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 film has Clouseau as a bumbling Gendarme hired by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to serve as the visible investigator into a high-publicity murder, so that Dreyfus can carry out his own investigation without risking repercussions of failure; but Martin's Clouseau is considerably older than Sellers's, and although the 2006 film was placed prior to the events of the first "Pink Panther" film, the time frame has been advanced to the present day. Although foolish, Martin's Clouseau is able to locate the Pink Panther diamond and solve the case by knowledge, and observation, of obscure data. A running gag in this and