Gong with the Pink

The Pink Panther is in Chinatown to answer the want ad for a waiter at the "Gong Ho" restaurant. To upstairs to the kitchen, one must go through "The House Of Glass," another retail establishment that is just becoming part of the building. It turns out to be a bad place to have a business involving a lot of glass.

The Panther, taking his little steps while dressed in his Chinese wardrobe is stereotypical but funny. According to the menu, each item require the waiter hit a big gong which tells the chef what to cook. After the PP's first customer orders, he bangs on the gong and the guy's glass upstairs shatters.

That is the gag of this episode: "The Little White Man's panes of glass shattering all the time thanks to the Panther (who initiates some of it on his own). The poor shop owner loses fine drinking glasses, china ware, window panes, all his fragile items on each order.

Frankly, I didn't think this was a funny episode. It was stupid and it also didn't help having a laugh track, another stupid idea, and one of the most obnoxious one's I've heard. Most of these Pink Panther cartoons are very clever; this one was the opposite and is not recommended.

Produced during the height of the Pink Panther's Saturday morning popularity, GONG WITH THE PINK is a tour-de-force for the classic "little white man" straight man.

Pinky gets a job as waiter in a Chinese restaurant, where dinner orders are requested via the strike of a gong. Unfortunately, the restaurant also owns a collection of plates and glassware. Every order results is broken glasses, plates, and fine China, much to the chagrin of our "little man," who goes eventually goes berserk.

Some may be offended at the Pink Panther's imitation of a Chinese waiter (this is, after all, 1971, when stereotypes and political correctness were not as enforced as they are now), but the overall short is executed in the tradition of the classic Peter Sellers' films. The very idea of the Pink Panther being completely oblivious to the world around him (as well as the sea of shattered glass) never fails to deliver solid laughs. The "little man"'s very existence is to be on the receiving end of Pinky's goofs, but GONG WITH THE PINK pushes him to the extreme. Laughs are plenty in GONG WITH THE PINK, which sadly, marked the final directing stint for Hawley Pratt. Though an additional 40+ cartoons would be produced without Pratt, his touch for the manic was missed.

Like all "Pink Panther" cartoons that were broadcast on NBC-TV, there is a laugh track present on GONG WITH THE PINK that only reinforces the fact these cartoons were aimed at adults as well as children. Though generally despised in America, in theory there is really nothing wrong with a few additional chuckles. Besides, laughing matters.

As a big Pink Panther fan Gong with the Pink didn't quite work for me. It is not bad so to speak but it is one of Pinky's weakest cartoons and the worst so far of the 1971 batch. The rest are good to classic, but the most consistent batch of Pink Panther cartoons thus far has been 1969's, where the weakest cartoon was personally given a 7/10. The animation is minimal but elegant without being sparse and fluidly coloured. The theme tune is justifiably a classic and the clever, seductive orchestration synchronises very nicely with the action. The ending is funny and appropriately chaotic. Pinky hasn't lost any of his comic timing or coolness(even with material that doesn't play entirely to his strengths), and he is likable, but I did feel more sympathy for the shop owner. Apart from the ending though, Gong with the Pink is not very funny and nowhere near as clever as most of the Pink Panther cartoons before it, with gags that are routine, paced inconsistently and sometimes repetitive. The predictable and lacking-in-crispness story doesn't help, nor does the laugh track. It works in Hanna Barbera but for a series of cartoons that mostly does not use it there was no real need for it, it's distracting and it feels we are being forced to laugh at points where at best it felt mildly amusing from personal standpoint and the laugh track was there. There are some inclusion of stereotypes(like Pinky as the Chinese waiter) that may not bode well with some, others won't find it a problem and consider it appropriate for the time. Personally, I'm not sure what to make of the stereotypes because it is easy to see either point of view. Overall, not one of Pinky's finest hours, not a complete mess but a mixed reception. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Pink Panther is hired as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant, where he takes the orders for each guest by hanging the gong each time, which signals each menu item. However, the pointy-nosed man somehow got the brilliant idea of opening a glass store right in the middle of the restaurant, between the dining room and kitchen. So, his glass objects breaks every time the gong is struck.

It's pretty funny seeing the Pink Panther wearing the traditional Chinese outfit, and bowing to his co-workers and customers when greeting them. We get to see the Pink Panther in his classic wise and clever self.

Not much action here except a lot of gong striking, but it's clever and uniquely done cartoon.

Grade B+