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'
Inspector Clouseau Pink Panther diamond after it is stolen by the Phantom, Sir Charles Lytton. The roles of Sir Charles and Lady Lytton are recast, now played by Christopher Plummer and Catherine Schell (with Schell actually playing a different Lady Lytton than Capucine's Simone). "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" continues the story from the end of "The Return of the Pink Panther", featuring the now insane Dreyfus creating a crime syndicate and constructing a doomsday weapon with the intention of using it to blackmail the world to kill Clouseau. Unused footage from this film was used to include Sellers in "Trail of