The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 5

Bob Holt
Art Johnson
Bob Ogle
Larry D. Mann
Arnold Stang
Frank Welker
Art Johnson
Hazel Shermet
Paul Winchell
Tom Holland

Directed by Friz Freleng, David H. DePatie and Art Leonardi

In this next-to-last phase of the Pink Panther’s amazing run of new theatrical short-subjects, newsworthy mid-to-late 1970s trends and fads such as Rock’em-Sock’em robots (PINK ARCADE), compulsive dieting (DIETETIC PINK), and the merchandizing of “pet rocks” (Art Leonardi’s ROCKY PINK) come into focus. Fairy-tale spoofs (PINK PIPER, CAT AND THE BEANSTALK) make a modest comeback, but much more impressive are brand-new wrinkles on familiar Panther themes like sleep deprivation (Art Davis’s PINK TRUMPET), wars against a pesky fly (turning positively apocalyptic in Sid Marcus’s PINK S.W.A.T.) and journeys through surreality (SHERLOCK PINK, Robert McKimson’s last and probably best “Panther” pic).