Does anyone know the name of the white, bean-shaped person in the Pink Panther cartoon series?
He doesn’t have a name- he’s simply referred to in publicity materials as “The Little Man.” It is believed the character is meant to be a caricature of Panther creator Friz Freling.
Thank you, mobo!
Since both characters originated in the opening credits of The Pink Panther, I always assumed it was a caricature of Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.
IIRC, the caricature of Clouseau in the film credits is quite different from the “little man” character. The cartoon of the Inspector in the TV show, in turn, seems to derive from the credits caricature for the Clouseau film where he was played by Alan Arkin.
DePatie-Freling (the studio who made the Pink Panther cartoons) also made a series of Inspector Clouseau cartoons, the first of which was made in 1965, predating Arkin’s film (the credits of which were not animated by D-F) by three years. The Inspector cartoons used the theme from A Shot In The Dark, the credits of which also featured an animated Clouseau. The animated Clouseau never appeared in a Panther cartoon- the only times the two shared the screen were in the credits of subsequent Panther films.
Mr. Bean? No, I suppose not.
I don’t remember that at all. Got any links/pictures?
Although they look similar, it is clear they are not the same person- they have a different skin color, nose shape, and mustache.
Wait a sec. We’re actually talking about 3 different characters. The Inspector from the cartoons was clearly based on Clouseau, but rendered more generic and not referred to by name.
“Don’t say ‘si’, say ‘oui’”.
The Inspector from the Inspector cartoons did appear in the opening credits to the Arkin film, which was not animated by DePatie-Freling, but designed by them, according to the credits. (The Shot in the Dark Clouseau has no mustache) The Clouseau charicature with the thicker mustache appears in the credits of some of the Peter Sellers films, including The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge of the Pink Panther, and Trail of the Pink Panther. This leads to a rather unusual conundrum- the first Inspector cartoon, which has the thin-mustached Inspector, was released in 1965, yet the credits of Inspector Clouseau are dated 1968 and have the modern MPAA logo introduced in the late 1960s. Then, does thin-mustache Inspector represent both Peter Sellers and Alan Arkin? Wow, I never realized the Pink Panther characters were this complicated.
At least Steve Martin Clouseau looks different animated.
Hello, little man…
I WILL DESTROY YOU!!
You know, the Pink Panther toons are a prime example of the beauty of minimalism. Just the clean lines of the few characters and barely-suggested background scenery, no extra business, and everything happens at the tempo of the jazz theme.
Just imagine an animator today trying to find a venue for something so (by cartoon-slapstick standards) slow-paced and understated. You won’t see anything like that on the Cartoon Network.