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“The Pink Panther Theme” is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards but lost to the Sherman Brothers for Mary Poppins. The eponymous cartoon character created for the film’s opening credits by David DePatie and Friz Freleng was animated in time to the tune. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Plas Johnson.

Overview

The song was included on the film’s soundtrack album and issued as a single (in the United States) in 1964; the single reached the Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard adult contemporary chart and won three Grammy Awards.

Various recordings of the composition appeared in the opening credits of all The Pink Panther films except A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau. It has also been used in countless works in which the animated Pink Panther appears.

“The Pink Panther Theme”, composed in the key of E minor, is unusual for Mancini’s extensive use of chromaticism.

In his autobiography Did They Mention the Music? Mancini talked about how he composed the theme music:

I told [the animators] that I would give them a tempo they could animate to, so that any time there were striking motions, someone getting hit, I could score to it.

[The animators] finished the sequence and I looked at it. All the accents in the music were timed to actions on the screen.

I had a specific saxophone player in mind–Plas Johnson. I nearly always precast my players and write for them and around them, and Plas had the sound and the style I wanted.

Other versions

From 1976 to 1991, the theme also served as the think music for Safe Crackers, a pricing game featured on the American game show The Price Is Right.

In the 1978 film Revenge of the Pink Panther, the theme, and much of the soundtrack from this entry in the series, draw heavily from the disco sound of the late 1970s. The theme itself was reworked to include a more dancy bassline, electric piano, and guitar solo. A similar treatment was given to 1983’s Curse of the Pink Panther, where it had more synthesized instruments.

The theme was used in John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola’s live version of Chick Corea’s Short Tales of the Black Forest, from the 1981 album Friday Night in San Francisco.

In the 1994 video game, Final Fantasy VI, the music for Zozo town. is based on the theme.

In the 1993 film Son of the Pink Panther, the theme was rearranged and performed by Bobby McFerrin in the opening titles. This version was unique in being the only one to be performed a cappella. The credits featured the theme in the traditional style, similar to its appearance in Return of the Pink Panther, with an electric keyboard bassline.

In the 1999 video game, Donkey Kong 64, the music for Snide H.Q. is based on the theme.

In the 2000 video game, Wario Land 3, the music for Vampire Wario is based on the theme.

The first episode of the Idol Defense Force Hummingbird anime series makes use of a cover version of the theme in a scene where two reporters sneak into the bedroom of protagonists Satsuki and Yayoi Toreishi for a “close-up” scoop.

Actresses Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz and dance troupe and music group The Pussycat Dolls danced to the theme in the film Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.

Christophe Beck rearranged the music for the 2006 reboot, as well as its sequel, The Pink Panther 2 – Paul Oakenfold remixed the theme song for the 2006 film.

In 2007, saxophonist Dave Koz recorded a version for his album At the Movies.

The theme was featured in the film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004).

The rearranged guitar version of Henry Mancini’s Pink Panther theme were used from the short-lived Pink Panther and Pals series in 2010, composed by David Ricard.

Certifications

The Pink Panther Show Season 1 | 5 Hour MEGA Compilation | The Pink Panther Show

This article is about the 1963 film.

The Pink Panther is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and distributed by United Artists. It was written by Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards. It is the first installment in The Pink Panther franchise. Its story follows inspector Jacques Clouseau as he travels from Rome to Cortina d’Ampezzo to catch a notorious jewel thief known as “The Phantom” before he is able to steal a priceless diamond known as “The Pink Panther”. The film stars David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine and Claudia Cardinale.

The film was produced by Martin Jurow and was initially released on December 18, 1963 in Italy followed by the United States release on March 18, 1964, it grossed $10.9 million in the United States and Canada. It was positively reviewed and has a 88% approval rating based on 34 votes on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2010, the film was selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress as part of its National Film Registry, being deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.”

Cast

Capucine as Simone Clouseau in the trailer for the film

Claudia Cardinale as Princess Dala in the trailer for the film

Cast notes

• Niven portrayed “Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman”, a character resembling the Phantom, in the film Raffles in 1939.

Production

The film was “conceived as a sophisticated comedy about a charming, urbane jewel thief, Sir Charles Lytton”. Peter Ustinov was “originally cast as Clouseau, with Ava Gardner as his faithless wife in league with Lytton”. After Gardner backed out because The Mirisch Company would not meet her demands for a personal staff, Ustinov also left the project, and Blake Edwards then chose Sellers to replace Ustinov. Janet Leigh turned down the lead female role, as it meant being away from the United States for too long.

