If you like the Pink Panther cartoons, those of The Inspector should appeal just as much. Am someone who does like the Pink Panther cartoons (love actually many of them), if more the early ones than those of the mid-70s onwards or so where quality was cheaper, the humour wasn't as funny and it tended to be repetitive. Found myself liking The Inspector cartoons just as much as the 60s Pink Panther cartoons as a child, like them even more through adult eyes.
'The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation' is a great first cartoons in the series, and a great way to introduce one to The Inspector cartoons if curious. There are thirty four The Inspector cartoons, all watchable and more, and 'The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation' stands out as among the best of them. All of the cartoons in The Inspector series have exactly the same main strengths to each other, though some had more interesting villains and cleverer and fresher stories with more surprises than others (while still delivering more than adequately on those elements).
Something that is the case with 'The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation'. Didn't find the story too predictable at all (even if jewel thievery is not a new concept in cartoons or anywhere), and with it being the first one it is one of the fresher ones, in a series that is on the formulaic side, with a couple of nice turns towards the end that didn't convolute things at all. The villain is one of the more imaginatively conceived ones with a nice job done with giving interesting personalities for the three heads.
What is also great is The Inspector character and the chemistry between him and his partner Deux Deux (also love his character). The Inspector's bumbling brings a great deal of amusement in the more slapstick-driven moments and did like that there was also a subtle irony in much of the comedy. This is beautifully and often hilariously contrasted with that of the more laid back and amusingly confused Deux Deux, one of the few characters in existence to make mumblings funny and not irritating or being over-whiny when complaining. Their interplay is a delight.
Really liked the humour here. There is slapstick physical comedy, which is violent but not overly so, never vulgar, sharply timed, well timed and most importantly of all it's funny. Even better is the verbal humour, whether the more ironic moments, the mumblings or The Inspector's frustrations with Deux Deux, appreciated the word-play being subtle yet witty. A few of the gags are agreed very corny and not everything surprises, my one complaint here.
Drawn in the unmistakable DePatie-Freleng style, the animation is great. Fairly simple in terms of drawing but never ugly, while the somewhat abstract backgrounds have nice attention to detail, more so than the Pink Panther cartoons (not a knock at all on the animation of that series), and don't look sparse. But it is the deep and rich colours that stand out in this regard. Pat Harrington Jr voices both The Inspector and Deux Deux and does wonderfully in providing the necessary energy and managing to differentiate the two voices that is important in making the contrast between the two believable.
Overall, great start for The Inspector cartoon series. 9/10.
'The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation' is a great first cartoons in the series, and a great way to introduce one to The Inspector cartoons if curious. There are thirty four The Inspector cartoons, all watchable and more, and 'The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation' stands out as among the best of them. All of the cartoons in The Inspector series have exactly the same main strengths to each other, though some had more interesting villains and cleverer and fresher stories with more surprises than others (while still delivering more than adequately on those elements).
Something that is the case with 'The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation'. Didn't find the story too predictable at all (even if jewel thievery is not a new concept in cartoons or anywhere), and with it being the first one it is one of the fresher ones, in a series that is on the formulaic side, with a couple of nice turns towards the end that didn't convolute things at all. The villain is one of the more imaginatively conceived ones with a nice job done with giving interesting personalities for the three heads.
What is also great is The Inspector character and the chemistry between him and his partner Deux Deux (also love his character). The Inspector's bumbling brings a great deal of amusement in the more slapstick-driven moments and did like that there was also a subtle irony in much of the comedy. This is beautifully and often hilariously contrasted with that of the more laid back and amusingly confused Deux Deux, one of the few characters in existence to make mumblings funny and not irritating or being over-whiny when complaining. Their interplay is a delight.
Really liked the humour here. There is slapstick physical comedy, which is violent but not overly so, never vulgar, sharply timed, well timed and most importantly of all it's funny. Even better is the verbal humour, whether the more ironic moments, the mumblings or The Inspector's frustrations with Deux Deux, appreciated the word-play being subtle yet witty. A few of the gags are agreed very corny and not everything surprises, my one complaint here.
Drawn in the unmistakable DePatie-Freleng style, the animation is great. Fairly simple in terms of drawing but never ugly, while the somewhat abstract backgrounds have nice attention to detail, more so than the Pink Panther cartoons (not a knock at all on the animation of that series), and don't look sparse. But it is the deep and rich colours that stand out in this regard. Pat Harrington Jr voices both The Inspector and Deux Deux and does wonderfully in providing the necessary energy and managing to differentiate the two voices that is important in making the contrast between the two believable.
Overall, great start for The Inspector cartoon series. 9/10.
