The Inspector

**The Inspector** is a series of theatrical cartoon shorts created by **David H. DePatie** and **Friz Freleng**, produced by their studio, **DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE)** and released through **United Artists**. The cartoons were produced from December 21, 1965 to May 14, 1969, totaling 34 cartoon shorts.

## Premise

The cartoons are dedicated to an animated counterpart of Inspector Clouseau, comically battling against a rouges' gallery of internationally-styled villains. The shorts revolve around the Inspector and his Spanish-Gendarme assistant, Sergeant Deux-Deux, apprehending French-styled villains and criminals, or recovering items assigned to them. If the Inspector is defeated by his nemeses, he is forced to face the wrath of his supervisor, The Commissioner, who is blustery and ill-tempered, holding him in well deserved contempt.

Much of the humor in the shorts is derived in part from the surreality of the villains and situations, and also from the stylized animated slapstick humor, most of which is endured by the Inspector.

## Characters

**Main Characters**

* **The Inspector -** A senior detective, who works for the Surete, and the main protagonist of the series. Though his actual name is never mentioned, he is clearly based on Inspector Jacques Clouseau from the live-action Pink Panther films. The Inspector is slightly more competent and inept, but is still prone to bad luck and poor judgement.
* **Sergeant Deux-Deux** - The Inspector's assistant, who is spanish. He is a Spaniard, a descendant of Spain and is a gendarme who works for the French Police Force. He loves Mexican cuisines. He often replies in his native tongue by saying "Si", only to be reminded by the Inspector who often tells him "**Don't Say 'Si', Say 'Oui'**, which sometimes leads to confusing situations between the two. Deux-Deux will usually respond afterwards by intoning "Si, I mean Oui". He also exclaims "Holy Frijoles!" (translates to Holy Beans in English). Deux-Deux's eyes are mostly closed, but will open in great stress, excitement or when disaster occurs. In one cartoon (**Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat**), He said "Ouisick" instead of "Seasick". On a couple of occasions, when the Inspector is incapacitated, Deux-Deux himself almost effortlessly manages to apprehend to culprit. He even talks about how he thinks the Inspector is the hero. Whenever he is forced to take risks, he wishes he could be relaxing in what he calls "sunny" Barcelona.
* **The Commissioner -** The Inspector's boss/supervisor. He is short-tempered and will often punish the Inspector if his foolishness accidently lets the criminals escape. In "**That's No Lady-That's Notre Dame!**", he has a wife. It's revealed in the short that his actual name is Henry Vincent.

## Production

The cartoons were produced by **DePatie-Freleng Enterprises**, or **DFE**. the studio responsible for the production of the Pink Panther cartoons. **Pat Harrington Jr**. provided the voices for both the Inspector and Sergeant Deux-Deux. The Commissioner was voiced primarily by **Paul Frees**, **Larry Storch**, **Marvin Miller** and **Mark Skor**. **Miller** also assumed the role of both the Inspector and Deux-Deux in the wraparound bumpers produced for the inaugural (1st season) of the Pink Panther Show.

The first entry in the series, **The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation**, preceded screenings of the 1965 James Bond film, **Thunderball**.

While the Inspector character design remained basically the same throughout the DePatie-Freleng shorts, and was used in the opening sequence of the 1968 live-action film "**Inspector Clouseau**", (with **Alan Arkin** as **Clouseau**), the Inspector appears in the opening titles of later Pink Panther feature films beginning in the 1970's, changed dramatically to resemble **Sellers**, and then **Steve Martin** in the 2006 reboot of the series.

The theme music heard in the opening titles of each cartoon is the instrumental "**Shot In The Dark**" by **Henry Mancini**, from the 1964 feature film of the same name (the second entry in the Pink Panther live-action film series) Additional music in the cartoons was composed initially by **William Lava**, then Walter Greene. Two shorts, Cock-A-Doodle Deux-Deux and Napoleon Blown-Aparte, had their own unique version of the theme music.

17 entries made their television debut during the inaugural season (1969-1970) of the Pink Panther Show, featuring shorter opening titles (minus credits). The remaining 17 entries appeared during the show's second season with complete theatrical opening titles.

The series was licensed by **MGM Worldwide Television Distribution** to air the series on **Boomerang**, alongside the Pink Panther cartoons.

## Cast

* **Pat Harrington Jr.** - The Inspector, Sergeant Deux-Deux (except for La Feet's Defeat - in this entry, Sergeant Deux-Deux is portrayed by Don Messick)
* **Paul Frees** - The Commissioner (1966-1967)
* **Larry Storch** - The Commissioner (1965-1966) (The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation, Napoleon Blown-Aparte)
* **Marvin Miller** - The Commissioner (1967, 1968-1969), The Inspector (The Pink Panther Show)
* **Mark Skor** - The Commissioner (1967) (Canadian Can-Can)

## Cartoon Shorts

1. **The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation (1965)**
2. **Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat (1966)**
3. **Napoleon Blown-Aparte (1966)**
4. **Cirrhosis Of The Louvre (1966)**
5. **Plastered In Paris (1966)**
6. **Cock-A-Doodle Deux-Deux (1966)**
7. **Ape Suzette (1966)**
8. **The Pique Poquette Of Paris (1966)**
9. **Sicque! Sicque! Sicque! (1966)**
10. **That's No Lady-That's Notre Dame! (1966)**
11. **Unsafe And Seine (1966)**
12. **Toulouse La Trick (1966)**
13. **Sacre Bleu Cross (1967)**
14. **Le Quiet Squad (1967)**
15. **Bomb Voyage (1967)**
16. **Le Pig-Al Patrol (1967)**
17. **Le Bowser Bagger (1967)**
18. **Le Escape Goat (1967)**
19. **Le Cop On Le Rocks (1967)**
20. **Crow De Guerre (1967)**
21. **Canadian Can-Can (1967)**
22. **Tour De Farce (1967)**
23. **The Shooting Of Caribou Lou (1967)**
24. **London Derriere (1968)**
25. **Les Miserobots (1968)**
26. **Transylvania Mania (1968)**
27. **Bear De Guerre (1968)**
28. **Cherche Le Phantom (1968)**
29. **Le Great Dane Robbery (1968)**
30. **Le Ball And Chain Gang (1968)**
31. **La Feet's Defeat (1968)**
32. **French Freud (1969)**
33. **Pierre And Cottage Cheese (1969)**
34. **Carte Blanched (1969)**

## Availability

All thirty-four cartoons are available on the Official Pink Panther Youtube Channel.

## Home Media

On March 4, 2008, A DVD set was released, containing 17 shorts by **MGM Home Entertainment**/**20th Century Fox Home Entertainment**. Another DVD set titled "**Pink Panther And Friends Classic Cartoon Collection**" was released on January 27, 2009 by **MGM**, containing the previously released set of the first 17 shorts and a second set of the last 17 shorts.

On April 26, 2016, **Kino Lorber** released "**The Inspector: The DePatie-Freleng Collection**" on DVD and Blu-Ray. It is a 2-disc DVD/Blu-Ray release set that collects all 34 classic shorts (17 shorts for each disc), along with retrospective featurettes focusing on **DePatie-Freleng Enterprises**.

In the late 1980's, a company by the name of **Viddy-Oh! For Kids/Viddy-Oh** released two VHS tapes of the Inspector. "**Inspector Clouseau: Ape Suzette**" was released on May 19, 1987 and it contained the 1966 short "Ape Suzette" and four other shorts; **The Pique Poquette Of Paris**, **Sicque! Sicque! Sicque!**, **Unsafe And Seine** and **That's No Lady-That's Notre Dame!** Another VHS tape titled "*I***nspector Clouseau: Napoleon Blown-Aparte**" was released on October 14, 1986, containing the 1985 short "Napoleon Blown-Aparte and four other cartoons; **Cirrhosis Of The Louvre**, **Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat**, **Plastered In Paris** and **Cock-A-Doodle Deux-Deux**.

A VHS tape of The Inspector titled "**Bomb Voyage**" was distributed by **MGM/UA Home Video** in the UK.

* **Pink Panther And Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: The Inspector - DVD**
* **Pink Panther And Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: The Inspector: Part Deux - DVD**
* **The Inspector: 34 Cartoons - The DePatie-Freleng Collection - DVD**
* **Inspector Clouseau: Ape Suzette - VHS (Ape Suzette, The Pique Poquette Of Paris, Sicque! Sicque! Sicque!, Unsafe And Seine, & That's No Lady-That's Notre Dame!) Viddy-Oh! For Kids**
* **Inspector Clouseau: Napoleon Blown-Aparte - VHS (Napoleon Blown-Aparte, Cirrhosis Of The Louvre, Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat, Plastered In Paris & Cock-A-Doodle Deux-Deux) Viddy-Oh! For Kids**
* **The Inspector: Bomb Voyage - UK VHS**

## Revival

The Inspector was revived in 1993 for the syndicated revival series, **The Pink Panther (1993)**, voiced by **Brian George**. The Inspector often works alongside the Pink Panther when he is depicted in law enforcement.

## Other Media

The Inspector has appeared regularly in the **Pink Panther** comics published by **Gold Key Comics**.

## Trivia

* "**La Feet's Defeat**" marks the final appearance of **Sergeant Deux-Deux**. He appeared as a much younger and more naive version than he is in other shorts. He is voiced by **Don Messick** instead of **Pat Harrington Jr**.

## Gallery

The Inspector - TV PosterThe Inspector - Opening Title CardThe Inspector - LogoThe Inspector - 34 Cartoons - Two-Disc Set DVD - The DePatie-Freleng Collection (April 26, 2016)The Inspector - Ape Suzette - VHS (May 19, 1987) Viddy-Oh!The Inspector - Napoleon Blown-Aparte - VHS (October 14, 1986) Viddy-Oh!The Pink Panther And Friends Classic Cartoon Collection - The Inspector - Vol. 6 - DVDThe Pink Panther And Friends Classic Cartoon Collection - The Inspector: Part Deux - DVDThe Inspector - Bomb Voyage - UK VHS