Trail of the Pink Panther series regulars include Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Dreyfus, Graham Stark as Hercule LaJoy (last seen in the 1964 Pink Panther film "A Shot in the Dark"), Burt Kwouk as Clouseau's faithful man servant Cato and André Maranne as Sgt. François Chevalier. "Trail" featured the animated opening and closing credits, animated by Marvel Productions and written and directed by Art Leonardi. Director Blake Edwards dedicated the film to Sellers, "the one and only Inspector Clouseau." Despite the dedication, Sellers' wife Lynne Frederick filed a $3 million lawsuit against the film's producers and the studio, claiming that the film diminished Sellers'
Revenge of the Pink Panther very little that Mr. Edwards and Mr. Sellers could do that would make you find the movie disappointing." "Romance of the Pink Panther" was a "Pink Panther" film that Sellers was working on—and willing to make without Edwards—before Sellers' fatal heart attack in July 1980. UA considered recasting the role before convincing Blake Edwards to return to the series. Edwards chose to replace Clouseau with a new character rather than replace Sellers as Clouseau and to utilize outtakes from "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" to set up a transitional film ("Trail of the Pink Panther") with new linking footage shot