This year marks the golden anniversary of the US Bicentennial, and the patriotic pop culture of 1976 included DePatie-Freleng Enterprises’ theatrical short cartoon Pinky Doodle. The film was one of the studio’s last to be produced first for the theatres and then for television broadcast. By this time the studio’s distributor United Artists had already released the final episode of the Dogfather series, leaving Pink Panther as the only active theatrical series in the late spring of 1976. Pinky Doodle is a product of its time as a Bicentennial memento. However, it also reflects 1976 because of its tameness.
The film has some standard elements of the Pink Panther series, such as attractively stylized backgrounds and musical cues from Walter Greene and Bill Lava. Studio stalwart John W. Dunn wrote the episode, and longtime studio contributor Sid Marcus directed it. On the other hand, the cartoon is an atypical series entry in its parody of an actual historic event. It casts the Pink Panther in the role of Paul Revere, and he spends much of the cartoon informing colonists of the approaching Redcoats. The Liberty Bell makes an appearance, too. It is an animated contribution to Bicentennial culture, not unlike the television cartoon series The U.S. of Archie.
Pinky Doodle was released to theatres on May 28th 1976, but by then DePatie-Freleng routinely avoided violent scenes in order to ensure its cartoons’ broadcasts on network television. Colonists grab their guns but do not fire them. A scuffle between the Pink Panther and the Redcoats takes place off screen; sound effects of clutter and a shaking camera-frame depict the fight instead. Also, unlike previous pairings of the Pink Panther and a temperamental horse in Pinto Pink (1967) and Pink Valiant (1968), the horse does not kick Pink Panther in Pinky Doodle. Even just three years earlier, the horse Fester kicks Hoot Kloot in the theatrical cartoon Stirrups and Hiccups. But network censors in 1976 shunned violent cartoons, and Pinky Doodle’s content reflects the studio’s hopes for the cartoon’s future in television.
Ironically, in 1978 the studio revised the cartoon for television as the made-for-tv cartoon Yankee Doodle Pink. The remake leaves much of Pinky Doodle intact. One exception is the replacement of Greene’s and Lava’s cues with music from Steven DePatie. More importantly, the colonists do not grab their guns. Instead, they change into blue uniforms. So, just two years after Pinky Doodle’s release, even the appearance of merely holding a firearm was too violent for network censors. For the record, UA released the revised Yankee Doodle Pink to theaters in January 1981.
Fifty years after Pinky Doodle’s release, it remains an entertaining if mild entry of the Pink Panther series. Its gentle parody of history makes it an appropriate choice for any cartoon roster with a patriotic theme. It stands out as a cartoon about a war but without any scenes of characters firing at each other. It is a nonviolent depiction of a revolution, and as such it encapsulates the spirit of 1976.
Christopher P. Lehman is a professor of ethnic studies at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. His books include American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era and The Colored Cartoon, and he has been a visiting fellow at Harvard University.
For me, the most obvious difference between “Pinky Doodle” and “Yankee Doodle Pink” is that the latter has a noticeable layout error just before the end, making it appear as if the Pink Panther is falling, not into the bell tower as in the earlier cartoon, but behind it.
Both cartoons give the date of the Pink Panther’s midnight ride as “April 18th, 1776.” Devotees of Longfellow, however, know that Paul Revere’s midnight ride took place precisely one year earlier, “on the eighteenth of April in seventy-five.” Unlike his celebrated predecessor, the Pink Panther apparently made it all the way to Philadelphia!
They’re both fun cartoons, although, as with so many other things, I personally prefer the earlier ones.
Ironically, both of these cartoons freeze up on the DVD set and won’t play, so the online versions are the only ones I have had access to.
The motivation of the horse is a bit ambiguous. Clearly, he doesn’t want to be ridden, but once the Panther is on his back he is cooperative some of the time despite wearing a Tory hat. Then he again becomes cantankerous by turns. Also noteworthy is the use of flyers to spread the word about the invasion, since the Panther does not speak. Damage to the Panther’s tail, or any other body part, is usually disregarded in other cartoons, so it’s ironic that the medics, and Tory medics at that, interrupt his Paul Revere mission to “operate” on his tail. Also interesting to note is that in both versions the band aid disappears as soon as the Panther leaves the infirmary. Apparently, a miracle cure has been effected! The purpose of the different versions is perhaps most evident in the ending. The first one closes out on the Liberty Bell while the second finishes with a scene of the Pink Panther. In 1976, the Bicentennial was paramount, so emphasizing the Liberty Bell would be logical, whereas two years later, it apparently was more appropriate to give the spotlight to the star character.
Certainly it’s a sign of changing times that in 1976 the Bicentennial was nearly all-pervasive while in 2026 the 250th observance has been very low key.
Thanks for this post! I’m especially intrigued by the fact that De Patie-Freling continued to produce animated theatrical shorts long after most of the rival studios had stopped making them.
Good article, Mr. Lehman. It’s nice to see your writing again. I prefer the earlier Pink Panther shorts over the later ones, but “Pinky Doodle” is pretty alright.
I, for one, tired quickly of those “incessant” …”Bicentennial Minutes”. They are not an entity I pine for, or want to even repeat. (I just wanted them to show the TOONS!!!) LOL!
Heh, impeccable timing, given I did a vlog comparing the original “Pinky Doodle” with its “Yankee Doodle Pink” remake! As a kid, it confused me why there were two versions of that cartoon. “Yankee Doodle Pink” also reminds me of the 1973 redrawn-colorized version of Bosko’s “Ups ‘n Downs” (a.k.a. “Off to the Races”), the way it has a completely re-animated ending.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8epF1FGNa80
Both cartoons were directed by long-time animation veteran Sid Marcus.
There were two other instances in which a 1975 NBC Saturday AM/1976 theatrical Panther short was remade for his 1978 show on ABC. THE PINK OF ARABEE became THE PINK OF BAGHDAD, with a gag of a rope smacking the Panther that was in the first version cut out of the second. ROCKY PINK became PINK PET PEBBLES. The latter added a lengthy scene of the full-sized rock rampaging through a park and chopping a statue down to size. In both cases, the remakes incorporated updated sound effects and music score. The latter made one realize how superior Walter Greene’s work was to Steve DePatie’s.