The Pink Panther Theme

Henry Mancini composed "The Pink Panther Theme" for the 1963 comedy film The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. The piece opens with a sly, shuffling bass line and a whistle-like melody that sets a mischievous tone, perfectly matched to the animated panther that slinks through the opening credits. That cartoon character, created by David DePatie and Friz Freleng, moves in sync with the music, and the sequence became as famous as the movie itself. The theme earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score at the 37th Oscars, though it lost to the Sherman Brothers' work on Mary Poppins.

The track's most distinctive element is the tenor saxophone solo by Plas Johnson, a New Orleans-raised session musician who also backed artists like Frank Sinatra and B.B. King. Johnson's solo was improvised on the spot during the recording session, and its relaxed, bluesy phrasing gives the theme its enduring cool. Released under the RCA Corporation label, the single runs about two minutes. Over the decades, the tune has become a jazz standard and the signature melody for a long series of sequels and animated shorts, outgrowing the film that spawned it.

Johnson died on July 15, 2026, at age 94, and his passing was covered by outlets including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian. The official audio, uploaded to Henry Mancini's YouTube channel on December 9, 2014, has accumulated millions of views. A separate video of the original cartoon intro has reportedly reached 49 million views over 18 years. The theme remains widely available on streaming services, including Spotify and YouTube Music. [edit]