Pink Panther and Sons was a short-lived animated series that aired on NBC during the 1984-85 season.
In 1984, when asked to revive The Pink Panther, Hanna-Barbera wanted to bring the fuchsia feline back but they needed a hook, something new and inventive... so they gave him two young sons.
Hanna-Barbera co-produced Pink Panther and Sons for NBC in 1984 with Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng and MGM/UA Television. It was rerun on ABC in 1986. Friz Freleng served as creative producer for the series; his production company, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, existed as an in-name-only enterprise by this time, as its operations were absorbed by Marvel Productions in 1981.
Pink Panther and Sons, however, bore little resemblance to the original DePatie-Freleng Pink Panther cartoons. Most episodes centered on his cubs: Pinky, the pre-teen, and Panky, the toddler. The Pink Panther himself remained mute, and his role in the series amounted to little more than providing reactions to his sons.
Summary[]
In addition to the Pink Panther, the series' characters are Pinky and his brother Panky, the members of the Rainbow Panthers club — pretty Chatta, fighting Rocko, gibberish-talking Murfel, the annoying Liona, the girl genius Annie, and mixed-up-talking Punkin — and the evil Finko the Fang and his buddy Howl. Each episode consisted of three cartoons: two "Rainbow Panthers" cartoons and a solo Pink Panther cartoon that had him annoying the "little man" from the classic cartoons.
Characters[]
Rainbow Panthers[]
- Pinky (voiced by Billy Bowles) - Pinky is a very polite young panther. Pinky generally ends up getting in the most danger in various situations, such as shrinking to six inches tall in one episode, and is the one who comes up with most of the ideas. He is in love with Chatta, a purple panther in the group.
- Panky (voiced by B. J. Ward) – Panky is Pinky's little brother. His diaper is never tied correctly so he just holds it wherever he goes. Since he is still a toddler, he is considered very impressionable.
- Chatta (voiced by Sherry Lynn) – Chatta is a purple panther. She is in love with Pinky and often tries to impress him to win his affection.
- Murfel (voiced by Shane McCob) – Murfel is a green panther who wears an oversized knit cap. He muffles or mixes up everything that he says.
- Rocko (voiced by Frank Welker) – Rocko is an athletic yellow panther. He is always seen sporting boxing gloves.
- Annie O'Gizmo (voiced by Jeannie Elias) – Annie is an orange panther wearing overalls and is the most scientific of the group.
- Punkin (voiced by B. J. Ward) – Punkin is a blue panther who wears a baseball cap and a woolly jumper. He is rather dense.
- Pink Panther – He is the tall, mute father of Pinky and Panky.
Howl Angels[]
- Finko (voiced by Frank Welker) – Finko is the leader of the Howl Angels. He is a rival to Pinky and once was babysitter to Panky while Pinky and Chatta went on a date to the movies.
- Howl (voiced by Marshall Efron) – Howl is a right-hand man to Finko.
- Liona (voiced by Jeannie Elias) – Liona is a tough but pretty lioness. She has a crush on Pinky, the leader of the Rainbow Panthers club. She and Chatta fight for his affection.
- Bowlhead (voiced by Gregg Berger)
- Buckethead (voiced by Sonny Melendrez)
Episode sequence[]
The following segments are shown in the following order per episode:
- Teaser for first segment (shown on NBC only)
- Pink Panther and Sons A (10 minutes)
- Pink Panther comedy vignette (about one minute)
- Pink Panther and Sons B (10 minutes)
NOTE: The Pink Panther comedy vignettes didn't have title cards until Episode 7 of this series.
Episodes[]
- "Take a Hike"/The Fly/"The Great Bumpo"
- "Spinning Wheels"/Badlands/"Haunted Howlers"
- "Pinky at the Bat"/Magic Glove/"Pink Enemy #1"
- "Pink Encounters of the Panky Kind"/Feather/"Traders of the Lost Bark"
- "Millionaire Murfel"/Invisible paint/"The Pursuit of Panky"
- "Sitter Jitters"/Gopher/"The Fix-Up, Foul-Up"
- "Joking Genie"/"The Long Pink Line"/"Panky's Pet"
- "Sleeptalking Chatta"/"Pink Shtick"/"Punkin's Home Companion"
- "Rocko's Last Round"/"Abracadabra Pink"/"The Pink Link"
- "Pink Shrink"/"Chalk Talk"/"Anney's Invention"
- "Panky and the Angels"/"Go Fly a Kite"/"Insanity Claus"
- "Brothers are Special"/"Pink Plants"/"Arabian Frights"
- "A Hard Day's Knight"/"Alarming Pink"/"Mister Money"
Trivia[]
- The title cards for the regular segments uses the same title font as with the title cards used in Monchhichis.
- In the NBC broadcasts, Casey Kasem's voice was heard after each commercial break prior to a 10-minute segment. When the show was rebroadcast on ABC in 1986, Casey's voice remained intact. It is unknown whether or not ABC was required to pay residuals for using Casey's voice work.
- This is one of only a small number of series that was never reran in syndication in the United States. The reason for this may have been due to Casey Kasem's voice being kept intact in the title cards.
- All 13 episodes of this series was released on the MGM+ streaming service in 2023, including the comedy vignettes with the adult Pink Panther.
- Pink Panther and Sons was one of many revivals of past cartoon series during the mid to late 1980s involving the main characters as young children instead of the older counterparts. Other examples include The Flintstone Kids, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, and Popeye and Son.
Voice Cast[]
- Gregg Berger as Bowlhead
- Billy Bowles as Pinky
- Marshall Efron as Howl
- Jeannie Elias as Annie O'Gizmo, Liona
- Sherry Lynn as Chatta
- Shane McCob as Murfel
- Sonny Melendrez as Buckethead
- B.J. Ward as Panky, Punkin
- Frank Welker as Rocko, Finko, Prehistoric Cat, Truck Driver
Additional Voices[]
- Bob Arbogast
- Hamilton Camp
- Rick Cimino
- Peter Cullen
- Rick Dees
- Barry Dennen
- Paul Eiding
- Paul Ely
- Phillip Hartman
- Erv Immeman
- Ralph James
- Tommy Lasorda
- Allan Lurie
- Don Messick as Film Festival Announcer and Alien
- Cliff Norton
- Roger Rose
- Neilson Ross
- Michael Rye
- William Schallert
- Andre Stojka as Mr. Right
- Michael Villani
- William Windom
External Links[]
- Pink Panther and Sons at the Big Cartoon Database