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 of strings was rejected and replaced by Ron Goodwin's work. Mancini scored many TV movies, including "The Moneychangers", "The Thorn Birds" and "The Shadow Box". He wrote many television themes, including "Mr. Lucky" (starring John Vivyan and Ross Martin), "NBC Mystery Movie", "What's Happening!!", "Tic Tac Dough" (1990 version) and "Once Is Not Enough". In the 1984–85 television season, four series featured original Mancini themes: "Newhart", "Hotel", "Remington Steele", and "Ripley's Believe It or Not". Mancini also composed the "Viewer Mail" theme for "Late Night with David Letterman". Mancini composed the theme for "NBC Nightly News" used beginning in 1975,