Pink Panther and Sons
Pink Panther and Sons | |
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Genre | Animation Comedy Adventure |
Based on | The Pink Panther created by David H. DePatie Friz Freleng and Blake Edwards' films |
Directed by |
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Voices of |
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Theme music composer | Henry Mancini (Original) |
Opening theme | "Sons of the Panther" |
Ending theme | "Sons of the Panther" (Instrumental) |
Composer | Rob Walsh |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Production | |
Executive producers | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Producers |
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Editors | Gil Iverson Robert Ciaglia |
Running time | 10–11 minutes |
Production companies | Hanna-Barbera Productions Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng MGM/UA Television |
Original release | |
Network | |
Release | September 8, 1984 February 26, 1985 | –
Pink Panther and Sons is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions[1] and Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng. The series was originally broadcast on NBC from 1984 to 1985 and moved to ABC in 1986. Friz Freleng (a close friend of Joseph Barbera and William Hanna since all three worked on MGM cartoons in the 1930s) served as creative producer for the series as his and David H. DePatie's production company, DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, existed as an in-name-only enterprise by this time, as its operations were absorbed by Marvel Productions in 1981. The show is based on the Pink Panther, a character created in 1963.[2]
Plot
The series centers on The Pink Panther's two sons: pre-teen Pinky, his brother, toddler Panky[3] and their friends in the Rainbow Panthers crew (the pretty Chatta, fighting Rocko, gibberish-talking Murfel, overalls-wearing Annie, and mixed-up-talking Punkin). Each episode shows the Rainbow Panthers coming together in friendship as they learn about growing up and take on a group of lions called the Howl Angels.
Featured in each episode would be short three to five minutes cartoons featuring The Pink Panther bookending the main cartoons with Pinky and Panky.
Characters
Rainbow Panthers
- Pinky (voiced by Billy Bowles) - Pinky is a very polite young panther. Pinky generally ends up getting in the most danger in situations, such as turning six inches tall in one episode, and is the one who comes up with most of the ideas. He is the leader of the Rainbow Panthers and he is in love with Chatta, a purple panther in the group.
- Panky (voiced by B.J. Ward) – Panky is Pinky's little brother. His diaper is never tied correctly so he just holds it up wherever he goes. Since he is still a toddler, he is considered very impressionable, and tends to wander from his older brother.
- Chatta (voiced by Sherry Lynn) – Chatta is a purple panther. She is in love with Pinky and often tries to impress him to win his affection. She also has an enormous vocabulary.
- Murfel (voiced by Shane McCob) – Murfel is a green panther who wears an oversized knit cap. Murfel always mumbles or slurs when he speaks, and as a result, it is difficult (albeit possible) for the audience to decipher what he is saying, although the other members of the Rainbow Panthers seem to understand him without much hassle.
- Rocko (voiced by Frank Welker) – Rocko is a yellow panther who is the most athletic of the group. Eager and energetic, he is always seen sporting boxing gloves and shorts.
- Annie O'Gizmo (voiced by Jeannie Elias) – Annie is an orange panther sporting overalls and a hard hat. She is very scientific and is considered the intellectual of the group.
- Punkin (voiced by B.J. Ward) – Punkin is a blue panther who wears a baseball cap and a wool sweater. He tends to confuse words and often requires multiple attempts to say what he means.
- The Pink Panther – Celebrity star of film and television, and the father of Pinky and Panky.
Howl Angels
- Finko (voiced by Frank Welker) – Finko is the leader of the Howl Angels. An orange-colored lion with a multicolored mohawk, Finko is a rival to Pinky and one time was babysitter to Panky at the time when Pinky and Chatta go on a date to the movies.
- Howl (voiced by Marshall Efron) – Howl is a diminutive lion and the scheming right-hand man to Finko. He wears a saucepan on his head as a helmet.
- Liona (voiced by Jeannie Elias) – Liona is a lioness, she is tough but pretty, she has a crush on Rainbow Panthers club leader Pinky. She and Chatta fight for his affection.
- Bowlhead (voiced by Gregg Berger and Buckethead (voiced by Sonny Melendrez) - Bowlhead and Buckethead are two of Finko's goons and are often paired together when partaking in the Howl Angels' schemes, usually serving as comic relief. Fitting to their names, Bowlhead wears on his head a bowl adorned with horns, while Buckethead wears an iron bucket.
