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The Inspector

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This article is about the DePatie-Freleng animated character. For other uses, see Inspector (disambiguation). For the 1962 feature film starring Stephen Boyd and Dolores Hart, see The Inspector (1962 film).
The Inspector
The series' title card
Portrayed byPat Harrington, Jr.
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationInspector

The Inspector is a series of 1960s theatrical cartoons produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The titular character is based on Jacques Clouseau, a comical French police officer who is the main character in the Pink Panther series of films.

Plot

Although the titular character was never given a name, in contrast to the completely inept Inspector Clouseau, the cartoon character was generally competent, if prone to moments of bad judgement. Humor came from the sometimes surreal villains and situations the Inspector was exposed to, with a healthy dose of stylized cartoon slapstick. Through these difficult circumstances, criminals often get the better of him and he must face the wrath of his ill-tempered, bullying Commissioner (based on Herbert Lom's Commissioner Dreyfus) who holds him in well-deserved contempt.[1]

File:InspectorCel.jpg
The Inspector and Deux-Deux in The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation

Pat Harrington, Jr., provided the voice (and voiceover narration) for the Inspector and, with the exception of one cartoon, his assistant, a Spanish gendarme named Deux-Deux (common nickname in French for Eduard or Eduardo). In Spain, the character was named Totó, and in the Mexican dubbing, Dodó. The name in the English version of the cartoon sounds like Ju-Du. The frustrated Commissioner was voiced by Larry Storch in the first two cartoons, Paul Frees in most of the following ones, and Marvin Miller in the final few.[1] The first entry, The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation, was the short featured before screenings of the James Bond film Thunderball.

In the majority of the cartoons, the Inspector usually always tells Deux-Deux "Don't say 'Sí', say 'Oui'", to which Deux-Deux would reply "Sí, I mean 'Oui'". One variation had to have Deux-Deux not to say "Ouisick", but "Seasick". Also, when the Inspector gets into a mess Deux-Deux usually exclaims "¡Hola frijoles!", meaning "Holy beans!". Sometimes, Deux-Deux ends up as the winner, when he arrests the culprit, usually, without much of a struggle.

While both characters bore the brunt of the slapstick, a sense of dedication to the police force and repeated attempts would achieve mixed success, as Clouseau and Deux-Deux would generally either apprehend the wanted criminal or recover the item assigned to them.

While the Inspector character design remained basically the same throughout the DePatie-Freleng shorts, and was used in the opening credit sequence of the 1968 live-action film Inspector Clouseau (which had Alan Arkin standing in for Peter Sellers as the title character), the Inspector featured in the opening titles of later Pink Panther features changed dramatically over the years.[1]

The music used for the titles of the cartoon was the song "A Shot in the Dark" by Henry Mancini, borrowed from the 1964 feature film of the same name (the second entry in the Pink Panther film series). The other music in the shows was composed initially by William Lava, then by Walter Greene later on. Two shorts had their own unique version of the theme music, Napoleon Blown-Aparte and Cock-A-Doodle Deux-Deux.[1]

All 34 entries appeared during the inaugural season (1969-1970) of The Pink Panther Show. For new bumper sequences, The Inspector (now voiced by Marvin Miller) is featured trying to capture The Pink Panther. Reruns of The Inspector and The Pink Panther Show currently air on Boomerang and BBC2.[1]

List of shorts

NOTE: The initials after each title indicate the director. FF=Friz Freleng, GC=Gerry Chiniquy, RM=Robert McKimson, GS=George Singer.

1965

  • 01 The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation 12/21/65 (FF, co-directed by GC) - The Inspector is determined to retrieve the famous DeGaulle diamond from the three-headed jewel thief, the Maxi O'Reilly Bros. who are attempting to steal it.

1966

  • 02 Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat 2/1/66 (GC) - The Inspector is after the notorious smuggler Captain Clamity (a clam with legs) and his sidekick Crab Louie.
  • 03 Napoleon Blown-Aparte 2/2/66 (GC) - The Mad Bomber escapes from Le Prison and swears vengeance on The Commissioner by blowing him up with an endless amount of bombs.
  • 04 Cirrhosis of the Louvre 3/9/66 (GC) - The insidious criminal known as The Blotch plans to steal all the paintings from the Louvre.
  • 05 Plastered in Paris 4/5/66 (GC) - The Inspector and Deux Deux chase a man known as "X" across Africa.
  • 06 Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux 6/15/66 (RM) - The largest diamond in the world, 'The Plymouth Rock', has been stolen from Madame at her palace,and the suspects turn out to be chickens.
  • 07 Ape Suzette 6/24/66 (GC) - The Inspector thinks he is fighting a little man but an ape gets in all the punches.
  • 08 The Pique Poquette of Paris 8/25/66 (GS) - Spider Pierre (who has four arms, two legs and a spider-web gun) picks pockets, especially those of the Inspector.
  • 09 Sicque! Sicque! Sicque! 9/23/66 (GS) - Deux Deux drinks a flask of a green liquid and keeps changing into a big green monster who beats up and shoots the Inspector.
  • 10 That's No Lady, That's Notre Dame 10/26/66 (GS) - Trying to catch a purse snatcher, the Inspector sets up a sting operation by disguising himself as a woman and soon falls afoul of the Commissioner's very jealous wife.
  • 11 Unsafe and Seine 11/9/66 (GS) - The Inspector and Deux Deux search for an agent across the world.
  • 12 Toulouse La Trick 12/30/66 (RM) - The Inspector handcuffs Toulouse Le Moose and himself to prevent Toulouse from escaping.

