Pink Panther Volume

[Roxine Denison]

FromJanuary 2018 to December 2019, Kino Lorber Animation released the entire run of 124 Pink Panther cartoons produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises on Blu-ray in six volumes, which are being collected as The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection, a six-disc set housed in a cardboard case, available May 19. Previously reviewed at this site are Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, and Volume 5.

The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 6 presents 17 cartoons made for The All New Pink Panther Show, which ran from 1978-1980 on ABC. Later, they were screened in theaters. This final collection continues the dual track of stories with the character either a chaotic force or on the receiving end of one.

The stand-out cartoons where the Panther is a chaotic force are as follows: In Pink in the Drink, the Panther thinks he is taking a cruise, but is actually shanghaied by Captain Little Man, which the seaman soon regrets. The animators have a lot of fun gags from the ship rocking on the waves. The Panther makes like Tarzan in Pink Bananas but must deal with an angry ape before being declared King of the Jungle. The Panther is a fuel attendant on a pink planet in Star Pink and has to deal with a villainous Little (Green) Man.

The stand-out cartoons where the Panther is fighting chaos are as follows: In Pinktails for Two, the Panther gets his tail in some Speedy Grow plant food, causing it to grow as long as a garden hose. He repeatedly lets go of it and runs into trouble, from firefighters grabbing it to birds mistaking it for a worm. In Pink Breakfast, he fights household items, such as an alarm clock and numerous things in the kitchen. In String Along In Pink, he gets into some wild misadventures following an improbably long string, not so much a story but a series of gags.

The audio is available in DTS-HD MA 2.0. These cartoons feature music and effects with rare guttural noises from the characters, but no dialogue. Music runs during the majority of a short and comes through with good fidelity. The sound elements are well mixed together. No signs of wear or defect were noticed.

Throughout the 16-year run, the storytellers and animators at DePatie-Freleng created significant work that should continue to be enjoyed. Thankfully, Kino Lorber is helping to make that possible with the release of these cartoons on Blu-ray, providing fans an opportunity to rewatch them and new audiences a chance to discover them. If one was able to hold off buying any individual releases, purchase the entire collection.

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