History YMMV / ThePinkPanther

** [[https://youtu.be/ErzFTZ_zVhc intro]] to the 1993 cartoon, which is an upbeat rendition of the classic theme.

!!The films

* EnsembleDarkhorse: And how; the 1963 version of ''The Pink Panther'' was meant to be the first in a series of films about the Phantom, the master thief played by Creator/DavidNiven who stole the eponymous diamond, but ended up being all about Clouseau.

*** In the 1990s cartoon series: Hamm-N-Eggz ([[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome who were only in it for a single episode in 1995]]), Voodoo Man.

!![[WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther The cartoons]]

** The [[https://youtu.be/ErzFTZ_zVhc intro]] to the 1993 cartoon, which is an upbeat rendition of the classic theme.

* AdaptationDisplacement: While the original live action films are still generally well known, general audiences nowadays tend to be more familiar with the cartoons than they are with the films. This is especially the case amongst younger audiences, who grew up watching the cartoons on television and are not as familiar with the films as older audiences are.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Many critics have argued, ''especially'' in the wake of the reboot, that as popular as they were these were never great films, or even good ones. They were loved for Creator/PeterSellers' performances and the animated title sequences, which was why continuing the series after his death didn't work. Interestingly, the {{Biopic}} ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' has an invented scene where Sellers uses the premiere of one of the films to insult Creator/BlakeEdwards, calling him a hack, and then claiming that people only come to see him perform. The scene is intended to paint Sellers in a bad light, but when you consider this trope, he could be seen as speaking a blunt truth! In the series' fanbase, there are those who put up with the non-Sellers films for more of Dreyfus and/or Cato's hijinks.
** The original 1963 film illustrates this very well, ironically. People who watch the original film, [[EnsembleDarkhorse expecting it to be about Clouseau]], are typically disappointed that it is a largely-forgettable '60s caper with a VillainProtagonist trying to seduce a princess and everyone else spending most of the running time discussing sex. Clouseau shows up for maybe a third of the film, and the scenes without him ''drag''.

** Music/HenryMancini's iconic "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0YI9c3jc90 Pink Panther Theme]]", of course. Each film would have a different version of it, but the original is the most remembered.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The LaughTrack added in syndication did the later theatrical shorts no favors. Not helped at all by it being used in a series with almost no dialogue, which made it even more distracting than usual.

* AdaptationDisplacement: While the original live action films are still generally well known, general audiences tend to be more familiar with the cartoons than they are with the films and chances are, when thinking of The Pink Panther, the cartoons are gonna be what first pops up, not the original films (to where some confuse the films as being based off the cartoon, when its the other way around). This is especially the case amongst younger audiences, who grew up watching the cartoons on television and are not as familiar with the films as older audiences are.

* AdaptationDisplacement: To an extent. While the films are still generally well known, more people tend to be familiar with the cartoons than they are with the films and chances are, they're the first thing they think of when thinking ''The Pink Panther'' as opposed to the films. This is especially the case amongst younger audiences, who grew up watching the cartoons on television and are not as familiar with the films as older audiences are.

* AdaptationDisplacement: To an extent. While the films are still generally well known, more people tend to be familiar with the cartoons than they are with the films and chances are, they're the first thing they think of when thinking ''The Pink Panther'' as opposed to the films, to where the films are sometimes confused as being LiveActionAdaptation[=s=] of the cartoons. This is especially the case amongst younger audiences, who grew up watching the cartoons and are not as familiar with the films as older audiences are.

* AdaptationDisplacement: You'll be surprised at how many people think the movies are about an anthro pink panther or who thought the 2006 movie was supposed to be a LiveActionAdaptation.

* MorePopularSpinoff: It’s safe to say the cartoons are far more popular and widely beloved than the film series it spun off from.

* HarsherInHindsight: The title sequence to ''Curse'' depicts Clifton Sleigh as an InvisibleMan. Not only was Sleigh's lack of presence compared to Clouseau one of the biggest criticisms of the film, but actor Ted Wass rapidly sank away into obscurity afterwards, and nowadays is better known as a director than for anything from his acting career.
** If it helps, Ted Wass claimed he never wanted to be an actor in the first place, as directing was always his main interest. In fact, when he was cast in the series ''Blossom'', one of the stipulations in his contract was that he'd be allowed to direct some episodes so he could jump start that career.

* AnnoyingLaugh: The horse, who is the Panther's antagonist in four of the shorts, is the literal intepretation of a "horse laugh."

* JerkAss: The laughing horse, who does everything he can to obstruct the Panther's goals.

