ccthemovieman-1
Very clever dialog is the highlight of this "Inspector" cartoon. The conversations between The Inspector and his partner Deux-Deux are very good - with the running gag of "si" versus "oui" - but the conversations between the two main villains are even better. In this one, we have a big clam and his lobster partner. If that sounds ridiculous, it looks even more so but in a good way. To see a clam, "Captain Clamity," with arms and legs (one a peg-leg) and smoking a big cigar and wearing a sailor's cap is pretty funny. When he gets nervous, he breaks out in "pearls" and spits them up. Yes, this cartoon is very weird. His partner, " Crab Louie," is really a big lobster with big red claws. Those two characters are good with puns. The clam and the lobster are smugglers aboard a big ship. The Inspector and Deux-Deux are in a little rowboat, going out to meet the boat and grab the thieves. The rowboat is the main focus of the sight gags in this cartoon.This was only my second look at these Pink Panther-spin off cartoons and I can only hope the rest of them in this DVD collection are as entertaining as this one. (Note: now that I've completed watching them, I found out most weren't as good as this one, but there are some excellent ones.) You can see them all on the disc called "the Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection, Vol. 6 - Inspector Cartoons.
Robert Reynolds
The Clouseau series of cartoons was somewhat uneven, but most were at least decent and some were very good. Generally, if the villain or situation was well done and there was a balance between good dialogue and the sight gags, the cartoon worked better. Without an interesting opponent, it's just Clouseau the bumbler and that isn't enough to carry a cartoon. In Crab Louie and his nervous oyster henchman who breaks out in pearls, you have a good foil for Clouseau and the cartoon is very funny and worth watching. Recommended.