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The Pink Panther is an 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 film The Pink Panther 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, video games and animated series.
The first film in the series derives its name from a pink diamond that has enormous size and value. The diamond is called the "Pink Panther" because the flaw at its center, 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 center 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 eleven 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. Designed by Hawley Pratt and Friz Freleng, the animated Pink Panther character was subsequently featured in a series of theatrical cartoons, starting with The Pink Phink in 1964.[1] The cartoon series gained its highest profile on television, aired on Saturday mornings as The Pink Panther Show. The character returned to the film series opening sequences in 1975.
Films
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Story by | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original series | |||||
| The Pink Panther | December 18, 1963 | Blake Edwards | Maurice Richlin & Blake Edwards | — | Martin Jurow |
| A Shot in the Dark | June 23, 1964 | Blake Edwards & William Peter Blatty | — | Blake Edwards | |
| Inspector Clouseau | May 28, 1968 | Bud Yorkin | Tom Waldman & Frank Waldman | — | Lewis J. Rachmil |
| The Return of the Pink Panther | May 21, 1975 | Blake Edwards | Frank Waldman & Blake Edwards | — | Blake Edwards |
| The Pink Panther Strikes Again | December 15, 1976 | — | |||
| Revenge of the Pink Panther | July 20, 1978 | Frank Waldman, Ron Clark, & Blake Edwards | Blake Edwards | ||
| Trail of the Pink Panther | December 17, 1982 | Frank Waldman, Tom Waldman, Blake Edwards, & Geoffrey Edwards | Blake Edwards & Tony Adams | ||
| Curse of the Pink Panther | August 12, 1983 | Blake Edwards & Geoffrey Edwards | — | ||
| Son of the Pink Panther | August 27, 1993 | Blake Edwards, Madeline Sunshine, & Steve Sunshine | Blake Edwards | Tony Adams | |
| Reboot series | |||||
| The Pink Panther | February 10, 2006 | Shawn Levy | Len Blum & Steve Martin | Len Blum & Michael Saltzman | Robert Simonds |
| The Pink Panther 2 | February 6, 2009 | Harald Zwart | Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, & Steve Martin | Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber | |
Original series
The Pink Panther (1963)
The Pink Panther (1963), the original film of the series, centered on the Phantom/Sir Charles Lytton, portrayed by David Niven. It is set in the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo. Peter Sellers's performance was so popular that the resulting series was built on the Clouseau character, rather than the Phantom character. Niven and Sellers's co-stars included Capucine, Robert Wagner, and Claudia Cardinale.
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
A Shot in the Dark (1964) 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 set in a mansion in Paris. This film marked the first appearance of many of the tropes and supporting characters long associated with the series, including Commissioner Dreyfus (portrayed by Herbert Lom), his assistant François (portrayed by André Maranne), and Clouseau's manservant, Cato (portrayed by Burt Kwouk). Elke Sommer, George Sanders, Graham Stark, Tracy Reed and Douglas Wilmer also appeared in the film.
Inspector Clouseau (1968)
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 (who owned the rights to the Pink Panther and Clouseau characters), key people associated with the earlier films, such as Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards, and Henry Mancini, were not involved in the making of this film.
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
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, Burt Kwouk as Cato and André Maranne as François. David Niven did not reprise the role of Sir Charles Lytton, who is portrayed in the film by Christopher Plummer instead. The film also co-starred Catherine Schell, Peter Arne, and Graham Stark.
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
In The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), Dreyfus' insanity reached its zenith, as he tried to blackmail the rest of the world into killing Clouseau. It co-starred Leonard Rossiter, Lesley-Anne Down, Michael Robbins, Colin Blakely, and featured an uncredited cameo by Omar Sharif.
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) pitted Clouseau against the French Connection. It is the last in which Sellers played Clouseau. It co-starred Dyan Cannon, Robert Webber, Robert Loggia and Graham Stark.
Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)
Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) 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)
1983's Curse of the Pink Panther is the first to feature a different lead character, blundering 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 appearance by Roger Moore (who is credited as "Turk Thrust II"). Although intended to spawn a new series of misadventures for the inept Sergeant Sleigh, the film's dismal box-office performance and critical drubbing, along with a complicated series of lawsuits between Edwards and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, led to a decade-long hiatus of the series. The lawsuit 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 (1993)
In Son of the Pink Panther (1993), Blake Edwards made one final attempt to revive the Pink Panther series, this time by casting Italian actor Roberto Benigni as Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli, Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son by Maria Gambrelli, the murder suspect from A Shot in the Dark (1964). Once again, regular 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 blundering Jacques as a lead, Son failed both critically and commercially and became the final installment in the original Pink Panther series. It was also the final film for both retiring director Blake Edwards and composer Henry Mancini, who died in 1994.
Reboot series
The Pink Panther (2006)
This reboot launches a new Pink Panther film 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, and grossed $164.1 million against 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 meager box office, grossing a worldwide total of $76 million against a budget of $70 million.[2]
Future
In March 2014, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced plans to develop a new live-action/CGI hybrid feature film starring the Pink Panther, which was to be directed by David Silverman, with Walter Mirisch and Julie Andrews serving as producers. Andrews, who is the widow of Blake Edwards, would be creatively involved in the process of developing the new project, which unlike previous installments would focus on the titular character instead of the franchise's main character, Inspector Jacques Clouseau.[3] By November 2020, Jeff Fowler had joined the production replacing Silverman as director. Chris Bremner was hired to write the script, while Lawrence Mirisch will serve as an additional producer. The plot will center around the Pink Panther character and Inspector Clouseau.[4][5]
By April 2023, it was announced that after acquiring MGM, Amazon is developing new additions to the franchise in the form of a movie and television series through their subsidiary Amazon Studios (now called Amazon MGM Studios).[6] It was later reported that Eddie Murphy was in talks to star in the film as Clouseau.[7]
Main cast and characters
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in multiple installments in the franchise.
- An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
- A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
- C indicates a cameo role.
- E indicates an appearance not included in the theatrical cut.
- P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
- U indicates an uncredited appearance.
- V indicates a voice-only role.
- Y indicates a younger version of the character.
| Character | Original series | Reboot series | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Pink Panther | A Shot in the Dark | Inspector Clouseau | The Return of the Pink Panther | The Pink Panther Strikes Again | Revenge of the Pink Panther | Trail of the Pink Panther | Curse of the Pink Panther | Son of the Pink Panther | The Pink Panther | The Pink Panther 2 | |
| Inspector Jacques Clouseau | Peter Sellers | Alan Arkin | Peter Sellers | Peter SellersA Daniel PeacockY Lucca MezzofantiY |
Roger MooreC | Peter SellersP | Steve Martin | ||||
| Sir Charles Lytton/The Phantom | David Niven | Christopher Plummer | David Niven Rich LittleVU |
||||||||
| Simone Clouseau/Lady Simone Lytton | Capucine | Capucine | |||||||||
| George Lytton | Robert Wagner | Robert Wagner | |||||||||
| Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus | Herbert Lom | Herbert Lom | Kevin Kline | John Cleese | |||||||
| Cato Fong | Burt Kwouk | Burt Kwouk | |||||||||
| Sergeant François Chevalier/François Duval | André Maranne | André Maranne | Dermot Crowley | ||||||||
| Hercule LaJoy | Graham Stark | Graham Stark | |||||||||
| Maria Gambrelli | Elke Sommer | Claudia Cardinale | |||||||||
| Professor Auguste Balls | Harvey KormanE | Graham Stark | Harvey KormanA | Harvey Korman | Graham Stark | ||||||
| Gendarme Gilbert Ponton | Jean Reno | ||||||||||
| Nicole Durant | Emily Mortimer | ||||||||||
| Renard | Philip Goodwin | ||||||||||