Pink Christmas Wishes from The Pink Panther

I spent most of my professional years as a cartoonist, drawing and writing stories for The Pink Panther comics that were designed for the overseas market. Thanks to The Pink Panther (and Beep Beep, the Road Runner),  I managed to make a living and raise a family, and consequently, I will always feel a certain amount of indebtedness to this character.
Over the years, I've tried to keep him alive in my life by doing some new little illustration featuring this funny feline every once in a while. 

Thank you, Friz Freleng, David H DePatie and Blake Edwards for creating him!

As a bonus, I'm sharing the classic Pink Panther Christmas TV Special, which first aired on ABC on December 7, 1978. It was directed by Bill Perez and produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

                                          

(Another special, "A Very Pink Christmas", was produced in 2011 but the less said about it, the better).

THE PINK PANTHER SHOW

On September 6, 1969, Friz Freleng and David H. DePatie produced THE PINK PANTHER SHOW, which was a half-hour compilation of the Pink Panther theatrical cartoons and later became a showcase for subsequent made-for-TV cartoons.

It ran on NBC until September 2, 1978 when it changed networks and became THE ALL NEW PINK PANTHER SHOW.  Today, we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the series' debut.

I enjoyed this first series a lot and, since I began doing the PINK PANTHER comic books for overseas distribution in Spanish, I felt I had a special bond with the character.

In celebration of THE PINK PANTHER SHOW's 50th Anniversary, I'd like to remember some of my Pink Panther covers during that period.

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You can read all about the Pink Panther story in this excellent book by Mark Arnold:

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Pink-DePatie-Freleng-Mark-Arnold/dp/1593931697

And here's the very first PINK PANTHER cartoon, released December 18, 1964.

THE GENIUS OF FRIZ FRELENG!

According to Wikipedia: Isadore "Friz" Freleng, often credited as I. Freleng, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work on the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons.
Friz was born on August 21, 1906, and during his long and creative career, he gave us some of the most memorable and lovable cartoon characters ever,  like Tweety Pie, Sylvester the cat, Speedy Gonzales, Yosemite Sam, The Pink Panther, The Inspector and many many more!  Long live Friz!