The film was initially intended as a vehicle for Niven, as evidenced by his top billing. As Edwards shot the film, employing multiple takes of improvised scenes, it became clear that Sellers, originally considered a supporting actor, was stealing the scenes. This resulted in his central role in all the film’s sequels. When presenting at a subsequent Academy Awards ceremony, Niven requested his walk-on music be changed from the “Pink Panther” theme, stating, “That was not really my film.”

The film was shot in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Rome and Rocca di Papa; Paris, France; and Los Angeles, U.S., using the Technirama process in an aspect ratio of 2.20:1. According to the DVD commentary by Blake Edwards, the chase scene at the piazza (filmed at Piazza della Repubblica in Rocca di Papa) was an homage to a similar sequence 26 minutes into Alfred Hitchcock‘s Foreign Correspondent (1940).

Fran Jeffries sang the song “Meglio stasera (It Had Better Be Tonight)” in a scene set around the fireplace of a ski lodge. The song was composed by Henry Mancini, with English lyrics by Johnny Mercer and Italian lyrics by Franco Migliacci.

Reception

The movie was a popular hit, earning estimated North American rentals of $6 million.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: “Seldom has any comedian seemed to work so persistently and hard at trying to be violently funny with weak material”; he called the script a “basically unoriginal and largely witless piece of farce carpentry that has to be pushed and heaved at stoutly in order to keep on the move.” Variety was much more positive, calling the film “intensely funny” and “Sellers’ razor-sharp timing … superlative.”

In a 2004 review of The Pink Panther Film Collection, a DVD collection that included The Pink Panther, The A.V. Club wrote:

Because the later movies were identified so closely with Clouseau, it’s easy to forget that he was merely one in an ensemble at first, sharing screen time with Niven, Capucine, Robert Wagner and Claudia Cardinale. If not for Sellers’ hilarious pratfalls, The Pink Panther could be mistaken for a luxuriant caper movie like Topkapi … which is precisely what makes the movie so funny. It acts as the straight man, while Sellers gets to play mischief-maker.

The film holds an approval rating of 88% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 7.33/10. The website’s critical consensus says: “Peter Sellers is at his virtuosically bumbling best in The Pink Panther, a sophisticated caper blessed with an unforgettably slinky score by Henry Mancini.”

The American Film Institute listed The Pink Panther as No. 20 in its 100 Years of Film Scores.

Soundtrack

Main article: The Pink Panther: Music from the Film Score Composed and Conducted by Henry Mancini

The soundtrack album for the film, featuring Henry Mancini‘s score, was released in 1964 and reached No. 8 on the Billboard magazine’s pop album chart. It was nominated for Grammy and Academy Awards and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and selected by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest film scores.

Watch the 1963 film

Watch the 1964 film

Watch the 1968 film

Watch the 1975 film

Watch the 1976 film

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Pink Panther theme cover

The Pink Panther Theme By Il Grande Piano

Pink Panther theme (acapella)

La Pantera Rosa ”PINK PANTHER THEME” Saxophone Cover

The Pink Panther // The Danish National Symphony Orchestra feat. Hans Ulrik (Live)

The Pink Panther Theme – Henry Mancini (ELMO Bigband live feat. Norbert Nagel)

This article is about the 2006 film

By IMP Awards, Fair use, Link

The Pink Panther is a 2006 American comedy-mystery film and a remake of The Pink Panther franchise, marking the tenth installment in the series. It is also the first Pink Panther film to be released since Son of the Pink Panther released in 1993. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau is assigned to solve the murder of a famous football coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond. The film was directed by Shawn Levy, stars Steve Martin as Clouseau and also co-stars Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, and Beyoncé Knowles.

The film grossed $159 million worldwide. The Pink Panther was released theatrically on February 10, 2006, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 13, 2006. A sequel was released on February 6, 2009.

Production

A re collaboration between Steve Martin and producer Robert Simonds, the successful teaming behind Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther had a production budget of US$80 million. Filming began on May 10, 2004.

The film was originally supposed to seek an August 5, 2005 release date, but was then pushed back to February 10, 2006, after Sony expressed dissatisfaction with the film’s raunchy tone. It was heavily edited and key scenes were re-shot in an effort to create a more family-friendly feature. “With the recent acquisition of MGM, we wanted to give our marketing department the time and opportunity to launch this very important franchise,” Sony Pictures Releasing president Rory Bruer said. “We’ve seen the movie, and we really love this film. It’s a franchise we believe in and are really excited about, and Steve Martin is great as Clouseau.”

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Pink Panther has an approval rating of 21% based on 143 reviews and an average rating of 4.11/10. The site’s critical consensus reads: “Though Steve Martin is game, the particulars of the Inspector Clouseau character elude him in this middling update.” On Metacritic, the film has a score of 38 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating “generally unfavorable reviews”.

