New 'Pink Panther' Series Slinks Back To TV

Pink Panther and Pals

The beloved Pink Panther is returning to TV after a hiatus of 17 years.

MGM Pictures and Rubicon Group are producing "Pink Panther & Pals," which premieres March 7 on the Cartoon Network.

Each new TV series contains two episodes of a teenage Panther and his friends, and one episode features the Ant & the Aardvark characters. David J. Corbett, Rubicon's executive producer, stated the snarky, devil-may-care figure is "one of the best-known in animation history.

"The Pink Panther is one of those rare characters that parents trust, yet he is also versatile enough to entertain generation after generation," he added.

The show is based on the animated Pink Panther character created by David DePatie and Friz Freleng that appeared in various Pink Panther films by Blake Edwards. The movies were also notable for their catchy Henry Mancini theme music.

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The character's genesis was in the opening and closing credits of the 1963 live-action feature film "The Pink Panther," but its popularity birthed various animated short films. Eventually, the Pink Panther appears in the opening sequence of every film in series except for "A Shot in the Dark" and "Inspector Clouseau." In the late sixties, it made its first foray into TV.

MGM, through its operating subsidiaries, is involved in the worldwide production and distribution of movies, television, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise. Rubicon specializes in animation and edutainment.

2 comments about "New 'Pink Panther' Series Slinks Back To TV".
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  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, March 5, 2010 at 1 p.m.

    Swell. One of the least-funny cartoon franchises of all time and it's coming back, if only to remind us that people in the 1960s had underdeveloped senses of humor.

  2. Mikki Beno, March 5, 2010 at 4:15 p.m.

    Oh please, this was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. And that theme!! Now it's firmly earwormed into my head just reading this!

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