<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Audio </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Original music </Th> <Td> "The Pink Panther Theme" "Meglio stasera" </Td> </Tr> <P> The Pink Panther is a British - American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy - mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau . The franchise began with the release of the classic Pink Panther film in 1963 . The role of Clouseau was originated by and is most closely associated with Peter Sellers . Most of the films were written and directed by Blake Edwards, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini . Elements and characters inspired by the films were adapted into other media, including books, comic books and animated series . </P> <P> The first film in the series derives its name from the eponymous pink diamond that has an enormous size and value . The diamond is called the "Pink Panther" because the flaw at its center, when viewed closely, is said to resemble a leaping pink panther . The phrase reappears in the title of the fourth film The Return of the Pink Panther, in which the theft of the diamond is again the centre of the plot . The phrase was used for all the subsequent films in the series, even when the jewel did not figure in the plot . It ultimately appeared in six of the eleven films . </P>

When was the first pink panther movie made