"The Pink Panther" movies are mysterious, captivating, and of course, hilarious. Steve Martin stars as Jacques Clouseau, an eccentric detective constantly seeking the Pink Panther diamond. Imaginary Forces, film title specialists, took on the task to create the opening credits for "The Pink Panther 2." Watch it here!
The storyline consists of Clouseau’s never ending chase to find the "Pink Panther" diamond. The opening credits are illustrated as 2D animation, while the actual movie is live action. However, I absolutely love the cartoons and the dramatization of the animations. The credits start off with Clouseau crashing through glass, causing a flashlight to flicker on. The ray of light illuminates the opening credits. Suddenly, he focuses the light on the pink diamond and the "Pink Panther" character is introduced. Symbolizing the diamond, the character leaves clues for Clouseau to track but cunningly gets away with it. Throughout the introduction, the detective clumsily tracks clues from stepping on glass, getting kicked by the boot of Italy and even getting run over by a car. The credits are shown throughout the animations in places corresponding with the scenes.
The graphics are exaggerated and fun! Clouseau’s character is drawn with a very large nose and small legs to accentuate his clumsiness and lack of skill. The characters have strong personalities that are simply shown through movement and expression rather than voice. Throughout the animation, I found myself laughing at Clouseau’s awkward persona because of his dramatic expressions. Also, I loved that Imaginary Forces used the Pink Panther character rather than the diamond because it adds life to it. My favorite element of the graphics was the use of images such as the Mona Lisa, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Eiffel Tower that held some realism to them. This created a noticeable difference between the foreground and the background. The contrast caused the detective and the diamond to be more noticeable and intriguing.
The colors in the animation are bright and strong. Clousseau’s bright blue jacket enabled him to pop out in the range of colors rather than blend in. Also, the "Pink Panther" was obviously pink to emphasize the color of the diamond. I admired the contrast between him and the backgrounds. For example, the black, dark background in the beginning and the yellows of the map allowed his royal blue suit to be the main focus. Likewise, the animation was as if it was straight out of a cartoon. The sharp movements of the characters and the exaggeration created a child-like effect. I felt like I was watching the old cartoon all over again. It engages the audience by adding humor to the movie and summarizes the characteristics of the main character. Also, the Panther is always seen in the background but Clouseau is too naïve to notice him. Lastly, the animation is so intriguing because the characters are the only things in constant motion. They are moving against a flat background so it creates stronger emphasis on the two.
However, the transitions between the scenes create dynamic movement. There are few cuts in the scenes, rather the camera rotates, zooms, and follows the characters on their never-ending chase. My favorite transition is Clouseau’s fall from the clock because the camera zoomed out at an awkward angle from the street. Also, I loved the flipping book pages and the camera flip when the detective opens the door to the map.
Lastly, the best element of the opening credits was the "Pink Panther" theme song. The sound of the saxophone creates a suspicious feel to the detective’s case. Also, there were sound effects that stress the dramatization of his clumsiness. For example, there are sounds such as breaking clash, bops on the head, and crashing sounds from hard falls. Clearly, the theme song adds the last touch to the Pink Panther opening credits!
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