The Inspector

The Inspector is a series of 34 theatrical cartoon shorts produced between 1965 and 1969 by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The cartoons are dedicated to an animated version of Inspector Clouseau comically battling against a rogues' gallery of internationally-styled villains.
Outside of the episode titles, much of the humor in these shorts is derived in part from the surreality of the villains and situations, and also from the stylized animated slapstick, the brunt of which is endured by the Inspector, who is often bested by his nemeses, forcing him to face the wrath of his supervisor, the blustery and ill-tempered Commissioner (based on Herbert Lom's portrayal of Commissioner Dreyfus) who holds him in well-deserved contempt.
The Inspector.
The Inspector is a senior detective for the Sûreté and assisted in most earlier episodes by Sergeant Deux-Deux. Though his actual name is never mentioned, the character is clearly based on Inspector Jacques Clouseau from "The Pink Panther" films. However, in contrast to the completely inept live-action Clouseau, the Inspector is slightly more competent, but still prone to bad luck and poor judgement.
Sergeant Deux-Deux.
The Inspector's assistant, Sergeant Deux-Deux, is a slow-talking Spaniard and gendarme who loves Mexican food. He is noted to exclaim with a pun by saying: "Jole Frijoles".("Holy Beans"). He often replies in his native tongue saying "Sí", only to be admonished by the Inspector who often tells him, "Don't say 'sí', say 'oui'", which sometimes leads to confusing situations between the two. Deux Deux usually responded afterwards by intoning: "Si, I mean Oui, Inspector". in one cartoon, Deux Deux said "Ouisick" instead of "Seasick". On a couple of occasions, when the Inspector is incapacitated, Deux-Deux himself almost effortlessly manages to apprehend the culprit. He talks about how he thinks the Inspector is the hero.
Production.
Pat Harrington Jr. provided voices for both the Inspector and Deux-Deux. The Commissioner was voiced primarily by Paul Frees, Larry Storch, Marvin Miller and Mark Skor. Miller also assumed the role of both the Inspector and Sgt. Deux-Deux in the wraparound bumpers produced for the inaugural season of "The Pink Panther Show".
The first entry in the series, "The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation," preceded screenings of the 1965 James Bond film "Thunderball".
While the Inspector character design remained basically the same throughout the DePatie–Freleng shorts, and was used in the opening credit sequence of the 1968 live-action film "Inspector Clouseau" (with Alan Arkin as Clouseau), the Inspector appears in the opening titles of later "Pink Panther" features beginning in the 1970s, changed dramatically to resemble Sellers, and then Steve Martin in the 2006 reboot of the series.
The theme music heard during the titles of the cartoon was the instrumental "A Shot in the Dark" by Henry Mancini, from the 1964 feature film of the same name (the second entry in the "Pink Panther" live-action film series). Additional music in the cartoons was composed initially by William Lava, then Walter Greene. Two shorts had their own unique version of the theme music, "Napoleon Blown-Aparte" and "Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux".
17 entries made their television debut during the inaugural season (1969–1970) of "The Pink Panther Show", featuring shorter opening titles (minus credits). The remaining 17 entries appeared during the show's second season with complete theatrical opening titles.
Home video.
A DVD containing the first 17 shorts was released on March 4, 2008 from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
A DVD set titled "Pink Panther and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection" released on January 27, 2009 by MGM contains the previously-released set of the first 17 shorts and a second set of the last 17 shorts.
The first season of "The Pink Panther" is available for viewing on Amazon Video in the United States.
On April 26, 2016, Kino Lorber released "The Inspector: The DePatie-Freleng Collection" on DVD and Blu-ray - this 2-disc DVD and Blu-ray release set collects the 34 (17 for each disc) classic shorts, along with retrospective featurettes focusing on DePatie-Freling Enterprises.
Revival.
"The Inspector" was revived in 1993 for the syndicated series, "The Pink Panther", voiced by Brian George. The Inspector often works alongside the Pink Panther when he is depicted in law enforcement.
In other media.
The Inspector appeared regularly in the Pink Panther comic books published by Gold Key comics. He also appears in the computer game where he hires the Pink Panther to help him fight crime.