I was watching some of the early Pink Panther - Inspector short cartoons the other day, and was just entranced by their backgrounds.

Trying to find images of these things on the web has been nearly impossible. Even people who adore the Pink Panther cartoons don't talk much about the art -- they're mad for the characters. I love the characters too (especially the Inspector), but I would love a discussion of the art itself.

I did find a Wikipedia entry about it:

"The series' distinctive style is seen in the grease pencil (rather than ink) outlines of the characters as well as the unusual treatment of the background. In these shorts, the background images were xeroxed from drawings onto clear acetate and then painted on their reverse sides like a typical character cel. Some areas, however, were painted with a sponge and then scratched with a razor for effect. These cels, which were laid over solid-color cards and photographed under the character cels, were unlike the usual acrylic, watercolor, or oil-painted animation backgrounds."

I'm struck by the drawing style of animator Fritz Freleng, who was able to depict complex French architecture inside and out (with all of its ornaments and curliques) in a simple, soft, sketchy style that creates the sense of a fully realized environment with the minimum of lines. These backgrounds are so PURTY! Unfortunately, the Pink Panther characters, especially later on in the series when they stopped using grease pencil to draw them, feel like they're from another world from the rest of the cartoon. It would be better if the characters and backgrounds were more of a piece. But it's really satisfying to see an animated cartoon where the background is treated as art, and nothing is left undone.