1967

  • 13 Sacre Bleu Cross 2/1/67 (GC) - When they go after Hassan the Assassin, Deux-Deux gives The Inspector an unlucky rabbit's foot.
  • 14 Le Quiet Squad 5/17/67 (RM) - The Commissioner is overworked and needs absolute quiet or he goes into uncontrolled fits of temper. The Inspector is assigned to look after him, but has trouble with a noisy cat, the bells of Notre Dame, and Bastille day festivities.
  • 15 Bomb Voyage 5/22/67 (RM) - The Commissioner is kidnapped by aliens.
  • 16 Le Pig-Al Patrol 5/24/67 (GC) - The Inspector is sent after biker Pig Al and his biker gang.
  • 17 Le Bowser Bagger 5/30/67 (GC) - The Inspector is given Private Bowser, a very energetic dog, in his efforts to track down a thief.
  • 18 Le Escape Goat 6/29/67 (GC) - Sacked for letting Louie Le Finke escape, the Inspector tries to stop Le Finke from taking vengeance on the Commissioner, but ends up becoming part of the manhunt himself.
  • 19 Le Cop on Le Rocks 7/3/67 (GS) - The Inspector is sent to prison having been mistaken for a bank robber who is his double. He soon realises that his backfiring attempts to escape adds even more years to his sentence.
  • 20 Crow De Guerre 8/16/67 (GC) - The Inspector is continually outwitted by a crow that steals jewels.
  • 21 Canadian Can-Can 9/20/67 (GC) - Sent to Canada on an exchange programme, the Inspector is sent after Two-Faced Harry, who has an "innocent" face on his front and an evil face on his back.
  • 22 Tour De Farce 10/25/67 (GC) - Through his own mistake, the Inspector is stranded on Deserted Island with the large convict Mack Le Truck, who is trying to kill him.
  • 23 The Shooting of Caribou Lou 12/20/67 (GC) - On holiday in Canada as a Mountie, the Inspector is kidnapped by the diminutive but aggressive fur trapper Caribou Lou.

1968

  • 24 London Derriere 2/7/68 (GC) - Having chased jewel thief Louie Le Swipe around Europe, the Inspector tries to nab him in London. Unfortunately, he runs afoul of the no-gun laws and a British Police Captain.
  • 25 Les Miserobots 3/21/68 (GC) - The Inspector is fired after being replaced by an efficient police robot. He tries to destroy it, but his attempts backfire.
  • 26 Transylvania Mania 3/26/68 (GC) - The Inspector is sent to find a scientist who is making monsters without a licence. The scientist is a vampire who needs a brain for his latest monster, and the Inspector arrives at just the right moment.
  • 27 Bear De Guerre 4/26/68 (GC) - The Inspector goes quail hunting but runs afoul of a bear who thinks he is being hunted.
  • 28 Cherche Le Phantom 6/13/68 (GC) - The Inspector searches for a wanted gorilla from the Paris zoo and a phantom that is hiding in the opera house, who is really the gorilla himself.
  • 29 Le Great Dane Robbery 7/7/68 (GC) - A code cipher has been stolen from a French intelligence unit and hidden in the Soviet Embassy. Because the Soviets are flouting diplomatic immunity, Inspector Clouseau is assigned to recover it in a clandestine, non-cover operation, which annoys him as he was scheduled to go on an ocean cruise for a long-awaited vacation. The Inspector must get past a vicious dog named Tiny and get the cipher back before his cruise ship departs.
  • 30 Le Ball and Chain Gang 7/24/68 (GC) - The Inspector tries to get into the house of an argumentative couple named Charlie and Edna.
  • 31 La Feet's Defeat 7/24/68 (GC) - The Commissioner assigns The Inspector and Deux-Deux to capture Muddy La Feet and encounter many booby traps, which Deux-Deux sets off.

1969

  • 32 French Freud 1/22/69 (GC) - A crooked Russian actress Melody Marcuri and her "maid" (i.e. husband in drag also a psychiatrist) are trying to kill the Inspector to get at the Du Barry diamond, which he is guarding under his hat.
  • 33 Pierre and Cottage Cheese 2/26/69 (GC) - A Chinese robot named Charlie tries to help The Inspector capture Dirty Pierre Le Punk.
  • 34 Carte Blanched 5/14/69 (GC) - The Inspector discovers he has accidentally stolen a shopping cart from his local supermarket. A voiceover suggests numerous ways to get rid of it before he is caught.

Voices

  • Pat Harrington, Jr. - The Inspector, Deux-Deux
  • Paul Frees - The Commissioner (1966–1967)
  • Don Messick - Deux-Deux (La Feet's Defeat)
  • Larry Storch - The Commissioner (1965–1966) (The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation, Napoleon Blown-Aparte)
  • Marvin Miller - The Commissioner (1967, 1968–1969), The Inspector, Deux-Deux (The Pink Panther Show)
  • Mark Skor - The Commissioner (1967) (Canadian Can-Can)

DVD release

A DVD containing the first seventeen shorts was released on March 4, 2008 from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[citation needed]

A DVD set titled Pink Panther and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection released on January 27, 2009 by MGM Home Entertainment contains the first set of 17 shorts and a volume 2 containing the last 17 shorts.

Revival

The Inspector was revived in 1993 for the syndicated series, The Pink Panther, voiced by Brian George. The Inspector often works alongside the Pink Panther when he is depicted in the law enforcement.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Beck, Jerry (2006). Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town. New York, New York: Dorling Kindersley, Ltd. ISBN 0-7566-1033-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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