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
John Williams and Henry Mancini. Williams recorded with Henry Mancini the film scores of 1959's "Peter Gunn", 1962's "Days of Wine and Roses", and 1963's "Charade". (Williams actually played the well-recognized opening riff to Mancini's "Peter Gunn" theme.) Williams (sometimes credited as "Johnny Williams", because of the already established actor of the same name) composed music for various television programs in the 1960s: the pilot episode of "Gilligan's Island", "Bachelor Father" (1959–1960), the "Kraft Suspense Theatre", "Lost in Space" (1965–68), "The Time Tunnel" (1966–67), and "Land of the Giants" (the last three created by the prolific TV producer, Irwin Allen). Williams's first