If you grew up hovering in front of a heavy tube TV on Saturday mornings, you definitely remember that jaunty, slightly pompous accordion theme. You know the one. It signaled the arrival of a short, mustachioed Frenchman with an ego far larger than his actual investigative skills. We’re talking about The Inspector all episodes, the DePatie-Freleng masterpiece that managed to step out from the massive shadow of the Pink Panther and carve out its own weird, slapstick niche in animation history.
Most people just remember him as "that guy from the Pink Panther show." But honestly? The Inspector—based loosely on Peter Sellers’ iconic Jacques Clouseau—had a run of 34 theatrical shorts that are arguably tighter and funnier than some of the later Panther cartoons.
The Birth of a Clumsy Legend
It all started in 1965. United Artists realized they had a hit on their hands with the Pink Panther, but they needed more content to fill theatrical slots and, eventually, television blocks. Enter the Inspector. He wasn't exactly Clouseau, but he was Clouseau-adjacent. Pat Harrington Jr. gave him that distinctive, nasal voice that felt both aristocratic and completely moronic at the same time.
The dynamic was simple. You had the Inspector, who thought he was a genius. Then you had Deux-Deux, his slow-talking, Spanish-accented assistant who actually did most of the work but constantly got stepped on—literally. Seeing The Inspector all episodes in chronological order reveals a fascinating evolution of this "buddy cop" trope before it became a Hollywood cliché.
Breaking Down the Classic Episodes
If you’re looking to binge the series, you’ve gotta start with "The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation." This was the 1965 debut. It sets the tone perfectly. The Inspector is tasked with guarding a massive diamond, and of course, everything goes south. What makes this episode stand out isn't just the slapstick; it’s the stylized, minimalist backgrounds that DePatie-Freleng became famous for. They didn't have the budget of Disney, so they used "limited animation" as an art form. It looks cool even today.
Then there’s "Sicque! Sicque! Sicque!" from 1966. This one is basically a parody of Jekyll and Hyde. Deux-Deux accidentally drinks a potion and turns into a giant green monster. The pacing is frantic. One minute they’re in a quiet lab, the next, the Inspector is being tossed through a wall. It’s peak 1960s chaos.
You can't talk about the series without mentioning the recurring villains. The Bluenose Commissioner is a highlight. He’s the Inspector's boss, and his sole purpose in life is to get his blood pressure high enough to pop a vein while screaming at our "hero."
- "Napoleon Blown-Aparte" (1966) – A bomb-throwing madman is on the loose. The Inspector tries to be brave. He fails.
- "Cock-A-Doodle Deux-Deux" (1966) – A personal favorite where a stolen diamond ends up in a chicken coop.
- "The Pique Poquette of Paris" (1967) – This episode introduces a pickpocket who is so fast, the Inspector loses his pants before he even realizes he's been robbed.
Why the Humor Still Works
Honestly, a lot of old cartoons feel dated. The timing is off, or the jokes rely on cultural references that died in 1974. But The Inspector all episodes hold up because they rely on physical comedy and the universal frustration of being incompetent. We’ve all had those days. You try to do something simple, like fix a sink or file a report, and suddenly the house is on fire.
The Inspector is the patron saint of the "confident idiot." He never learns. He gets blown up, flattened by safes, and bitten by dogs, and yet, in the next scene, he’s adjusting his hat and explaining why everything is going exactly according to plan.
The Technical Magic of DePatie-Freleng
We need to give props to Friz Freleng and David DePatie. These guys came out of the wreckage of the Warner Bros. cartoon department and decided to do things differently. They leaned into the "cool jazz" aesthetic of the 1960s. The music by Henry Mancini and Pete Candoli is essential. Without those horns and that slinky bassline, the Inspector is just a guy falling down. With the music, he’s a cinematic icon.
The art direction was handled by guys like Richard H. Thomas. They used these flat, watercolor-style backgrounds that felt like a New Yorker cartoon come to life. It was sophisticated. It didn't look like the bright, sugary stuff Hanna-Barbera was churning out at the time.
Watching the Full Run Today
If you’re trying to track down The Inspector all episodes, it can be a bit of a scavenger hunt depending on where you live. For a long time, these were buried in "The Pink Panther Show" syndication packages.
- The Kino Lorber Blu-ray releases are the gold standard. They painstakingly restored these from the original negatives. You can actually see the brushstrokes on the backgrounds.
- Streaming services like MGM+ or Amazon Prime often have them bundled under the Pink Panther umbrella.
- YouTube has some "official" uploads, but the quality is usually hit-or-miss.
One thing that surprises people when they watch the whole series is how short it actually is. 34 episodes. That’s it. It feels like there were hundreds because they were played on a loop for decades on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. But that limited run meant the quality stayed relatively high. They didn't have time to get stale.
The Deux-Deux Factor
Let's be real: Deux-Deux is the heart of the show. Voiced by Don Messick (who also voiced Scooby-Doo), he provided the perfect foil. His catchphrase—"Sì, Inspector"—became a staple of playground impressions.
There’s a weirdly sweet loyalty there. No matter how many times the Inspector messes up or blames Deux-Deux for his own mistakes, the little guy stays by his side. It’s a classic comedic partnership, reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello, just with more "Le" and "La" thrown in.
Misconceptions and Trivia
People often think the Inspector is actually Jacques Clouseau. Technically, he isn't. Because of licensing weirdness, they couldn't explicitly call him Clouseau in the cartoons, even though the character was inspired by the opening credits of the 1963 film. He’s officially just "The Inspector."
Another fun fact: "The Inspector" was the first theatrical cartoon series produced by DePatie-Freleng after the Pink Panther's success. It paved the way for other weird spin-offs like The Ant and the Aardvark and The Tijuana Toads.
Actionable Steps for Fans and Collectors
If you’re looking to dive back into this world or introduce it to a new generation, here’s the move:
Start with the "Inspector" standalone collection. Don't just buy a generic Pink Panther box set, as those often omit the specific Inspector title cards and credits which are half the fun. Look for the "The Inspector: 34 Golden Era Cartoons" release.
Watch for the background details. If you're an art student or a fan of mid-century design, pause the episodes. Look at the way they draw a Parisian street or a police station. It’s a masterclass in "less is more" design.
Listen to the score. If you can find the soundtrack on vinyl or streaming, it’s incredible "bachelor pad" jazz that works perfectly as background music for work or cooking.
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The Inspector might be a bumbling mess, but the show itself is a precision-engineered piece of comedy. It reminds us that even if you’re failing, you can do it with a certain amount of misplaced style.