The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection (1964)

The animated Pink Panther character first appeared in the title sequence of the live-action film, directed by Friz Freleng. This debut was so successful with audiences and United Artists that the studio signed Freleng and his DePatie–Freleng Enterprises studio to a multi-year contract to produce a series of Pink Panther theatrical cartoon shorts. The first in the series, 1964's The Pink Phink, featured Pink harassing his foil, a little white mustachioed man often considered a caricature of Friz Freleng (officially known as The Little Man), by repeatedly trying to paint the Little Man's blue house pink. The Pink Phink won the 1964 Academy Award for Animated Short Film, and subsequent shorts in the series, usually featuring the Pink Panther opposite the Little Man, were also successful.