Suave, soulful and black? An animation historian ponders the possibility

Is the Pink Panther black? That's the question I put to Hollywood animation historian Jerry Beck, curator and host of the Ottawa Animation Fest's Pink Panther tribute, In the Pink.

What I mean to say, is where did anyone find style and attitude like that in 1964?

"I think there's something to that though I never really thought about it," muses Beck, author of the forthcoming coffee-table book Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide, a deluxe celebration of 40 years with the coolest cat in Hollywood animation history.

"In my eyes, the Pink Panther is his own thing, but certainly the musical theme is mostly soulful saxophone, and the Pink Panther is sleek, slinky and silent. And his adversary in the early cartoons is called 'The Man.' He's a short white guy who's got the authority, and the Pink Panther is anti-authority-he's cool yet he's pink. But what do we think of when we think of panthers? We think of black!"

So there you have it, 40 years after he slunk onto the screen and stole the show in the title sequence of Blake Edwards' live-action Peter Sellers caper movie, The Pink Panther, the timeless hep-cat continues to claw at our imagination.

Beck credits much of the pink-inked feline's lasting appeal to the innovative quality of the original 1964 animation by producer David DePatie and legendary Warner Bros. animator Fritz Freleng.

"The Panther was the last great Hollywood cartoon character," says Beck on the phone from Los Angeles. "Classic animation pretty much died in the '60s, everyone had kind of bailed out. But his creators didn't rest on their laurels. They didn't make the cartoons to look like Warner Bros. cartoons, or Disney cartoons, or the UPA look of Mister Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing. They came up with their own clever new style. The only other important cartoon of the '60s was Yellow Submarine."

In Ottawa, Beck will present about a dozen of the earliest Pink Panther cartoons, beginning with the very first The Pink Phink which nailed a 1964 Oscar.

"People forget that animation isn't just for kids, and what The Pink Panther did was remind them of that. Because at that point cartoons were relegated to Saturday morning television, that's when the crap started. The Pink Panther was sophisticated-keep in mind that he smoked and after all he began in an adult sex comedy.

"Think about it: Inspector Clouseau's wife (Capucine) was having an affair with Robert Wagner and David Niven. This was not a kids' film.

"And some of the cartoons we're going to show really reflected the '60s. There's a psychedelic one, and they tried to make an anti-war statement about Vietnam. Things that were edited out when they showed them on TV."

At the animation fest, Beck will also unspool a must-see program at Barrymore's Music Hall of The Worst Cartoons Ever, a sort of crème de la crap, with highlights such as Spunky and Tadpole (a clueless kid and his retarded bear pal) and our own Canuck contribution to animation inanity, Rocket Robin Hood. "They're unbelievably stupid, and when you see these with a crowd, the crowd roars."

Pink Panther: in the Pink screens Friday September 23 at 10 a.m., ByTowne Cinema and Saturday September 24 at 1 p.m., NAC Southam Hall. Jerry Beck's Worst Cartoons Ever screens Saturday September 24 at 7 and 9 p.m., Barrymore's Music Hall. Info: 232-8769 or www.animationfestival.ca.

 
 

