Pink Panther and Pals

Show premise

The Pink Panther

The Pink Panther shorts are reminiscent of the classic DePatie-Freleng shorts from the 1960s and the 1970s, from art direction, silent acting, musical scoring, and story lines. The Pink Panther remains silent throughout the show and appears as a teenager. The Little Man was renamed "Big Nose" for this series, being voiced by Alex Nussbaum. Pink Panther's horse and Big Nose's canine companion were reintroduced as well.

The Ant and the Aardvark

The Ant and the Aardvark is based on the classic DePatie-Freleng shorts. In this version, the Aardvark's Jewish sense of humor and Jackie Mason-esque voice (portrayed by Eddie Garvar and occasionally John Over) from his classic counterpart remains, a new, younger ant (voiced by Kel Mitchell) has replaced the Dean Martin-esque "Charlie" from the original shorts. The series now takes place in a jungle and new characters were introduced in the series.

Characters

• The Pink Panther: The eponymous protagonist of the series. Akin to his portrayal in preceding entries in the franchise, Pink is silent, though his actions speak louder than words. Calm, cool and collected, Pink remains level-headed even in the face of adversity, allowing him to triumph over hardships with nothing but his luck and wits on his side. He is also a genial, easygoing fellow who enjoys helping others with their problems whenever he can, though he can be mildly cocky and mischievous at times.
• Big Nose: Based on the original "Little Man" from the classic series, Big Nose is the Panther's primary rival. He's depicted as short, with a big nose and a mustache, and is plain white in color. He loves the color blue as much as the Panther loves his favorite color, pink. He is often rude, immature, arrogant, unlucky, and likes to ruin the Panther's day. He owns an unnamed pet dog who, unlike his master, has next-to-no problem with the Pink Panther and actually seems to enjoy his company. He speaks gibberish. He is the main antagonist of the "Pink Panther" segments.
• Horse: Pink Panther's white horse, based on a horse that gave him trouble in several cartoons of the classic series.
• Dog: Big Nose's bull terrier, often serving as a source of comic-relief in the shorts. He too is of a plain white complexion. Compared to his owner, he is shown to enjoy the Pink Panther's activities, such as music and dancing, though isn't always fond of him.
• Ant: A red ant and one of the title characters of "The Ant and the Aardvark" segments. He is quite sharp and intelligent and, like real-life ants, is physically strong, being able to carry objects many times his weight. His remarks towards and about Aardvark are somewhat more sharp and sarcastic than in his previous laid-back incarnations.
• The Blue Aardvark: A blue aardvark, serving as one of the title characters and main antagonist of "The Ant and the Aardvark" segments. Like real aardvarks, he spends his time trying to catch and eat the Ant. He's sly, cunning and intelligent, but incredibly inept, never succeeding in his goals (even those that don't have to do with the Ant) long-term. He also uses the fourth wall, frequently addressing the audience as to his goals and/or what's going on.

Voice cast

• Kel Mitchell as Ant
• Eddie Garvar as Aardvark
• Alex Nussbaum as Big Nose, Horse, Dog, Narrator, Big Nose's wife, Dog Tracker, Hedgehog, Chef on TV, Bear, Pig, Lion, Croc 1 and 2, Grampy, Italian Chef, Radio VO, Alien, Skunks, Walrus, Mockingbird Mike, Leopard
• Jeannie Elias as Genius, Female Spy
• John Over as Aardvark, Eli
• Bob Spang as Gracie Gorilla, Rowdy Rhino, Mitey Mite

Episodes

Note: The episode numbers are listed as they are on the official YouTube channel, which is presumably the production order. Note: Partial remake of "Pink Panic" (1967) and "Pink Plasma" (1975) Note: Partial remake of "Tickled Pink" (1968) Denise Downer (story) John Over John Over Note: Partial remake of "Pink Arcade" (1978). This episode contains parodies of Tron, Dance Dance Revolution, Street Fighter, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong. John Over Note: Update of the classic Pink Panther cartoon "Pinkfinger". Note: This episode contains parodies of Click and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. John Over John Over, Bob Spang (story) Note: Partial remake of "Pink Campaign" (1975) Note: Partial remake of "Pink Suds" (1979). John Over John Over John Over Note: Partial remake of "Prehistoric Pink" (1968) and "Extinct Pink" (1969). Note: Partial remake of "Pink Blue Plate" (1971) and "Pink Breakfast" (1979). One of the episodes where the Pink Panther loses at the end. Big Nose appears as a cameo in Pinkaroni Pizza. Charles Horn David Corbett, Adam Beechen (story) Note: Partial remake of "Rough Brunch" (1971) Note: Partial remake of "Pink Valiant" (1968). David Corbett, Adam Beechen (story) Note: This episode contains subliminal back-masked messages, including "Come back with my ship!", "I'm not a 'something' and I'm not going to take it anymore!", and "Yikes!". Partial remake of "Pink U.F.O." (1978) Note: Partial remake of "The Pink Flea" (1971). Ken Segall, Stephanie Ramirez (story) David Corbett Note: Partial remake of "Supermarket Pink" (1978) Note: Partial remake of "Pink in the Drink" (1978) Charles Horn **Note:**Partial remake of "The Pink Package Plot" (1968) & "Spark Plug Pink" (1979). David Corbett Ken Segall Robert Sledge David Corbett Note: Partial remake of "Pink Panzer" (1965). David Corbett David Corbett (narration) Note: This episode is a retelling of the folktale "Red Riding Hood". Bob Spang (story) Miguel Puga (story) Mauricio Pardo (story) David Corbett Ron Brewer Note: Partial remake of "Pinto Pink" (1967) & "Pink Valiant" (1968). Note: Partial remake of "Vitamin Pink" (1966) and film parody of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. David Corbett Note: Partial remake of "Come On In! The Water's Pink!" (1968) Charles Horn, David Corbett Note: Partial remake of "Slink Pink" (1969) Lionel Ordaz Note: One scene of this episode is an homage to "The Pink Phink" (1964). David Corbett, Ken Segall (story) David Corbett (story) Note: Update of the classic Pink Panther cartoon "Pink, Plunk, Plink" John McCann David Corbett Note: Partial Remake of "Star Pink". David Corbett David Corbett Note: This episode parodies the icons Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, "Fatty" Arbuckle and The Keystone Cops. Not to be confused with the classic cartoon of the same name (1965) where the Pink Panther goes fishing.

Broadcast

In the US, the show aired on Cartoon Network and ended on August 23, 2010, after that, Boomerang reran this series and ended in 2012. The series had its Canadian premiere on Teletoon on May 11 and began airing in the UK & Ireland on Boomerang on April 19. The show also premiered in the Middle East and Africa on Boomerang on September 11. American program block KidsClick started airing reruns of the show on July 1, 2017, until the block ended on March 31, 2019. All 26 episodes were previously available on Netflix and Pluto TV, but have since been taken off the platform. It is currently available to stream on Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Prime Video, as well as on the official Pink Panther YouTube channel.

References

References

1. Koch, Dave. (April 14, 2014). "Pink Turns 50! Let's Celebrate!". Big Cartoon News.