Hey, remember when comedian Peter Sellers and director Blake Edwards created an accident-prone French detective who somehow managed to foil jewel robberies, murderers, and get the girl? Remember when that iconic franchise was rebooted with Steve Martin, and how hard everyone cried? If you remember all of that, you might be worried about the announcement of a new Pink Panther movie, coming soon to a theatre near you. But in this case, it might not be so bad, because this film will supposedly have nothing to do with Inspector Clouseau.
What this new Pink Panther film will feature, however, is that badly behaved panther from the cartoon title sequences, and the later series of animated shorts that many (like myself) love to distraction. David Silverman, the producer and director of The Simpsons Movie, is attached to direct the MGM film, along with executive producers Walter Mirisch (who produced the original Pink Panther) and Julie Andrews (that’s Blake Edwards’ widow, as well as Maria von Trapp). The film will unite live action with animation, which hopefully does not mean The Smurfs redux. While it will be an “international jewel heist caper movie,” according to Mirisch, there will be no Clouseau in sight.
In the cartoon series, the Pink Panther was regularly getting both himself and a Clouseau-esque frenemy into trouble – and indeed, he did manage to spoil a jewel robbery or two. The film promises not to give voice to the famously silent Pink Panther, so we at least don’t have to worry about a celebrity voice cast ruining a good thing. In the absence of Inspector Clouseau himself, and all the baggage that now goes along with that character, it seems that we’ll have the chance to experience the Pink Panther all by himself.
As always, we will keep an eye on developments as the new Pink Panther gets underway.
