Pink, Plunk, Plink (1966) User Reviews

Unique Ending Helps Save Mediocre Effort

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 2 June 2007]

Our boy is obviously trying to become a great violinist, as we see pages of instructions and lessons littered on his floor. After a few notes, we can tell he is anything but ready. Nonetheless, he packs his violin and heads out to a concert hall (which looks like Albert Hall in London), where he promptly gets booted out. Later, however, when the real concert starts, featuring Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the Panther sneaks back inside and sets himself up in the orchestra! (What happened to the Security?)

Most of the "story" is simply the Pink Panther playing different instruments and tormenting this temperamental conductor during the concert. You couldn't root for either party as the PP had no business there and the conductor was an idiot. Although certainly not boring, I found very little funny in this cartoon but the last minute was "cute" and one of the most unique endings in this series.

Fairly enjoyable but not exceptional

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 30 May 2013]

Pink, Plunk, Plink is really not really among the Pink Panther's best cartoons and did have potential to be much more. The previous reviewers have summed up Pink, Plunk, Plink very well, and this review is not going to add much to what has already been said. The story's set-up is nice if rather unoriginal, but it does come across as thin and routine. Much of the cartoon is Pinky and the conductor trying to outsmart one another, not much different from other Pink Panther cartoons actually, and it is one of those that has some funny moments but it's never hilarious and the fun is not consistent or sustained throughout really. The conductor I also found to be annoying. However, Pinky is still cool and fun, and still a strong character to carry his cartoons. The animation is crisp and clean and elegantly coloured, while the music is still catchy and upbeat, fitting with the antics wonderfully. The theme tune for one so iconic is also infectious. The ending is very cute and unlike other endings of the Pink Panther cartoons, and it was nice to catch a glimpse of Henry Mancini in the audience. All in all, fairly enjoyable but I've seen better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Hold your applause

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 6/10 · 8 January 2006]

In this cartoon the Pink Panther is practising his own theme on a violin at home. He fancies himself as a bit of a professional musician and sneaks into a grand concert of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. His various attempts at hijacking the orchestra into playing The Pink Panther theme fall flat as the overzealous conductor goes crazy at him.

The jokes mainly come from them outsmarting each other. Only some of them are imaginative but the rest is not that funny. A pretty average cartoon overall, I'm afraid. In the end, after his theme takes over, the only person in the audience is Henry Mancini. Who is obviously applauding.

As in many if not most Pink Panther Pictures . . .

[cricket30 · 7/10 · 8 December 2022]

. . . the lanky cat jumps the gun at the expense of the Little Man. In the guise of a symphony orchestra conductor, the not-so-great White hope gets blasted by a firearm fiendishly hidden in the panther's violin bow. After intentionally spoiling three quarters of Beethoven's Fifth, most viewers will be pulling for the tiny dude to perforate and defer Calamity Cat by the close of this episode. However, these hopes are cruelly dashed when the fractious feline fires Micro Man from the Concert Hall on a bottle rocked callously disguised as a baton. The rest of the story is pretty predictable. When the maestro is away, mostly malcontents play.

Maestro Panther!

[OllieSuave-007 · 10/10 · 17 July 2016]

The Pink Panther was practicing the Pink Panther theme on his violin and attempts to perform with the symphony at the concert hall, only to be thrown out. However, he sneaks back in and interrupts the orchestra's rendition of Beethoven's Symphony Number Five with the panther theme, angering the pointy-nosed and short-tempered conductor.

There are plenty of laugh-out-loud humor, from a violin bow going off like a shotgun to the panther switching the conductor's baton with a rocket. The panther's attempts to inject his theme into the music are hilarious and the conductor's reactions are just classic. There's even a special cameo at the end of the cartoon short. One of the funniest Pink Panther cartoons I've seen!

Grade A

Orchestral Meta-Madness

[owen-watts · 8/10 · 17 March 2021]

Pink Panther Odyssey Part XIX

Getting their mojo back somewhat after figuring out (finally) that their best bet is to double-down on tormenting the little man - this brilliantly anarchic toon sees Pink creating orchestral chaos at the Hollywood Bowl and features a fantastically out-of-the-blue cameo at the end. Also, I know it's another WB swipe but the brilliant suddenness of the gunshot at the start made me bark with laughter.

The battle for Conductria

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 20 December 2018]

"Pink, Plunk, Plink" is an American color cartoon from 1966 directed by Hawley Pratt and written by Michael O'Connor and even if this one is also already way older than half a century, ot is not anymore from the Golden Age of Animation. But it tries to score with some of its formulas. Music is a crucial component in some of the most known Warner Bros and Tom & Jerry cartoons, also classical music, so in these under 7 minutes we have here it is Pink Panther vs. a tiny conductor who looks like the antagonist every time in these PP cartoons and they are battling with firepower who is the one that should be allowed to be in charge of the orchestra. You know the outcome. Well, I must say the wit occasionally is not bad, but the comedy overall left me unimpressed, like the rifle and rocket scenes for example. Either you hear explosions or (good) music or complete silence, well at the beginning the PP tune too, but the fact that you hear absolutely nothing is not too rare in these Pink Panther shorts. There is a sense of minimalism to them. The best example is the animation. Backgrounds are frequently in one color only and they sure did not waste any time on animating the audience here. Even the orchestra is barely seen at all. Welll, if you want to defend it you can say it is minimalism. If you are critical, you can say it is just without attention to detail. I am not sure which side to pick here. The moment when the two protagonists at the end become one person almost is not too bad. But this and also the surprising cameo by Henry Mancini alone are not enough good moments for me to recommend this short. It says nothing too positive about the franchise that this is one of the most known PP shorts. watch something else instead.

There are lots of funny animals in all this world - The Pink Panther isn't one of them.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 14 August 2021]

The Pink Panther wants to be a professional musician in an orchestra, but instead of auditioning and earning his position like everyone else, he just sneaks into a concert hall and starts to play, much to the annoyance of the conductor.

Another nasty piece of horribly dated '60s animation, this one is badly drawn and garishly coloured, and suffers from horrible characters: the conductor pulls a gun and shoots someone in the audience for coughing (I kid you not), and the Pink Panther is his usual annoying self, deliberately acting like a total ass. The only good thing about the whole cartoon is the (live-action) cameo by composer Henry Mancini at the end, who applauds the panther for conducting the orchestra in playing the Pink Panther theme music.

3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for the ending.