Pink Panther – A Pink Christmas
By Brett Lawrence, Blockbuster.co.uk

The 1963 movie “The Pink Panther” was originally destined to be the first in a series of movies based around David Niven’s jewel thief extraordinaire, Sir Charles Lytton aka The Phantom. However, two unlikely stars arose from the movie, turning the focus of the series completely. One was the bumbling French police inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers), whose comic turn would ensure the series followed Clouseau and not Lytton, the other was a cartoon character that appeared in the credit sequence of the movie. So popular was the character that he was soon the subject of his own cartoon “The Pink Phink”, which went on to win the 1964 Academy Award for Short Subjects, Animated Films.

Over forty years (and several TV outings), later and the famous feline is still as popular as ever. This DVD comprises of the Panther’s three TV specials. Alongside 1978’s festive tale “A Pink Christmas” this package also includes 1980’s “Olym-Pinks” and the 1981 Valentine’s Day special “Pink at First Sight”.

The Titular “A Pink Christmas” is a warm and fuzzy yarn that sees our hero down on his luck whilst everyone else round him is enjoying the festive season. Even once he manages to land a job as the local department store’s resident Santa, not all goes according to plan, and chaos rapidly ensues, leaving ‘the Pink One’ out in the cold again! Being a Christmas tale it’s not giving too much away to say that everything works out for the best, so sensitive souls don’t despair, there may be tears before bedtime, but Santa never forgets to look after all the little boys, girls and panthers in the end!

“Olym-Pinks” is a return to the classic theme of one-upmanship that made the Panther the star that he is. The Panther and his rival (the little man from many of the Panther cartoons, including the Oscar winner) do battle on the alpine slopes and constantly spend their time trying to out do the other. Whilst not as heart warming as the Christmas Special, this is the Panther at his best and any fan can’t fail to enjoy this cartoon laugh-fest!

Moving away from the snow covered scenes of the first two stories; “Pink at First Sight” finds the love struck Panther looking for his dream valentine feline in all of the wrong places! Whilst working as a messenger on Valentine’s Day, the Panther has to battle with a jealous husband, a violinist, the mob and more as he strives to be the best messenger he can be, all the while looking out for his ideal partner! Less slapstick than the other two examples on the disc, this ‘holiday special’ again builds up to a happy ending but is possibly the weakest of the trio…or perhaps that’s just down to me being unromantic!

It’s a long time since the Panther first appeared on our screens and in a world where cartoons seem to be becoming ever more complex its nice to be reminded that there’s plenty of entertainment to be had from some simple non-offensive clowning around…after all, where else would you find someone being chased by a piano down a ski slope?!?

Perfect for kids and those of us who are just big kids at heart. Think pink and add it to your list now!

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