(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: