THE PINK PANTHER is a series of American/British films which feature the bumbling French police detective Jacques Clouseau. The role was originated by and is most closely associated with Peter Sellers. Most of the films were directed and co-written by Blake Edwards with the theme music produced by Henry Mancini.

Despite its use of the name, The Pink Panther in the title of most of the films, The Pink Panther is not the Clouseau character, but a large and valuable fictitious diamond which is the basis of the first film in the series. It bears that name because the flaw at its center, when viewed closely, is said to resemble a pink panther. The phrase reappears in the title of the fourth film, The Return of the Pink Panther, which the theft of the diamond is again the center of the plot. The film marked the return of Sellers to the role after a one film hiatus and the phrase The Pink Panther has been used for all the subsequent films in the series, even when the jewel does not figure into the plot.

The first film in the series produced in 1963 had an animated opening sequence set to the theme music that featured the Pink Panther cartoon character. This character was subsequently given its own series of animated films, as well as being featured in the opening of every film in the series except one movie, A Shot in the Dark.
The Pink Panther of the title is a diamond supposedly containing a flaw which forms the image of a leaping panther which can be seen if held up to light in a certain way. The beginning of the first film explains this, and then the camera zooms in on the diamond to reveal the blurry flaw, which focuses into the Panther (not actually leaping) to start the opening credits sequence. The plot of the first film centers around the theft of this diamond, which is mentioned in only two other films in the series, The Return of the Pink Panther and Trail of the Pink Panther. The title stuck once the Pink Panther became synonymous with Inspector Closeau, much the way that Frankenstein was used in film titles to refer to Dr. Frankenstein's monster.

In the original Pink Panther movie, the main focus was on David Niven's role as Sir Charles Lytton, who is the infamous jewel thief, The Phantom, and his plan to steal the Pink Panther from its owner. The Inspector Clouseau character played essentially a supporting role as Lytton's incompetent antagonist, and provided slapstick comic relief to a movie that was otherwise a lighthearted crime drama. The popularity of Clouseau caused him to become the main character in subsequent Pink Panther films which were more  slapstick comedy movies with very little of the sophistication displayed in the first Pink Panther film.

The success and popularity of the Pink Panther grew at an alarming rate and United Artists executives decided to adapt the title sequence into a series of theatrical animated short films.  United Artists commissioned a long series of Pink Panther short films, the first, The Pink Phink won the 1964 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. By the late 1960's, short films were being broadcast as Saturday morning cartoons and new short films were being produced for both television broadcast and theatrical release.

It is not some 40 plus years later, and the popularity of this fictional character has never wavered!  Most recently, Steve Martin plays the infamous Inspector Clouseau and the ever-popular Pink Panther continues to be a favorite character of men, women and children of all ages.  Feel free to stop by my Ebay store where you will find THE PINK PANTHER character as a poseable stuffed plush: http://stores.ebay.com/STUFFED-PLUSH-ANIMALS   or just  

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