Voice cast
- Gregg Berger as Bowlhead
- Billy Bowles as Pinky
- Marshall Efron as Howl
- Jeannie Elias as Annie O'Gizmo, Liona
- Sherry Lynn as Chatta
- Shane McCob as Murfel
- Sonny Melendrez as Buckethead
- B.J. Ward as Panky, Punkin
- Frank Welker as Rocko, Finko, Prehistoric Cat, Truck Driver
Additional voices
- Bob Arbogast
- Hamilton Camp
- Rick Cimino
- Peter Cullen
- Rick Dees
- Barry Dennen
- Paul Eiding
- Paul Ely
- Phillip Hartman
- Erv Immerman
- Ralph James
- Tommy Lasorda as Himself (in "Pinky at the Bat")
- Allan Lurie
- Don Messick as Film Festival Announcer and Alien
- Cliff Norton
- Roger Rose
- Neil Ross
- Michael Rye
- William Schallert
- Andre Stojka as Mr. Right
- Michael Villani
- William Windom
Episodes
No. | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
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1 | "Spinning Wheels" | Cliff Roberts | September 8, 1984 | |
A local bike shop is looking for a representative in the Big Bike race and can only sponsor one racer. Panky and one of the Howl's Angels members compete in a one-on-one bike race to win a chance to be sponsored by said bike shop. However, Finko takes the unfair approach to ensure Pinky loses. | ||||
2 | "Pinky at the Bat" | Glenn Leopold | September 15, 1984 | |
The Rainbow Panthers have a baseball battle with the Howl Angels. | ||||
3 | "The Great Bumpo" | Jim Ryan | September 22, 1984 | |
The Rainbow Panthers must hide a baby elephant from an evil circus man, but when the corrupt circus owner puts a bounty on the elephant, this motivates the Howl Angels to capture it. | ||||
4 | "Take a Hike" | Lane Raichert | September 29, 1984 | |
The Rainbow Panthers hike in the wilderness, as the title implies. | ||||
5 | "Haunted Howlers" | John Bates | October 6, 1984 | |
After the Rainbow Panthers lose their model plane inside an old house, they go in to retrieve it. However, the Howl Angels have a plan to scare them out and get the plane for themselves. | ||||
6 | "Traders of the Lost Bark" | Glenn Leopold | October 13, 1984 | |
Panky receives a puppy for his birthday, only for the pup to run away within minutes. | ||||
7 | "Pink Enemy #1" | Denis Higgins | October 20, 1984 | |
When the Pink Panther gets framed for a bank robbery Pinky recruits the Rainbow Panthers to solve the mystery of who really did the crime and prove his father's innocence. | ||||
8 | "Pink Encounters of the Panky Kind" | Glenn Leopold | October 27, 1984 | |
The Rainbow Panthers renovate their clubhouse and have their sleepover in it only to have the place taken over by Howl's Angels. Afterwards, Panky gets abducted by aliens and replaced with a robotic duplicate. | ||||
9 | "Millionaire Murfel" | John Bates | November 3, 1984 | |
When the Rainbow Panthers decide to help out with a fund for wildlife, they meet up with a rich version of Murfel named Graystrips who trades places with their friend for the day. | ||||
10 | "The Pursuit of Panky" | Glenn Leopold | November 10, 1984 | |
When a nearby government base unveils a new invention called the Electro-Jammer, which has bizarre effects on electrical devices, two thieves attempt to steal it, but they lose it and are forced to hunt it down. Meanwhile, Pinky and Panky are saying goodbye to their dad as he goes off to Mexico, only for the Electro-Jammer to land inside Panky's diaper, leading to a wild goose chase when their dad remembers he left his passport at home. | ||||
11 | "Sitter Jitters" | Jim Ryan | November 17, 1984 | |
Pinky is going to the cinema with Chatta, and Finko must babysit Panky because he is too little for a scary movie. | ||||
12 | "The Fix-Up, Foul-Up" | Lane Raichert | November 24, 1984 | |
The Panther gang track down a painting that is worth a ton of money to help their friends, the Johnsons, in order that the Johnsons can use the money to keep their house from being repossessed and subsequently demolished. | ||||
13 | "Joking Genie" | Denis Higgins | December 1, 1984 | |
Pinky and Panky find a lamp that contains a genie. | ||||
14 | "Panky's Pet" | Glenn Leopold | December 8, 1984 | |
While Pinky, Panky and all their friends and their parents are on a vacation, Panky brings back an egg from a cliff, which hatches a hungry baby dinosaur, whose appetite disrupts the gang's fun. | ||||
15 | "Punkin's Home Companion" | Jim Ryan | December 15, 1984 | |
After seeing how weird Punkin acts around animals, the Rainbow Panthers create a hairball monster named Blobbo, who goes on a rampage when Punkin misreads the instructions for its care. | ||||
16 | "Insanity Claus" | Lane Raichert | December 22, 1984 | |
