The Inspector
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The Inspector is a series of theatrical cartoons from 1960s which were produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. Although the title character was never given a name, it was clearly based on Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau character that appeared in the Pink Panther movies. Pat Harrington Jr. provided the voices for the Inspector, and his assistant, a Spanish Policeman named Deux-Deux (even though "Deux" is not a Spanish surname, or even a Spanish word - in Spain, the character was named "Totó"). The frustrated Commissioner was voiced first by Larry Storch and then Paul Frees, with some other strange sounds coming from his mouth from time to time. The first cartoon, "The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation," was the short featured before screenings of the James Bond film "Thunderball."
The cartoons are among the most original produced in their era, with innovative animation concepts and a creative approach to character design. At their best, they featured complex plots, avante-garde villains, and multiple locations utilizing the series' unique line-art background treatments. The key to their success, though, was the chemistry between the two main characters and their visually-stunning designs. (The cartoons' grease-penciled characters took some unusual shapes in the early cartoons, with the Inspector and Deux-Deux occasionally looking like they escaped the quality-control process. But these inconsistencies just added to the cartoons' charm.)
The later cartoons used cleaner, more routine character outlines, and often featured the Inspector alone in stock situations without the Commissioner, Deux-Deux, or the opening scenes in the Surete building. In his last outings, Deux-Deux's eyes stayed open the entire episode, and he lost the sleepy persona that Harrington played so well off of the Inspector.
While the Inspector character designs remained basically the same throughout the DePatie-Freleng shorts, the Inspector featured in the opening titles of The Pink Panther films changed dramatically over the years. Today, a far different Inspector character is the only one licensed by MGM (who now owns the rights), keeping the shorts' whiskered Inspector off of merchandise featuring DePatie-Freleng's Pink Panther cartoon characters.
The music used for the titles of the cartoon was the song "A Shot in the Dark" by Henry Mancini, the second big hit from the Pink Panther film series. Directors include: Friz Freleng, Gerry Chiniquy, Robert McKimson, and George Singer.
Image:The Inspector Title Card.jpg
Filmography
1965
- The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation (Friz Freleng, Gerry Chiniquy)
1966
- Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Napoleon Blown-Aparte (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Cirrhosis of the Louvre (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Plastered in Paris (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux (Robert McKimson)
- Ape Suzette (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Pique Poquette of Paris (George Singer)
- Sicque! Sicque! Sicque! (George Singer)
- That's No Lady - That's Notre Dame (George Singer)
- Unsafe and Seine (George Singer)
- Toulouse La Trick (Robert McKimson)
1967
- Sacre Bleu Cross (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Le Quiet Squad (Robert McKimson)
- Bomb Voyage (Robert McKimson)
- Le Pig-Al Patrol (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Le Bowser Bagger (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Le Escape Goat (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Le Cop on Le Rocks (George Singer)
- Crow De Guerre (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Canadian Can-Can (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Tour De Farce (Gerry Chiniquy)
- The Shooting of Caribou Lou (Gerry Chiniquy)
1968
- London Derriere (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Les Miserobots (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Transylvania Mania (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Bear De Guerre (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Cherche Le Phantom (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Le Great Dane Robbery (Gerry Chiniquy)
- La Feet's Defeat (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Le Ball and Chain Gang (Gerry Chiniquy)
1969
- French Freud (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Pierre and Cottage Cheese (Gerry Chiniquy)
- Carte Blanched (Gerry Chiniquy)
Voices
- Pat Harrington, Jr. as The Inspector and Deux-Deux
- Larry Storch, Paul Frees, and Marvin Miller as The Commissioner
Credits
- Produced by: David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng
- Animation: Manny Perez, Don Williams, Bob Matz, Warren Batchelder, Norm McCabe, George Grandpre
- Checking: Ross Cooper, Dottie Mullens, Gary Ketchum
- Ink and Paint: Constance Crawley
- Talent Coordinators: Xavier Court, Lorraine A. Derma, William Harshe, James S. Kirkpatrick, Sam Weiss, Ken Curtains
- Camera: Chris Turner, Jerry Smith, Alan Zaslove, Roger Brown, Ted Wakefield
- Character Designer: T.M. Yakutis
- Prop Designers: Bill Hutton, Andy Chapman, Jessica Friedstein, Vladimir Hanson
- Assistant Director: Art Leonardi
- Engineering: Monica Mafadden
- Sound Effects: Phil Kaye
- Executive Producers: David H. DePatie, Joe Sabo, Blake Edwards