The Pink Panther Show - Blu-rays and DVDs in 2018 for 'The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection, Volume 1: 1964-1966' The first 20 cartoon shorts, coming from Kino Lorber in their original presentations!
Posted by David Lambert	11/17/2017
Finding immediate fame in the opening title sequence of Blake Edwards 1964 classic comedy The Pink Panther, the feline embodiment of the Swinging Sixties cool quickly become the star of his own animated shorts produced by the DePatie-Frelend Studio. Unlike the loud and manic characters of other animation studios, the Pink Panther was lithe and easygoing, and moved to the rhythm of jazzy theme music of the great Henry Mancini (Breakfast at Tiffany's). Usually thwarting the plans of a variety of uptight little men , the hep cat's fresh approach to cartoon comedy earned an Academy Award for his first solo effort: The Pink Phink (Best Animated Short Film, 1964) and remains the era's most iconic animation sensation. This collection of 20 cartoons are all mastered in HD, and feature the original audio...without laugh-tracks which were added to the television versions of the short films. After Kino Lorber previously released various companion cartoons (The Inspector, The Ant and the Aardvark, Crazylegs Crane, etc.) as parts of their ongoing DePatie-Freleng Collection of DVDs and Blu-rays, it's no surprise that the studio would sooner or later turn to the main course! KL has announced that on Tuesday, January 30th they will release DVDs ($19.95 SRP) and high-def Blu-ray discs ($29.95 SRP) for The Pink Panther Show - The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection, Volume 1: 1964-1966. Note, by the way, that in a Facebook post about this title, they said the 31st...but that's a Wednesday. The proper street date can be seen in the pre-order listings at Amazon.com and other sellers. At the Facebook post, Kino Lorber lists the following contents: 20 shorts in chronological order - All with original audio (no laugh tracks) and all received additional DRS and dirt removal Includes the 1964 THE PINK PHINK - Oscar Winner (Best Short Subject, Cartoons) Audio commentaries for selected films, by author Mark Arnold, historian Jerry Beck, filmmaker Greg Ford, cartoon writer William Hohauser, music scholar Will Friedwald, and veteran DePatie-Freleng story-man Bob Kartz - Interspersed throughout find archival sound-bites from animation pioneer and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises co-founder, Friz Freleng himself. Reversible Blu-ray Art Further, in response to a fan question about the aspect ratio, Kino Lorber explains that we'll see these on the DVDs and Blu-rays in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio that the cartoons were first seen...no changes. Yay! Our thanks to longtime reader John Cerone for informing us about this title, and feel free to pre-order this from Amazon either on DVD or on Blu-ray Disc. Here's a look at the cover art, including both sides of the reversible Blu-ray front cover: