The Pink of Bagdad

The Pink Panther visits a city that is supposed to be Baghdad, who soaks up some sightseeing and runs into a snake charmer. Instead of a snake, a rope rises from the jar and takes to the liking of the Pink Panther's tail. What results is a lot of back and forth tangling between the rope and the panther's tail.

The Pink Panther also has a run-in with a string of spaghetti, which also takes a liking to the panther's tail.

This cartoon is actually a retread of an earlier story titled "Pink of Arabee," but with a few different scenes. But, it's a rather uniquely done cartoon and some laughter here and there and some nice slapstick action.

Grade B

Re-issues/remakes of previous Pink Panther cartoons have not always fared well. The Pink of Bagdad is almost identical to The Pink of Arabee with the exception of a few differences at the end, that don't work quite as well, but like The Pink of Bagdad despite being a little pointless is a decent and amusing Pink Panther cartoon for a re-issue, it isn't a classic but it's hardly a disaster.

The music has a lot of charm, the theme tune still hasn't gotten old despite it having been heard more times than you can count and the Arabian flavour of the incidental music is very cleverly done, how it sounds like a variant of the main theme but with an Arabian spin. There is much to enjoy in the gags too, the ending is still good and the rope collapsing at the sight of Pinky's skunk tail is even funnier. I love also how the snake charmer just carries on playing as if oblivious to everything going on, despite a fair bit of it happening right under his nose. None of them feel rushed or drawn out.

Pinky is still the cool and likable panther we know and love, and the rope is one of his funnier foils in a while. It may do a lot of the same thing, trying to get Pinky's affections and keeping him no matter what, but you've just got to love how it has a mind of its own and how it moves exactly how a snake would when charmed. The Pink of Bagdad, like The Pink of Arabee, is not perfect however. The pacing is a little staid like at the beginning, once the rope is introduced the pace gets better but could have had more energy. The story is somewhat routine and lacking in crispness at times.

But it was the animation that came off least. Even for the minimal, simple style the Pink Panther cartoons adopt, the animation looks rather rushed and simplistic, a couple of parts especially with Pinky's fair few attempts trying to escape from the rope and the pot it comes from where it repeats itself. In conclusion, unexceptional and a little pointless but still amusing without being one of the best or worst Pink Panther cartoons. 6/10 Bethany Cox