The Pink Panther (1978-1980)

The Pink Panther (1978-1980)
"Pink Duds".
Genre: Comedy Slapstick Running Time: 6–7 minutes Country: United States Release Date: October 21, 1978 - February 1, 1980 Created by: David H. DePatie Friz Freleng Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Starring: Daws Butler John Byner Don Diamond Pat Harrington, Jr. Episodes: 32 Shorts

While the original Pink Panther shorts from 1964-1977 were well-received by critics and fans, the same can't be said for the last few cartoons produced for The All-New Pink Panther Show from 1978-1980, which were not as well-received by critics and fans alike, and given a mixed reception.

List of Cartoons in This Era

1978

• "Pink Pictures" (October 21) (first Pink Panther cartoon of the era)
• "Pink Arcade" (October 25) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink Lemonade" (November 4) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink Trumpet" (November 4) (with the Little White Man)
• "Sprinkle Me Pink" (November 11) (with the Little White Man)
• "Dietetic Pink" (November 11)
• "Pink U.F.O." (November 17)
• "Pink Lightning" (November 17)
• "Cat and the Pinkstalk" (November 18) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink Daddy" (November 18) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink S.W.A.T." (November 22)
• "Pink and Shovel" (November 25)
• "Pinkologist" (December 2) (with the Little White Man and White Dog; clip show short)
• "Yankee Doodle Pink" (December 2) (with the White Horse) (reissue of "Pinky Doodle")
• "Pink Press" (December 9) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pet Pink Pebbles" (December 9) (with the Little White Man) (reissue of "Rocky Pink")
• "The Pink of Bagdad" (December 9) (reissue of "The Pink of Arabee")
• "Pink in the Drink" (December 20) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink Bananas" (December 22)
• "Pinktails for Two" (December 22) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink Z-Z-Z" (December 23)
• "Star Pink" (December 23) (with the Little White Man)

1979

• "Pink Breakfast" (February 1)
• "Pink Quackers" (April 3) (with the Little White Man)
• "Toro Pink" (April 5) (with the Little White Man)
• "String Along in Pink" (April 12)
• "Pink in the Woods" (April 27) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink Pull" (June 15)
• "Spark Plug Pink" (June 28)
• "Doctor Pink" (November 16) (with the Little White Man)
• "Pink Suds" (December 19) (with the Little White Man and White Dog; the final appearance of the latter)

1980

• "Supermarket Pink" (February 1) (with the Little White Man) (final Pink Panther cartoon; the only one released in the 1980s; the final appearance of him and the Little White Man)

Not So Groovy Qualities

1. Very weak writing.
2. Bizarre, yet weak music by Steve DePatie that never really fit in with the Pink Panther feel. In addition, much like the The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show and The Larriva Eleven, the music is constantly repeated in each short, which can get on your last nerve.
3. Characters from theatrical cartoons like Inspector Clouseau, the Ant and the Aardvark, Roland and Rattfink, the Tijuana Toads, the Blue Racer, Hoot Kloot, and the Dogfather, as well as from the made-for-television cartoon, Misterjaw himself, are nowhere to be seen.
4. Low budget and poorly-done animation, more so than other DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' shows from the era.
5. Limited stock and overused sound effects.
6. With the combination of both the repetitive music score by Steve DePatie and low-quality stock sound effects used, as a result, the cartoons tend to have very monotonous soundtracks in general.
7. Tons of animation errors, for example in "Pink Trumpet", Pink Panther's eyes become white, and when the panther is inflated with water, the stool that he is sitting on, the holes on the wall, and music stand disappears.
8. Much like what the late Looney Tunes occasionally does, some of the cartoons are bland rip-offs/rehashes of classic cartoons, for example, "Toro Pink" is a rip-off of "Bully for Pink" and "Pink S.W.A.T." is a rip-off of "The Pink Tail Fly".
   • One of the cartoons from this era, "Cat and the Pinkstalk", can be considered a rip-off of the Looney Tunes cartoons, "Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk" and "Beanstalk Bunny", but without the cleverness, humor, and charm from the two cartoons, and "Pinkologist" is a rip-off of the Looney Tunes cartoons, "Tweet Dreams", "Freudy Cat" and "A Taste of Catnip".
9. Some shorts are entirely a filler clip show short due to the cartoon reusing stock footage from previous shorts, for example, "Pink Pet Peebles" is made up entirely from re-used and redubbed footage of "Rocky Pink", same goes with "The Pink of Bagdad" and "Yankee Doodle Pink" which they reused and redubbed footages from "Pink Arabee" and "Pinky Doodle".
   • Much like "Pink-In", "Pinkologist" re-uses footages from "Rock-a-Bye Pinky", "The Pink Blueprint", and "Pink Rosies".
10. Crazylegs Crane is an unlikable character, and his cartoons are pale rip-offs of the Sylvester and Sylvester Junior cartoons from Looney Tunes, but with none of the humor, charm, and cleverness these cartoons had.
11. Obnoxious and dull running gags and humor.
12. Some of the jokes are dragged on for too long such as the Pink Panther getting stuck in a bucket in "Pink Suds".
13. It doesn't stay that true to the source material.
14. This era did not even have any impact on the Pink Panther franchise as a whole as most of its elements are largely ignored in later Pink Panther revivals. You can watch the 1964-1977 shorts and the later Pink Panther revival shows (e.g. The Pink Panther (1993), Pink Panther & Pals), skipping these 1978-1980 shorts, and anything too important would not be missed.

Groovy Qualities

1. Some decent, good or passable shorts like "Pink Arcade", "Pink Trumpet" (due to catchy music), "Star Pink", "String Along in Pink", "Doctor Pink", and "Supermarket Pink" (which ended this era on a high note).
2. Unlike the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (1964-1969) era, at least it ended on a high note with 1980's "Supermarket Pink", a decent cartoon for being the last ever to be regularly released in theaters, a full 60 years after the practice started in the 1920s.
3. The Little White Man/Big Nose and the White Dog appear in these cartoons. They are the only supporting characters from the original cartoons to appear in these cartoons.
4. Due to the mixed reception, Crazylegs Crane as well as its supporting casts such as Crazylegs Crane Jr. and the Andy Kaufman-esque fire-breathing dragonfly are never seen or heard from again after these cartoons.
5. The music intro from the original cartoons returns.
6. There's still a good chance that people might enjoy or find these cartoons entertaining.

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