Customer Reviews

Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town!

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Here is the missing chapter to the bible of U.S. theatrical animation ( Of Mice And Magic ).

Jerry Beck fills us in on what animation was being produced for theatrical distribution in the late 1960's, 1970's & 1980's. Long after Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, Walter Lantz/Universal, and UPA gave up the ghost on theatrical cartoons, Depatie-Freling brought the Pink Panther, The Inspector, The Ant & The Aardvark, The Tijuana Toads (later called Texas Toads on TV) and others to a theater near you!

These cartoons are historically, if not histerically, important as they were the last of the dying breed of cartoons & characters created for the theatrical market in the U.S. .
If you missed them there, youll have a hard time missing them on television. Today the Panther does mostly commercials, but in the 1970's & 1980's he shared the spotlight with Bugs Bunny & Scooby Doo as one of the big cartoon stars of Saturday morning.

Jerry's book is well illustrated, and you will find pictures of characters from the DFE studio you have forgotten about. There is also a history of the DFE studio, details of the live action movies that the Panther introduced, and a complete filmography of all DFE cartoons released by United Artists to theaters & television. You'll even find photos of some classic Panther collectables.

While not written like a text book on Animation, you will probably learn a few things, I certainly did. My only complaint is that some of the text is too small for most eyes, you may need a magnifying glass to read the filmography! I wish DK spared a few more pages for text to save our eyes.

You won't find critical reviews of the cartoons, like in Jerry's earlier animation books, and the descriptions for each last only a sentence or two, but if you dig into the book you will find it informative.

This is a must-get for anyone collecting animated cartoons!

The Pink Panther is among my all time favourite cartoon characters that I grew up with.I bought my copy of this book at Chapters Bookstore yesterday.It was definetly worth it.This is the best book I've ever seen on my favourite panther.His complete history is completely detailed in this book.As one poster wrote,it goes from the 1960s all the way to the current decade.Not only that,but every Pink Panther/Inspector Clouseu movie(except for Return Of The Pink Panther)is fully detailed too.Plus all of the panther's cartoon costars,The Inspector,The Ant & The Ardvark,Mister Jaws etc..,are fully detailed as well.

This is a very good book on the Pink Panther in films and art. However, it is not complete. It ignores and does not even metion the RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER film. Yet, it is the best book on the subject to date.

I assume MGM/Sony had marching orders to avoid any mention of RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER since they don't own the rights, but how ridiculous to have an overview of the series and NOT EVEN MENTION the film that relaunched the franchise in the mid '70s?

Even the "black sheep" of the series INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU is in here -- but not Sellers' own 1975 sequel? It's absurd!

While many recall "The Ant and the Aardvark", few may remember "Roland and Rattfink" or "Super President" as parts of the DFE animation canon. "R and R" were an ill-advised Jay Ward ripoff and "S P" played like 'what if JFK had been an indestructible superhero who didn't resemble or sound like himself?' Jerry Beck unearths just about everything one needs to know on the now near-forgotten but once highly regarded DFE studio's output. IMO, the shocking crudity of the DFE house design comes as a rude re-awakening to the low standard of animation in the 1960's. Even the design work in the wretched early 1990's talking Pink Panther series looks more polished, though those cartoons remain utterly unwatchable. Yes, it's indeed a pity that the book doesn't have legal rights to the stellar images and adroit animation poses by Ken Harris at the Richard Williams Studio done for the main title of 1975's "The Return of the Pink Panther" but that movie can still be found on DVD in remaindered bargain bins for around eleven bucks. It's a Universal DVD release, despite having been originally made for United Artists. That particular title sequence puts everything else in this book (and I mean everything) to shame, including Shag's whole career as a too hip for the room postapocalyptic pseudo cartoon designer mostly getting Ed Benedict wrong for overpriced, volume marketed cocktail napkins. Forget that [...] Buy Jerry's fine Pink Panther book and learn a few hard animation facts that should be etched onto your brainpan.

Jerry Beck's text on the Pink Panther is one of the best of the series that has come out from DK books.

While one reviewer has pointed out the small print, and another the exclusion of one of the Panther movies the book is still incredibly informative on both the films, the characters, and the people behind both franchises.

Comments by surviving people such as Art Leonardi and a tribute to Fritz Freling give this book an added touch, which really makes it come alive. I also found the credits pages to be one of the best when it comes to listing all the appearances of our favorite pink feline.

There's also a brief (real brief) mention of one of the shortest-lived Depatie-Freling series, Super President. Now, that program has to be seen to be believed.

The book is colorful, fun, and I recommend it highly.

Sincerely,
Jthree
carolyn@dia.net

This book has lots of great pictures, full color, and info on episodes and the creators. One of the best books on the Panther.

This is a fun guide for anyone interested in the Pink Panther movies, cartoons, and all the DePatie-Freleng cartoons that came after the cool cat. It has at least two full pages on each of the cartoons--and there are A LOT of them. Some I remember seeing from my youth (The Pink Panther, of course, The Inspector, The Ant and the Aardvark), others I've never heard of.

The book follows the Pink Panther and his friends through the decades with history, all sorts of tidbits of information, full color screen shots of cartoons & the inspector movies, and photos of period memorabilia. My favorite part of the book is at the back where it offers an episode guide, including release dates and brief synopses of all the cartoons--which is even more useful as they are starting to release some of these cartoons on DVD. The cartoons featured are:
The Pink Panther
The Inspector
The Ant and the Aardvark
Roland and Rattfink
The Tijuana Toads
The Blue Racer
Hoot Kloot
The Dogfather
Misterjaw
Crazy Legs Crane
A great book to curl up with and admire all the wonderful photos and illustrations celebrating the history of "the coolest cat in town." If you like The Pink Panther and those charming classic cartoons (as well as the inspector movies), this book is a must! It is 144 pages beautifully put together with tons of photos, episode guide, and index.

I bought it after groing up going to the theater and watching all of the Pink Panther cartoons brfore the main attraction. As a fan of animation just loved watching all these cartoons and laughing all over again.

This book tells of much information about The Pink Panther. It gives many historical information and how The Pink Panther cartoon/movies progressed, and it is VERY detailed. I think you should buy this book if you're a Pink Panther lover. He is definitely an all-time favorite and classic.