The Inspector  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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The Inspector is a series of 1960s theatrical cartoons produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists.

Plot

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. However unlike the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, the Inspector of the cartoon series was generally a competent policeman, and the comedy of the cartoon came from the sometimes surreal situations the Inspector was exposed to, rather than to physical slapstick. However through those difficult circumstances, criminals often get the better of him and he must face the wrath of his ill tempered, bullying Commissioner (who is clearly based on Herbert Lom's Commissioner Charles Dreyfus character) who holds him in contempt.

Pat Harrington, Jr. provided the voices (and narration) 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 name in the cartoon is pronounced Ju-Ju. 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.

In these shorts, the background images were photocopied 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 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.

While the Inspector character design remained basically the same throughout the DePatie-Freleng shorts, and was used in the opening credit sequence of the 1968 live-action film Inspector Clouseau (which had Alan Arkin standing in for Peter Sellers as the title character), the Inspector featured in the opening titles of the later Pink Panther features changed dramatically over the years. Today, a far different Inspector character who more conventionally caricatures Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau is the only one licensed by MGM (who now owns the rights), keeping the original whiskered Inspector off 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, borrowed from the 1964 feature film of the same name (the second big hit from the Pink Panther film series). The other music in the shows was composed by William Lava. Two shorts had their own unique version of the theme music, Napoleon Blown-Aparte and Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux.

Some of these shorts would appear in The Pink Panther Show, as well as some new ones in which the Inspector tried to capture the Pink Panther. Reruns of The Inspector play on the channels Boomerang and Animania.

List of shorts

1965

• 01 The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation (FF) - The Inspector is to guard the famous diamond from the three-headed jewel thief trying to steal it.

1966

• 02 Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat (GC) - The Inspector is after the notorious smuggler Captain Clamity (a clam with legs) but spends most of his time in sinking boats.
• 03 Napoleon Blown-Aparte (GC) - A mad bomber has escaped from Le Prison and wants to get even with the man who put him there, the Commissioner. With an endless supply of bombs, he keeps blowing the Commissioner up, with the Inspector's unwitting help.
• 04 Cirrhosis of the Louvre (GC) - The Blotch (a red blob) plans to steal all the paintings from the Louvre. At the end, the Inspector changes all the paintings (which were stolen) with his own paintings.
• 05 Plastered in Paris (GC) - The Inspector chases the man known as "X" around the world.
• 06 Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux (RM) - The huge diamond 'The Plymouth Rock' has been stolen and the suspects are chickens.
• 07 Ape Suzette (GC) - The Inspector thinks he is fighting a little man but an ape gets in all the punches.
• 08 The Pique Poquette of Paris (GS) - Spider Pierre (who has four arms and a spider-web gun) picks pockets, especially those of the Inspector.
• 09 Sicque! Sicque! Sicque! (GS) - In the house of a mad scientist, Deux Deux drinks a flask of something and keeps changing into a big green monster who beats up and shoots the Inspector.
• 10 That's No Lady - That's Notre Dame (GS) - Trying to catch a purse snatcher, the Inspector disguises himself as a woman and continually falls foul of the very jealous Commissioner's wife.
• 11 Unsafe and Seine (GS) - The Inspector is told his life is in danger and he must meet with an agent.
• 12 Toulouse La Trick (RM) - The Inspector handcuffs himself to Toulouse Le Moose and throws away the key so he cannot escape him. Toulouse however is huge and escapes, dragging the handcuffed Inspector through some very rough terrain.

