Pink Panther and Pals



Pink Panther and Pals is an animated television series and is a modern adaptation of the classic DePatie-Freleng Panther shorts from the 1960s. The programme was produced for Cartoon Network by Desert Panther Production and Rubicon Studios in association with Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng and MGM Television, and premiered on the channel on March 7, 2010, both in HD and SD. The series had its UK premiere on Boomerang on April, 19, and began airing on Boomerang Africa on September 11. Like the classic cartoon show, the programme is composed of two seven-minute Pink Panther shorts and a seven-minute Ant and the Aardvark short in between, retaining the main characters in both shorts though with some changes. The show is rated TV-Y7.

The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther shorts are reminiscent of the classic DePatie-Freleng shorts from the 1960s and the 1970s, from art direction, silent acting, musical scoring, and story lines. The Pink Panther remains silent throughout the show, and has been aged down as a teenager. The Little Man has been renamed to "Big Nose" for this series with vocal effects provided by Alex Nussbaum. Pink Panther's donkey and Big Nose's lovable canine companion have been reintroduced as well.

The Ant and the Aardvark
The Ant and the Aardvark is based on the classic DePatie-Freleng shorts. In this version, the Aardvark's (Eddie Garvar, in the style of John Byner) Jewish sense of humor from his classic counterpart has retained, the Ant (now voiced by Kel Mitchell famous for his roles on the classic Nickelodeon series' All That, Kenan and Kel, the movie Good Burger, and the PBS series, Clifford the Big Red Dog) has been aged down like the teenage Pink Panther; however, he is never called "Charlie" (as his classic counterpart). The series now takes place in a jungle and new characters are introduced in this series.

Characters

 * The Pink Panther: The protagonist of the series. He's a cool and collected character who always seems to rub Big Nose the wrong way. As in the classic series, he is, for the most part, a silent protagonist. He is also nicknamed Pink or Pinky.
 * Big Nose: Based on the original "Little Man" from the classic series. He is the neighbor of the Pink Panther and is not fond of him at all. He always ends up being upstaged by the Pink Panther in everything he tries to do where he got the Pink Panther back instead. He's depicted as short, with a big nose and a mustache, and is plain white in color. He has a pet dog that, unlike his master, has almost no problem with the Pink Panther at all.
 * Hoarse: The Pink Panther's donkey, based on a horse that gave him trouble in several cartoons of the classic series.
 * Dog: Big Nose's dog who is cute and lovable. Like his master, he is a plain white color and not very outstanding. He is not always fond of the Pink Panther, and is not afraid of showing his displeasure. But from time to time has shown to enjoy the Pink Panther's activities such as music and dancing.
 * Ant: A small red ant, and one of the title characters of the "The Ant and the Aardvark" sketches. He is quite sharp and intelligent, and like real-life ants, is physically very strong, being able to carry objects many times his weight.
 * Aardvark: A blue aardvark, and the main antagonist of the "The Ant and the Aardvark" sketches. Like real aardvarks, he wants to eat the Ant. He's sly, sneaky and appears to have awareness of the fourth wall; he frequently addresses the audience of what's going on.
 * Eli: An elephant, is responsible for protecting the Ant from the Aardvark.

Cast

 * William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (Archive audio; Uncredited) - The Pink Panther
 * Kel Mitchell - Ant
 * Eddie Garvar - Aardvark
 * Alex Nussbaum - Big Nose, Hoarse, Dog, Narrator, Dog Tracker, Hedgehog, Chef on TV, Bear, Pig, Lion, Croc 1 and 2, Grampy, Italian Chef, Radio VO, Alien, Skunks, Walrus, Mockingbird Mike, Leopard.
 * John Over - Eli
 * Bob Spang - Gracie Gorilla, Rowdy Rhino, Mitey Mite
 * Jeannie Elias - Ms. Big Nose, Genius, Felame Spy