Originally created by Friz Freleng and David DePatie for the opening credits of the film "The Pink Panther" (1964) starring Peter Sellers as a blundering French policeman named Inspector Clouseau, who searches for a huge diamond named The Pink Panther. The popularity of the movie led to immense positive feedback from audiences in regards to the animated pink cat, and DePatie and Freleng immediately began working on a series of animated shorts featuring the Pink Panther as the main character. With no dialogue and just the silky smooth saxophone playing of Henry Mancini, the cartoon gained quite a following, with the first entry of the series, "The Pink Phink", winning the 1964 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. The Pink Panther became a much loved Saturday morning cartoon in fall of 1969, running for over a decade in several different formats.