The Pink Panther in: Pink at First Sight
| The Pink Panther in: Pink at First Sight | |
|---|---|
| Written by |
Owen Crump D.W. Owen |
| Directed by | Bob Richardson |
| Voices of |
Frank Welker Brian Cummings Marilyn Schreffler Weaver Copeland Hal Smith |
| Music by | Steven DePatie |
| Country of origin |
 |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | David H. DePatie |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Marvel Productions Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng United Artists |
| Distributor | MGM Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | February 14, 1981 |
The Pink Panther in: Pink at First Sight is an animated Valentine's Day special starring The Pink Panther which premiered on ABC on February 14, 1981. This would be David H. DePatie's first and only solo work on The Pink Panther without Friz Freleng, the final new Pink Panther production by DePatie before his retirement from animation in 1984 and the first Pink Panther cartoon produced by Marvel Productions, which would go on to make new animation for the opening titles of Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther.
Plot
It is Valentine's Day and the Pink Panther is lonely and has no money (except for seven cents). He goes to a messenger service for a job but messes his rehearsal up. He then goes to a store, buys a cassette player and pre-recorded cassettes with the seven cents he had left and goes back to the messenger service miming to "Vesti la giubba", an aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, and gets hired as a messenger.
Antics on the job entangle the breezy cat with a jealous husband (after the Panther steals the heart of a housewife whilst miming a 50s-ish sounding ballad), a snobby classic violinist (after the Panther, who had the wrong recording on at the time, used a Stradivarius violin like an electric guitar), a priest (whom the Panther apparently gave the wrong present to) and a crime boss and tough gangsters (which their present was a bomb).
Finally, after warding off the crime boss and his gang with a cassette containing excerpts of a police radio show (before the cops heard it, saw them and went after to arrest them), our hero meets the pantheress of his dreams, the ideal feline valentine.
Home Media releases
Pink at First Sight made its debut release on VHS by MGM/UA Home Video. On November 6, 2007, the special alongside Olym-Pinks and A Pink Christmas was released as part of the DVD collection set The Pink Panther: A Pink Christmas from MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Production
Most of the animation staff utilized for the 1978 series The All New Pink Panther Show worked on Pink at First Sight. The special also utilized several music cues from the series as well but unlike the TV show, a laugh track was not featured.
Friz Freleng was absent from this production due to him and DePatie breaking up their studio and returned to Warner Bros. Many of the characters' voices on this special (saving the silent Panther himself) were done by Frank Welker, Brian Cummings, Marilyn Schreffler and Hal Smith.
References
Links