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Film Review 101/Animation Fest - Jerry Beck on The Pink Panther     Now, now, 'Rocket Robin Hood' was not one of the worst cartoons ever. Sure it sucked but I grew up with it and have a twisted sort of nostalgia whenever it airs but I could list some worse creations that didn't even have that slim thread of wit to make me stomach it. Corny, bad, lame...yeah it was all of that but at I got the sense that it wasn't actively trying to insult me. Half of YTV and Teletoon's schedules past (and present) constitute commercial and safe crap that no censor can disapprove of because it has no texture or intent beyond not getting cancelled. Besides, when you really think about it what has genuine creativity gotten the classics? The current incarnation of the Bugs Bunny & Tweety hour goes out of its way to not air anything with Speedy Gonzales? Why? You and I both know why. Political correctness. When was the last time you saw a Tom and Jerry cartoon? Those were classics but forget finding those anywhere on TV. Inappropriate racial stereotypes, don't you know. South Park and Family Guy routinely say and do much worse things and yet those get syndicated because they aren't perceived as racial, merely gross and immature. Cartoons aren't for kids? Hard to tell by the childish logic of the censors.
Pedro Eggers	{31 votes}	September 16th, 2005
Pink is still in!     I grew up watching reruns of The Pink Panther, and always wondered what happened to this ageless classic. I knew nothing of its origins, but I was a fan of pink, the theme song, and cartoons (hey, I was 8)! I am super psyched about revisiting some of the best years through, what I think, is the best cartoon ever! The animation festival always has a way of reaching out to the young and old, and this is one of the best examples yet of where I could go with anyone, and enjoy watching an amazing piece of work! I may even pick up a copy of Beck's book to ensure I never forget, and that someday my kids can take in a living piece of television history!
Amie Revell	{6 votes}	September 19th, 2005
Pink Makes You Think     I think that the value of old-school classics like Pink Panther has been forgotten. Cartoons were an important venue for political activists and commentators to get their messages out. WHen viewed critically, a lot of cartoons like Pink Panther are chock full of political messages, satire, and irony; they are designed to make us laugh and then to make us think. It is easy to detatch ourselves from cartoon characters; what could we possibly have in common with a big pink panther that walks and talks? We are able to consider the scenarios and messages objectively first, before we realize how they might apply to our lives. I think that there are still some very intelligent and important cartoons that are not for children available; the Simpsons comes to mind. HOpefully there will always be a slightly subversive slant to adult cartoons.
Chris Cloot	{2 votes}	September 17th, 2005
The Name is Panther ... Pink Panther     Is the Pink Panther black? An interesting question. But I am more inclined to think that the Pink Panther is modelled after Sean Connery's version of James Bond ("The name is Bond ... James Bond.") Here are my reasons. The Pink Panther had his début in 1964. Sean Connery first came to the screen as James Bond in Dr. No (1962), followed by what many still believe to be the finest Bond flick, Goldfinger (1963). 1964 saw the release of the 3rd of Connery's Bond in To Russia With Love. So by the time The Pink Panther comes out in 1964, Sean Connery's James Bond has been out with 2, maybe 3 movies. And is Connery's Bond not a wonderful antithesis for Sellers' Inspector Clouseau. Bond is what Clouseau wants (& hilariously fails) to be. The Pink Panther, as a cover for Bond, is a wonderful little presence. I remember watching the Pink Panther cartoons, & there is just one that I remember where the Pink Panther actually talks -- it's just a single line at the end. The man has been building a boat, & the Pink Panther occupies it. The man wants to capture the Pink Panther so he traps the Pink Panther on board. But it starts to rain, & the man has visions of the Great Flood of Genesis, & now his freshly built boat becomes like Noah's Ark. He negotiates with the Pink Panther to trade spaces, the Pink Panther communicating solely with hand held signs. They come to a deal, the man races aboard & barricades himself inside. The Pink Panther proceeds into the jungle where he signals to his elephant friend that the latter can now cease from spraying water from his trunk -- the fake rainstorm is no longer needed. At that point, the Pink Panther turns to the camera & asks the viewer, in a very polished accent from the British Isles, "Why can't people be more like animals?". The British or refined Scots accent certainly suggests Sean Connery to me.
Brad Thomas	{14 votes}	September 16th, 2005
Think Pink     Wow! I knew there was something missing on the Cartoon network these days! Pink Panther was sometimes like Inspector Clouseau. He was often clueless of what went on around him, yet somehow, always used the events to his advantage. Frenzied activity around him, yet he could slink around effortlessly and without harm. Simply the coolest cat around! Some of the later cartoons were somewhat ridiculous, as they tried to add a voice, didn't they?
Keith Takayesu	{8 votes}	September 15th, 2005
Pink or Dull Red?     I don't have much to say about it except I wish they could write a sequil that lives up to the original. I think it's a shame that everything is about how quickly you can make a buck and for Edwards and Waldman to throw this together the way they did, it dissapoints me. What happened to making a classic?
Liam Bissell		September 18th, 2005
I'll pass on the worst cartoons, but would like to relive the Panther     The Pink Panther was shrewd. This is a classic worth resurrecting unlike most of the other junk being needlessly reincarnated.
Karen Mohindra	{3 votes}	September 15th, 2005

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