1967

• 13 Sacre Bleu Cross (GC) - When they go after Hassan the Assassin, Deux-Deux gives The Inspector a very unlucky rabbit's foot.
• 14 Le Quiet Squad (RM) - The Commissioner is overworked and needs absolute quiet or he goes into uncontrolled fits of temper. The Inspector is assigned to look after him and has trouble with a noisy cat.
• 15 Bomb Voyage (RM) - The Inspector and Deux-Deux go to the planet Unova to rescue the Commissioner who has been kidnapped by aliens.
• 16 Le Pig-Al Patrol (GC) - The Inspector is sent after biker Pig Al and his biker gang.
• 17 Le Bowser Bagger (GC) - The Inspector is given Private Bowser, a very energetic dog in his efforts to track down a thief.
• 18 Le Cop on Le Rocks (GS) - The Inspector is mistaken for a bank robber who is his double. His botched attempts at escape from prison adds ever more years to his sentence.
• 19 Le Escape Goat (GC) - Sacked for letting Louie Le Fink escape, the Inspector tries to stop him getting revenge on the Commissioner in such a way that the Commissioner thinks the Inspector is trying to kill him.
• 20 Crow De Guerre (GC) - The Inspector is continually outwitted by a crow that steals jewels.
• 21 Canadian Can-Can (GC) - Sent to Canada on an exchange programme, the Inspector is sent after Two-Faced Harry, who has a good face on his front and an evil face on his back. After threatening the cartoonist at the end, the Inspector ends up with two faces too.
• 22 Tour De Farce (GC) - Through his own fault, the Inspector is stranded on Deserted Island with the large Mack Le Truck who is trying to kill him.
• 23 The Shooting of Caribou Lou (GC) - On holiday in Canada as a Mountie, the Inspector is kidnapped by the diminutive but aggressive Caribou Lou who holds him in his cabin.

1968

• 24 London Derriere (GC) - Having chased jewel thief, Louie Le Swine around the world, the Inspector tries to get him in London only to continually fall afoul of the no-gun laws and a London Police Captain who hits him with an umbrella every time he touches a gun.
• 25 Les Miserobots (GC) - The Inspector is fired after being replaced by a very efficient police robot, so he tries to destroy it. After the Inspector's many backfired attempts, the robot does such a good job that the Commissioner ends up losing his job and joining the Inspector in a skid-row soup kitchen.
• 26 Transylvania Mania (GC) - The Inspector is sent to find a scientist who is making monsters without a licence. The scientist is a vampire who needs a brain for his latest monster and the Inspector arrives at just the right moment.
• 27 Bear De Guerre (GC) - The Inspector goes quail hunting but continually falls afoul of a bear.
• 28 Cherche Le Phantom (GC') - The Inspector looks for the Phantom of the Opera and finds a gorilla.
• 29 Le Great Dane Robbery (GC) - A stolen code book is hidden in an embassy and has a very large dog named "Tiny" guarding it.
• 30 Le Ball and Chain Gang (GC) - The Inspector tries numerous ways to get into a house where there is an argumentative couple.
• 31 La Feet's Defeat (GC) - The Inspector and Deux-Deux follow the footprints of Muddy La Feet and encounter many booby traps which Deux-Deux sets off. At the end, while the Inspector wonders if they'll ever catch Muddy La Feet, the camera reveals the crook to be the Commissioner, whose playing a prank on the Inspector by stamping footprints on the ground.

1969

• 32 French Freud (GC) - Someone is trying to kill the Inspector to get at the Du Barry diamond which he is guarding under his hat.
• 33 Pierre and Cottage Cheese (GC) - The Inspector suffers while taking the very bad advice of a Chinese robot on how to get into a house where Dirty Pierre Le Punk is. Ends with Charlie Chan lookalike turning up.
• 34 Carte Blanched (GC) - The Inspector has a very guilty conscience over not returning a shopping trolley which everyone thinks he stole.

Voices

• Pat Harrington, Jr. - The Inspector and Deux-Deux
• Don Messick - Deux-Deux (only in La Feet's Defeat)
• Larry Storch - Commissioner (1965-1966)
• Paul Frees - Commissioner (1966-1967)
• Marvin Miller - The Commissioner (1967-1969)

Catchphrases

• The Inspector: "Don't say sí. Say oui." Deux-Deux: "Sí, Inspector."
• Deux-Deux: "Sí. I mean oui."
• 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!"

DVD Release

A DVD containing the first seventeen shorts was released on March 4, 2008 from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Other Appearances

The Inspector also appeared in the 1993-95 syndicated TV series, The Pink Panther voiced by Brian George. The Inspector would often working alongside the Pink Panther when he is depicted in the law enforcement.