enters Dreyfus' cell and, after watching the credits roll by, films him writing "The End" on the wall with his foot. Cast Production In the early 1970s, Blake Edwards wrote a 15–20 page outline for another Pink Panther film and presented it to series producer Walter Mirisch. The producer loved the idea, but the franchise's distributor and main backer, United Artists, rejected the film as they had no interest in working with Edwards nor Peter Sellers, whose careers had declined. British producer Lew Grade agreed to finance two films for Blake Edwards as part of a deal to get Edwards' wife, Julie Andrews, to appear in a TV special for him. The first movie was The Tamarind Seed. Edwards wanted to make a project set in Canada called Rachel and the Stranger, but Grade disliked the idea and offered to buy Edwards out of the second commitment. Edwards wanted to make a second movie, however; in order to help restore his tainted reputation in Hollywood. Grade said he then suggested making a new Pink Panther film and Edwards agreed, if Sellers would also agree to do it. Grade managed to talk Sellers into it and the project was on. UA agreed to give The Return of the Pink Panther to Grade in exchange for world distribution and a share of the profits; thereafter, Grade's company would permanently own worldwide rights to the film. Grade said that Eric Pleskow of United Artists was offered the chance to come into the movie as a partner but declined, thinking the movie would be a financial failure; he only wanted UA to distribute. Richard Williams, later the animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, did the animated open and closing titles for this picture and The Pink Panther Strikes Again, due to DePatie–Freleng's work on the Pink Panther shorts and other cartoon projects for TV and film. Williams got help animating this from two noted animators, Ken Harris and Art Babbitt. Carol Cleveland, best known for her regular appearances on Monty Python's Flying Circus, has a small part as a swimming pool diver. A soundtrack album, featuring Henry Mancini's score for the film, was released by RCA Records. A novelization, written by the film's co-writer, Frank Waldman, was belatedly published by Ballantine Books in March 1977 (). Reception Critical reception In The New York Times, Vincent Canby gave the film a positive review, writing,