(Since 1963 as a theatrical cartoon; NBC Saturday Mornings, 1969 - 1976; as "The Pink Panther Show"; and as "The New Pink Panther Show" (1971); NBC Saturday Mornings, 1976 - 1977, as "The Pink Panther Laff and a Half Hour"; NBC Saturday Mornings, 1977 - 1978, as "The Think Pink Panther Show"; ABC Saturday Mornings, 1978 - 1979, as "The All-New Pink Panther Show"; Syndicated, 1993 as "The Pink Panther Show") [The cartoon was first associated with the Blake Edwards series of detective spoof movies (in which the "Pink Panther" was the nickname of a fabulous jewel being stolen by a cat burgler/jewel thief character played by by Robert Wagner, who was in turn chased by Peter Sellers in the role of bumbling police Inspector Jacques Clouseau); The cartoon Panther was shown in theatres as a novelty preceding the movie, and it was clever since there was no "voice" for the character of the pink panther, he worked in pantomime with mostly musical effects for punctuation on the soundtrack; and the backgrounds were abstract with limited elements; The stylish cartoon was created for the screen by David H. De Patie and Friz Frelang whose company was called De Patie-Frelang productions; The cartoon was wildly popular when it premiered, and won an Oscar that year, so more theatrical cartoons were created featuring this pink pantomime panther in the same abstract modernist style, and appeared on the bill with other United Artists movies from the same series; Because of its lack of dialog, Pink Panther cartoons made a lot of money worldwide...where language was not part of the humor -- it was a Chaplinesque appeal -- and the sight gags appealed to both children and adults; Six years after its theatrical debut, a Saturday Morning "Pink Panther" cartoon series premiered on NBC in 1969 using the popular sneakalong-style Mancini THEME from the theatrical cartoons, which had also become well-known through recordings; In 1976 the show was expanded to 90-minutes, with several spinoff cartoons including "The Inspector", "The Ant and The Aardvark", "Texas Toads" and "Misterjaw, Supershark"; DePatie-Frelang commissioned new THEMEs from composer Charles Douglas ("Doug") Goodwin for that umbrella show and for individual spinoff cartoons which were part of it; The Mancini THEME for the program returned after the show reverted back to a shorter format the next season; The 90-minute expansion was a costly mistake ratings-wise so in 1977 NBC reverted it to a half-hour length and the following 1978 season it changed networks to ABC; after a long hiatus as a regular series, a new batch of cartoons were produced in conjunction with MGM/UA, released in 1993]
[above is the title as filed for copyright; ASCAP title variations... aka: "The Pink Panther Theme"; aka: "Theme from 'The Pink Panther'"; aka: "The Pink Panther from The Pink Panther"; Although the most frequent form of this THEME heard is an instrumental, the copyright filing includes vocal lyrics in both English and Italian; The instrumental version of this THEME recorded by Henry Mancini and his orchestra reached position #31 on the Billboard magazine "Hot 100" chart of 1964. Franco Migliacci who penned the Italian lyrics was a co-author of the international hit "Volare."] Composers: music by Henry Mancini (ASCAP) [professional name of Enrico Nicola Mancini], English lyric by Johnny Mercer (ASCAP), and Italian lyric by Franco Migliacci (Italian SIAE) 1978 Publisher: United Artists Mu. Co., Inc. (ASCAP) and Northridge Music Co. (ASCAP) 2001 Publishers: EMI-U Catalog, Inc. (ASCAP) c/o EMI Music Publishing, Inc. of New York, NY; Northridge Music Company (ASCAP) c/o Universal-MCA Music Publishing a div. of Universal Studios, Inc. of Los Angeles, CA Copyright Date: Dec. 9, 1963; Eu 802 104. Renewal Date: Mar. 25, 1991; RE-531-574. Recordings:
[This was the main title for the expanded ninety minute "Pink Panther Laff and a Half Hour" which not only included Pink Panther cartoons but other cartoon segments which DePatie-Freelang produced; it was used as the umbrella title's Main Title and End Credits music for one season; U.S. ASCAP-affiliated TV composer Doug Goodwin is not to be confused with PRS-affiliated British TV composer Ron Goodwin] Composer: Charles Douglas ("Doug") Goodwin (ASCAP) 1978 Publisher: De Patie-Freleng Ent., Inc. (ASCAP) 2001 Publisher: De Patie-Freleng Enterprises, Inc. (ASCAP) (Attn: Music Co. Division) of Camarillo, CA Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recordings:
[This was used on the "Pink Panther Laff and a Half Hour" which aired for only one season] Composer: Charles Douglas ("Doug") Goodwin (ASCAP) 1978 Publisher: De Patie-Freleng Ent., Inc. (ASCAP) 2001 Publisher: De Patie-Freleng Enterprises, Inc. (ASCAP) (Attn: Music Co. Division) of Camarillo, CA Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recordings: