The Pink Panther portrayed by David Niven, Peter Sellers's performance was so popular that the resulting series was built on the Clouseau character, rather than the Phantom character. Niven's and Sellers's co-stars included Capucine, Robert Wagner, and Claudia Cardinale. Released less than a year after "The Pink Panther". Clouseau returns to muddle his way through a murder investigation. This marks the first appearance of Herbert Lom's Commissioner Dreyfus, his assistant François (portrayed by André Maranne), and Clouseau's manservant, Cato (portrayed by Burt Kwouk). Co-starring Elke Sommer, George Sanders, Graham Stark and Tracy Reed. This film stars Alan Arkin as Clouseau, and does not
Inspector Clouseau The film's title credits, animated by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, feature their Inspector character from the series of short cartoons under that name. The 1968 film does appear to have influenced the Clouseau character when Sellers returned to the role in 1975's "The Return of the Pink Panther", particularly in the character's mode of dress. According to DVD liner notes for "Return of the Pink Panther", Sellers and Edwards originally planned to produce a British television series centered on Clouseau, but this film was made instead. The opening credits were animated by Richard Williams, featuring Clouseau once again seeking to retrieve the