Have always loved animation, still do, and that will never stop, with it being such a big part of my life and that it helped me through so much. Proving to be a perfect and much needed stress antidote, same with classical music and opera. It also made me forget my troubles for a while, even when that while was a short one and it did tend to be when in school, an environment that gave me a lot of unhappiness.
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises made thirty four cartoons starring one of their better lead characters The Inspector between 1965 and 1969. Starting with 'The Great De Guelle Stone Operation', one of the series' best and finishing with 'Carte Blanched', a middling effort. The Inspector series is only just one of the studio's theatrical series, it's one of the better known and longer lasting ones and although it is inconsistent it is quality-wise one of the best. Helped by that The Inspector is a compelling personality and that the best cartoons in the series are as good as prime-Pink Panther.
The weak spot in almost all the cartoons did tend to be the story, often being formulaic with surprises being few and the momentum varied. Perfect in enough cartoons but lacking in energy in others, which gave a tired feel, something that could be seen in outings like 'Bomb Voyage' and 'Le Great Dane Robbery'. There were changes of pace though in some of the cartoons, where there were cartoons that did something different, namely 'Transylvania Mania' and 'La Feet's Defeat' both of which very successful on that front. 'Le Ball and Chain Gang' was a less successful attempt, being too much of the bickering couple show with mixed results than a The Inspector cartoon.
Humour varied, with hilarious moments such as the ending and final line of 'French Freud' and most were humorous and more as well as well timed. Really liked much of the physical comedy and the subtly ironic verbal humour and word-play. Other cartoons didn't have enough gags and what there were were stale, like in 'Napoleon Blown Aparte' and 'Le Great Dane Robbery' which had nothing original in them. The supporting characters were mostly entertaining and some enjoyably bizarre, such as Two Faced Harry, the vampire scientist in 'Transylvania Mania' and the villains in 'Reaux Reaux Reaux Your Boat'. The bear in 'Bear De Guerre' was another favourite. A couple didn't do much for me and came over as uninspired, such as those in 'London Derriere' and 'Cherche Le Phantom'. The Commissioner is a good presence when he appears but Paul Frees is more successful than Marvin Miller at bringing out the gruffness and frustration.
A consistent good point was the animation, which was unmistakably distinctive DePatie-Freleng in style. Simple but always attractive, with nice attention to detail and especially striking were the rich colours. The music never sounds cheap and doesn't get bombastic or manic, regardless of the energy of the rest of the cartoon. The opening titles are a classic. The Inspector was a likeable and entertaining character, even if his personality was one-dimensional it was compelling too. Occasionally though, like 'Bear De Guerre' and 'Les Miserobots' he was upstaged by his funnier and more interesting foils, in these cases a bear and a robot. Loved his beautifully contrasted chemistry with Deux Deux, who was missed when he didn't appear as he was less bumbling but as endearing and funny as The Inspector. Pat Harrington does a great job voicing the Inspector and showed remarkable skill when also voicing Deux Deux in providing individual personalities to more than one character.
On the whole, an enjoyable if uneven series of cartoons. 7/10