The film was nominated for two Razzies in 2006, one in the category “Worst Remake or Rip-off”, and one in the category “Worst Supporting Actress” for Kristin Chenoweth. At the 2006 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film received four nominations: “Worst Actor” (Martin), “Worst Song” (Check on It), and “Worst Fake Accent (Male)” (both Martin and Kline).

Box office

The film grossed $164.1 million against a budget of $80 million. The Pink Panther is the highest-grossing film in the Pink Panther franchise.

The Pink Panther opened at No.1 in the United States, grossing $20.2 million from 3,477 theaters, and took in an additional $20.9 million over the four day Presidents Day weekend the following weekend. The film closed in theatres on April 16, having grossed $82.2 million in its ten weeks of release. Overseas, the film took $76.6 million. United States screenings made up 51.8% of box office takings, with international viewings responsible for 48.2%. In the United Kingdom, the film was released on March 17, 2006, and topped the country’s box office that weekend.

Home media

The Pink Panther was released for home viewing on June 13, 2006, and sold 693,588 DVD copies, worth $9,391,182. To date the film has sold 1,579,116 copies—$23,216,770 of consumer spending.

Music

David Newman was originally chosen to compose the score for the film, but was quickly replaced by Christophe Beck. He is credited with the film score which was released as the soundtrack album The Pink Panther about one month following the release of the film. R&B singer, Beyoncé, who co-stars as Xania, performed two songs for the film, “A Woman Like Me“

and #1 hit, “Check on It“.

The latter serves as the film’s theme song aside from the Pink Panther theme by Henry Mancini.

Numerous other songs were used in small parts, but only Beck’s original score was included on the soundtrack album.

Sequel

Main article: The Pink Panther 2

The sequel to this film, titled The Pink Panther 2, was released on February 6, 2009. It again features Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau, Emily Mortimer as Nicole Durant, and Jean Reno as Gendarme Ponton, but was notable because Dreyfus was played by John Cleese instead of Kevin Kline. Beyoncé did not return for the sequel either.

The film features Clouseau and a “Dream Team” of the world’s best detectives formed to catch the international mastermind thief El Tornado, who has stolen several valuable treasures, including the Shroud of Turin, the Pope’s Ring and the Pink Panther diamond. The film grossed $75,946,615 at the box office.

Watch the 2006 film

This article is about the 2009 film.

By IMP Awards, Fair use, Link

The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American comedy-mystery film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in The Pink Panther film series and the sequel to the 2006 film The Pink Panther, a reboot of the popular comedy series. The film was released on February 6, 2009 in North America. In the film, Inspector Clouseau must team up with detectives from other countries to rout a daring burglar, The Tornado, who has returned after a decade’s inactivity.

Steve Martin, who reprised the role of Clouseau, originated by Peter Sellers, polished the original script written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber in November 2006. MGM, partnering with Columbia Pictures on the sequel, hired the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel to perform a further rewrite in January 2007. Principal photography began in Paris on August 20, 2007, then moved to Boston several weeks later, where filming ended on November 2, 2007.

John Cleese replaces Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus with Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer reprising their roles as Clouseau’s partner Ponton and Clouseau’s girlfriend Nicole. Beyoncé did not return for the sequel. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appears as the criminology expert Sonia Solandres. Andy García, Yuki Matsuzaki and Alfred Molina round out the cast as detectives, Italian Inspector Vincenzo Brancaleone, Japanese Inspector Kenji Mazuto and British Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge. It was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on June 23, 2009.

Production

The film was shot in Paris, France, and Boston, Bedford, Chelsea, Westwood, and Winchester, Massachusetts from August 20 to November 2, 2007.

Release

The Pink Panther 2 was theatrically released on February 6, 2009 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 23, 2009 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment.

Soundtrack

Composer Christophe Beck returns to compose the score for the sequel as well as adapting Henry Mancini‘s Pink Panther theme.

• The Pink Panther Theme
• Habanera Para Baile
• Sonia’s Love
• Finale in C Major
• Bridal Chorus

Reception

Critical response

The Pink Panther 2 received worse reviews from critics than the original. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 12% based on 137 reviews with an average rating of 3.5/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “Underutilizing its talented cast, The Pink Panther 2 is little more than a series of lame slapstick gags”. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 36 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating “generally unfavorable reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale.

Box office

The Pink Panther 2 grossed $35.9 million in North America and $40 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $75.9 million, against a budget of $70 million. The film made $11.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office. The film was released in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2009, and only opened on #8.

Future

On November 19, 2020, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer announced that a new Pink Panther film is in the works with Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler attached to direct and Chris Bremner attached to write the script. Unlike the previous films which only focused on Inspector Clouseau the new movie will actually focus on both Clouseau and the animated Pink Panther cartoon character.

Watch the 2009 film

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