A person dressed as Santa Claus ends up breaking into Pinky and Panky's house, and only Panky believes it to be the real Santa, and after having the person sent to jail, the gang find out he was right; it was the real Santa Claus getting a jump on Christmas that year. | ||||
17 | "Rocko's Last Round" | Glenn Leopold | December 29, 1984 | |
A misunderstanding at the Doctor's office causes the rest of the Rainbow Panthers to think that Rocko is dying. | ||||
18 | "Sleeptalking Chatta" | John Semper and Cynthia Friedlob | January 5, 1985 | |
Chatta wins a radio contest, but her sleepwalking causes trouble for the Rainbow Panthers, especially when Howl and Finko take her off course so that they win the contest. | ||||
19 | "Pink Shrink" | Denis Higgins | January 12, 1985 | |
Annie's shrink machine causes Pinky to become six inches tall. | ||||
20 | "The Pink Link" | Glenn Leopold | January 19, 1985 | |
While the Pink Panther is preparing for a film festival, Pinky and Panky help to prepare their house for the arrival of Cousin Punky. Meanwhile, an archaeologist had just discovered a prehistoric cat frozen in a block of ice, and through mishaps the prehistoric cat ends up getting defrosted and ends up at Pinky's clubhouse, who mistakes it for Cousin Punky. The prehistoric cat is unfamiliar with a modern city, and behaves much in the way of wild panthers. | ||||
21 | "Anney's Invention" | Jim Ryan | January 26, 1985 | |
Annie invents a machine to make orange juice, and a company hires her believing that the machine generates energy. | ||||
22 | "Panky and the Angels" | Glenn Leopold | February 2, 1985 | |
During a "top secret" meeting, the other members of the Rainbow Panthers do not allow Panky in. Thinking they're kicking him out or ignoring him, he decides to join up with the Howls Angels. However, his time with them is cut short as well when Finko demands more money for dues than Panky has, so Panky decides to go and find his own clubhouse and decides on a train caboose (a possible shot at The Getalong Gang). When he somehow jars its brakes loose and goes rolling off uncontrollably, Pinky saves him. Panky then learns they were planning his birthday party in that meeting, hence why he wasn't allowed in. | ||||
23 | "Arabian Frights" | John Bates | February 9, 1985 | |
When Panky's having trouble sleeping one night, his brother reads him a story about 2 panthers and a band of thieves who steal candy. After hearing the intro, Panky dreams about the story with him, his brother, and all their friends and enemies as the characters within said story. | ||||
24 | "Brothers Are Special" | Denis Higgins | February 16, 1985 | |
When Pinky's preparing for his act for a talent show, he upsets his brother Panky, who ends up in a bear cage. Meanwhile, the Howl Angels plan to win the contest by using a recording to make it seem like they're a great band. | ||||
25 | "A Hard Day's Knight" | Lane Raichert | February 23, 1985 | |
The Rainbow Panthers tour Medieval Manor, an amusement park featuring a castle and robot knights. | ||||
26 | "Mister Money" | John Bates | February 26, 1985 | |
Pinky and Panky want to buy a watch for their father as a present. For help in raising the money, they turn to the Rainbow Panthers and an adult purple panther who uses the alias Mr. Wright. |
Other media
A children's book called Pink Panther: Fun at the Picnic was based on the series. Unlike the cartoon series, the Pink Panther is shown speaking. The story was where the Pink Panther had been hired as a magician for a party and asked Pinky to assist him, upsetting Panky who felt left out. The Pink Panther decides to start his act creating "two Pink Panthers!" displaying Pinky and Panky onstage.
References
- ^ "Saturday morning switching at NBC". Broadcasting: 72. 1984-04-16.
- ^ Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 220. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 616. ISBN 978-1476665993.
External links
- 1980s American animated television series
- 1980s American comedy-drama television series
- 1984 American television series debuts
- 1986 American television series endings
- American children's animated adventure television series
- American children's animated comedy television series
- American children's animated drama television series
- American children's animated fantasy television series
- American sequel television series
- American Broadcasting Company original programming
- Animated television series about brothers
- Animated television series about children
- English-language television shows
- NBC original programming
- Television series by Hanna-Barbera
- Television series by MGM Television
- The Pink Panther (cartoons) television series