* ValuesDissonance: "The Pink Package Plot" from 1968 involves the Pink Panther forced at gunpoint by a terrorist to deliver a ticking TimeBomb package to an estate. Just the setup alone wouldn't fly in today's terrorism-paranoid world (especially not after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks.)

** Marie Jouvet, who carries the Clouseau-less parts of ''Trail'' after his disappearance. Instead of just being a Clouseau {{Expy}}, she's depicted as a [[StraightMan Straight Woman]] getting a glimpse into the inspector's mad world, and is helped by Creator/JoannaLumley's strong performance. Some fans feel that ''Curse'' would have turned out a lot better if it had kept with her as the main character, instead of bringing in Clifton Sleigh.

* DesignatedVillain: The dog in "Slink Pink" is certainly aggressive towards Pink Panther, but it's hard to fault him; he's simply trying to protect his master from an intruder, and keeps getting on the wrong end of his master's rolled-up newspaper thanks to Pink's trickery.

* Jerkass: The laughing horse, who does everything he can to obstruct the Panther's goals.

* MorePopularSpinoff: It’s safe to say the cartoons are far more popular and well known than the film series it spun off from.

* MisBlamed: ''Trail'' and ''Curse'' came in for a lot of criticism over the apparent decision to re-hire Creator/DavidNiven as Sir Charles Lytton (rather than just bringing back Creator/ChristopherPlummer) and then have Rich Little overdub his weak voice. However, according to Creator/RobertWagner, who played Sir Charles's nephew George, Niven's voice actually ''was'' still quite audible during filming; the actual problem was that Niven's health deteriorated sharply after that, leaving him bedridden and unable to speak by the time they needed to do ADR looping. And while they could theoretically have just dumped Sir Charles's scenes from ''Trail'', as they aren't essential to the plot, it would have been a much bigger problem with ''Curse'', to the point where Blake Edwards' choices boiled down to either hiring a sound-alike to overdub Niven's lines, or reshooting the film's entire third act.

* BizarroEpisode: ''Hamm-N-Eggz'', ''Voodoo Man'', ''7 Manly Men''. The original series itself had quite a few of these (hell, the entire series itself could be considered a Bizarro Episode for Western animation as a whole), and a few even have GainaxEndings, like for example Pink S.W.A.T.: [[spoiler:the Panther tries to vacuum up a fly that's been pestering him the whole episode, but the vacuum ends up vacuuming the Panther, the background and then ''itself''.]]

* BizarroEpisode: ''Hamm-N-Eggz'', ''Voodoo Man'', ''7 Manly Men''.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The original shorts were almost entirely free of dialogue, which gave them a massive cross-cultural appeal because the humor needed no translation.

* MisBlamed: ''Trail'' and ''Curse'' came in for a lot of criticism over the apparent decision to re-hire Creator/DavidNiven as Sir Charles Lytton (rather than just bringing back Creator/ChristopherPlummer) and then have Rich Little overdub his weak voice. However, according to Creator/RobertWagner, who played Sir Charles's nephew George, Niven's voice actually ''was'' still quite audible during filming; the actual problem was that Niven's health deteriorated sharply after that, leaving him bedridden and unable to speak by the time they needed to do ADR looping. And while they could theoretically have just dumped Sir Charles's scenes from ''Trail'', as they aren't essential to the plot, it would have been a much bigger problem with ''Curse'', to the point where Blake Edwards' choices boiled down to either hiring little, or reshooting the film's entire third act.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Creator/SteveMartin as Clouseau. Creator/KevinKline would've been the better choice to play Clouseau in the reboot, but for some reason he was cast as Dreyfus.
** ''Trail'' and ''Curse'' bringing back Creator/DavidNiven as Sir Charles and then having Rich Little overdub his weak voice, rather than the more logical options of either bringing back Creator/ChristopherPlummer or having George Litton take over Sir Charles' role in the plot.

** Downplayed, if not outright averted, by Marie Jouvet, who carries the Clouseau-less parts of ''Trail'' after his disappearance. Instead of just being a Clouseau {{Expy}}, she's depicted as a [[StraightMan Straight Woman]] getting a glimpse into the inspector's mad world, and is helped by Creator/JoannaLumley's strong performance. Some fans feel that ''Curse'' would have turned out a lot better if it had kept with her as the main character, instead of bringing in Clifton Sleigh.

** Music/HenryMancini's epic "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0YI9c3jc90 Pink Panther Theme]]", of course. Each film would have a different version of it, but the original is the most remembered.