink‘, leading to nice blackout gags.
Watch ‘The Pink Blue Print’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘The Pink Blue Print’ is available on the DVD Box set ‘The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection’
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: March 16, 1966
Stars: The Pink Panther
Rating: ★★½
Review:
In ‘Pink Pistons’ the Pink Panther buys a new car with anthropomorphic features, but after a race against an old lady he turns it back in again.
This cartoon has a great opening scene of the Pink Panther trying some new models. Unfortunately, the rest of the cartoon does not maintain that level.
Watch ‘Pink Pistons’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: December 14, 1965
Stars: The Pink Panther
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘Bully for Pink’, the Pink Panther wants to be a bull fighter and so he steals a magical cape to use it as a red sheet.
‘Bully for Pink’ is slightly funnier than contemporary Pink Panther cartoons, but it doesn’t come near the heights of bullfight cartoons like Tex Avery’s ‘Señor Droopy’ (1949) or Chuck Jones’s ‘Bully for Bugs’ (1953).
Watch ‘Bully for Pink’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: August 25, 1965
Stars: The Pink Panther
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
After a long evening of watching television, a tired Pink Panther tries to sleep, but he’s hindered by a small but annoying mosquito.
‘The Pink Tail Fly’ is one of the better entries in the Pink Panther series, and a worthy addition to the sleeplessness cartoon canon, being able to compete with cartoons like the Woody Woodpecker cartoon ‘Coo-Coo Bird‘ and the Donald Duck cartoon ‘Sleepy Time Donald’ (both from 1947). It contains several good gags, which build up to a great finale. The highlight may be the gag in which the Pink Panther tries to kill the mosquito using karate.
‘The Pink Tail Fly’ was the last Pink Panther film to be directed by Friz Freleng himself.
Watch ‘The Pink Tail Fly’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: June 10, 1965
Stars: The Pink Panther
Rating: ★
Review:
In ‘Pink Ice’, the Pink Panther is reunited with what he was named after: diamonds. In this film the Pink Panther owns a diamond mine, which is stolen by two colonial Englishmen.
‘Pink Ice’ is a perfect example of how the DePatie-Freleng Studios struggled to hit the right mark in the early Pink Panther films. In ‘Pink Ice’ the Pink Panther behaves particularly unfamiliar. Not only does he wear a dressing-gown throughout the picture, but he talks, and a lot, too. As was to be expected, it’s not a success. The film is vaguely reminiscent of some of Friz Freleng’s Bugs Bunny-Yosemite Sam outings, but its abundant use of dialogue is annoying, resulting in a weak entry in the series. Luckily, this experiment with a talking Pink Panther was not to be repeated.
Watch ‘Pink Ice’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: April 12, 1965
Stars: The Pink Panther
Rating: ★★½
Review:
In ‘Sink Pink’ a Texan hunter builds an ark to lure the animals of the savannah into it.
Sink Pink is the Pink Panther’s fifth film and the first to use dialogue. Unfortunately it’s a bad addition. The Texan hunter’s constant jabbering distracts from the pantomime humor. In the end even the Pink Panther himself speaks, which is even a worse idea. Nevertheless, ‘Sink Pink’ is noteworthy because it’s also the first film in which the Pink Panther shows his unique walk.
Watch ‘Sink Pink’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: March 17, 1965
Stars: The Pink Panther
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
‘Dial “P” for Pink’, the Pink Panther’s fourth film, has nothing to do with calling on a phone. Instead, we see a burglar trying to crack a safe. Oddly enough, this safe is in habited by the Pink Panther.
This extraordinary, but very simple idea is worked out perfectly into a tight plot (by Bob Kurtz), which matches that of ‘The Pink Phink‘ (1964).
‘Dial “P” For Pink’ is the first Pink Panther film to use music from the Pink Panther live action film ‘A shot in the dark’ (1964). Besides the familiar Pink Panther theme, this would become the background music for practically every Pink Panther short to come.
Watch ‘Dial “P” For Pink’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: December 18, 1964
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
In his very first own short The Pink Panther nags a painter by painting everything pink that the painter just has painted blue.
This is the Pink Panther’s first film, and it’s easily one of his best. Its simple idea is worked out perfectly into a tight plot (by John Dunn) with a grand finale. Its pantomime animation is effective and its sober design supporting.
Although he never got a name, the “little guy”, the white, big-nosed, mustached antagonist, who resembles both his creator, Friz Freleng, and Inspector Clouseau, is very important to the success of the series: he is easily the best designed opponent in the Pink Panther cartoons. Like the Pink Panther he’s monochrome, and a silent character, allowing the animators to make the best out of pantomime animation. Moreover, he could be staged in all kinds of functions and settings. Nevertheless, he kept a consistent character, being normally kind and gentle, but getting puzzled, then frustrated and often in the end, very angry with the Pink Panther’s antics.
Nevertheless, it took the makers a while to realize his potential, for though the little guy would return as a janitor in ‘We Give Pink Stamps’ (1965), he would only become a regular from ‘The Pink Blue Print‘ (1966) on, after twenty films with other, often talking, and always less wonderfully designed characters.
Watch ‘The Pink Think’ yourself and tell me what you think:
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