Pinky Doodle was actually a pretty entertaining cartoon and one of the better 1976 Pink Panther cartoons. Yankee Doodle Pink is basically just a remake of it, with 80% or so of it just being parts of Pinky Doodle. Most Pink Panther cartoons make for good entertainment and a good number are classics or near to that, but there are some that are either hastily animated, repetitively scored, not very funny or pointless, of which Yankee Doodle Pink commits all four, managing to be even more pointless than 1971's Pink-In and 1978's Pinkologist.
It's not a complete waste, Pinky is still a very amusing and likable character and he is still drawn very well, the theme tune is a classic that is yet to irritate or get cheapened, some colours are vibrant and the water gag from Pinky Doodle is still hilarious thanks to some very clever animation. A lot of the animation here though is inconsistent, a lot of the backgrounds look scrappy, there was a sense sometimes that the animators weren't sure what colours to use and too many parts just look choppy. The animation in Pinky Doodle wasn't the absolute best but neither was it terrible and Yankee Doodle Pink just treats it in a way that cheapens it.
Because of how much of Pinky Doodle is used in Yankee Doodle Pink the music score does feel like Pinky Doodle re-scored, and the new score didn't work, to me it just didn't fit. The original score was livelier and had more bite, the new score was at a slower tempo which didn't match the fast pace of the cartoon, and came over as too repetitive and too subdued, somewhat stock as well. Outside of the water gag Yankee Doodle Pink is not particularly funny, what was entertaining in Pinky Doodle is undermined here by the choppy editing and it's a little repetitive too. Only about 20% of the cartoon is original material, including the new score, and the rest is a poorly treated version of Pinky Doodle, the story here feeling both rushed and thin and not as cohesive. Yankee Doodle Pink has a re-invented ending that is nowhere near as funny or clever as the one in Pinky Doodle, which also made much more sense and fitted the cartoon better. And while I tolerated the horse in Pinky Doodle where he was amusing and cunning, his character design is still ugly and he comes across as annoying here, all you remember him from here is his grating laugh.
Overall, one of the most pointless Pink Panther cartoons along with Pink-In and Pinkologist, and even more so actually considering while those two were like clip shows Yankee Doodle Pink was literally Pinky Doodle re-made pretty badly. And along with those two and Cat and the Pinkstalk it is from personal opinion one of the worst Pink Panther cartoons. 4/10 Bethany Cox
