The Pink Panther Theme The Pink Panther Theme "The Pink Panther Theme" is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film "The Pink Panther" and subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards but lost to the Sherman Brothers for "Mary Poppins". The eponymous cartoon character created for the film's opening credits by David DePatie and Friz Freleng was animated in time to the tune. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Plas Johnson. The song was included on the film's soundtrack album and issued as a single (in the United
Henry Mancini Came from Outer Space", "Tarantula", "This Island Earth", "The Glenn Miller Story" (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination), "The Benny Goodman Story" and Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil". During this time, he also wrote some popular songs. His first hit was a single by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians titled "I Won't Let You Out of My Heart". Mancini left Universal-International to work as an independent composer/arranger in 1958. Soon afterward, he scored the television series "Peter Gunn" for writer/producer Blake Edwards. This was the genesis of a relationship in which Edwards and Mancini collaborated on