The Inspector and Sgt. Deux Deux in classic poses on an animation cel set-up from their first cartoon, "The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation." The series' distinctive style is seen in the grease pencil (rather than ink) outlines of the characters as well as the unusual treatment of the background. In these shorts, the background images were xeroxed from drawings onto clear acetate and then painted on their reverse sides like a typical character cel. Some areas, however, were painted with a sponge and then scratched with a razor for effect. These cels, which were laid over solid-color cards and photographed under the character cels, were unlike the usual acrylic, watercolor, or oil-painted animation backgrounds.

The Inspector is a series of theatrical cartoons produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. Although the titular character was never given a name, it was clearly based on Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau character that appeared in the Pink Panther film series. Pat Harrington, Jr. provided the voices for the Inspector and with the exception of one cartoon, his assistant, a spanish policeman named Deux-Deux (even though "Deux," French for "two," is not a Spanish surname, or even a Spanish word—in Spain, the character was named "Totó," and in the Mexican dubbing, Dodò). The frustrated Commissioner was voiced first by Larry Storch and then Paul Frees, with some other strange sounds coming from his mouth from time to time. The first cartoon, "The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation," was the short featured before screenings of the James Bond film Thunderball.

The cartoons are among the most original produced in their era, with innovative animation concepts and a creative approach to character design. At their best, they featured complex plots, avante-garde villains, and multiple locations utilizing the series' line-art background treatments. The key to their success, though, was the chemistry between the two main characters and their visually-stunning designs. (The cartoons' grease-penciled characters took some unusual shapes in the early cartoons, with the Inspector and Deux-Deux occasionally looking like they escaped the quality-control process.)

The later cartoons used cleaner, more routine character outlines, and often featured the Inspector alone in stock situations without the Commissioner, Deux-Deux, or the opening scenes in the Sûreté building. In his last outings, Deux-Deux's eyes stayed open the entire episode, and he lost the sleepy persona that Harrington played so well off of the Inspector.

While the Inspector character designs remained basically the same throughout the DePatie-Freleng shorts, the Inspector featured in the opening titles of The Pink Panther films changed dramatically over the years. Today, a far different Inspector character who more conventionally caricatures Sellers is the only one licensed by MGM (who now owns the rights), keeping the original whiskered Inspector off of merchandise featuring DePatie-Freleng's Pink Panther cartoon characters.

The music used for the titles of the cartoon was the song "A Shot in the Dark" by Henry Mancini, the second big hit from the Pink Panther film series. Directors of the shorts included Friz Freleng, Gerry Chiniquy, Robert McKimson and George Singer. 34 shorts were produced.

The character also appeared in 1993's The Pink Panther produced by MGM animation.

Reruns of The Inspector play on the channels Boomerang and Animania.

A DVD containing several of the shorts was scheduled to be released on July 24, 2007 from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The release was postponed until January 15, 2008 with no explanation given for the delay.

The opening title card used for the theatrical cartoon presentations

Filmography

1965

• The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation (Friz Freleng)

1966

• Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Napoleon Blown-Aparte (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Cirrhosis of the Louvre (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Plastered in Paris (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux (Robert McKimson)
• Ape Suzette (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Pique Poquette of Paris (George Singer)
• Sicque! Sicque! Sicque! (George Singer)
• That's No Lady - That's Notre Dame (George Singer)
• Unsafe and Seine (George Singer)
• Toulouse La Trick (Robert McKimson)

1967

• Sacre Bleu Cross (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Le Quiet Squad (Robert McKimson)
• Bomb Voyage (Robert McKimson)
• Le Pig-Al Patrol (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Le Bowser Bagger (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Le Escape Goat (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Le Cop on Le Rocks (George Singer)
• Crow De Guerre (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Canadian Can-Can (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Tour De Farce (Gerry Chiniquy)
• The Shooting of Caribou Lou (Gerry Chiniquy)

1968

• London Derriere (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Les Miserobots (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Transylvania Mania (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Bear De Guerre (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Cherche Le Phantom (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Le Great Dane Robbery (Gerry Chiniquy)
• La Feet's Defeat (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Le Ball and Chain Gang (Gerry Chiniquy)

1969

• French Freud (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Pierre and Cottage Cheese (Gerry Chiniquy)
• Carte Blanched (Gerry Chiniquy)

Voices

• Pat Harrington, Jr. as The Inspector and Deux-Deux
• Don Messick as Deux-Deux (only in La Feet's Defeat)
• Larry Storch, Paul Frees, and Marvin Miller as The Commissioner

Catchphrases

• The Inspector: "Don't say sí. Say oui." Deux-Deux: "Sí, Inspector."
• The Inspector: "Follow that car" (the driver complies by immediately driving off before the Inspector can enter the car) "Come back here you fool!"
• The Inspector: "That swine" or "You swine!"

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