Think Pink

When I was a kid I used to love watching The Pink Panther. I've always wanted to see it again, but it was never put back on the air. So imagine my delight when I saw The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection last week at HMV. It has 124 episodes plus the animated credits for the movies. I just couldn't resist.

After making it through Disc 1 of 5, (just a couple of shows at a time) I have to say it's cute, it's funny, and it stands the test of time. It's great to see it again through the eyes of an adult, though I now fully understand why today's children won't ever get the chance to see it on TV. Every episode so far involves smoking, boooze, guns or some combination of the three. Even the main title sequence has the Pink Panther smoking, using one of those long cigarette holders.

Unfortunately, I don't think that the FCC of today would approve of an episode where a drunk stumbles home, meets the pink panther, invites him back to his place and then has to hide him from his wife who's angry because he keeps bringing homeless men home every time he gets drunk.

I am not making that up.

I wish everything wasn't so politically correct all the time. I spent my childhood watching violent and racist cartoons like Looney Tunes, Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, The Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry (remember when things would blow up in Tom's face and he'd end up with "blackface"??) and I think I turned out OK. I knew the difference between real and fake guns, real and fake violence, and I didn't grow up to be racist - which in itself is a miracle considering the small town I grew up in. But man, I can still totally appreciate the humour.