The Pink Panther
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50 free The Pink Panther trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Pink Panther began in 1963 as a stylish caper film and grew into one of cinema's longest-running comedy series, thanks to a clumsy French detective who was only meant to be a supporting part. Peter Sellers made Inspector Clouseau so funny that the sequels were rebuilt around him, while the cartoon cat from the opening credits walked off into a career of his own. This quiz covers both sides of the franchise: the original films and their running gags, the actors who played Clouseau and the people around him, the later reboot films, the famous theme music, and the animated shorts and Saturday-morning shows. It is written for fans who grew up with the films or the cartoons, and for quiz hosts who want a movie round with a few surprises. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will pick up some behind-the-scenes stories along the way.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In the 1963 film The Pink Panther, the title refers to which priceless gem owned by Princess Dala?
A diamond
A diamond with a flaw at its centre said to resemble a leaping panther gives the film its name. The cartoon cat was created only to personify the gem in the opening credits.
Q 02Which composer of Moon River wrote the prowling jazz theme that opens the 1963 film The Pink Panther?
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini gave the animators a tempo to work to, so the cartoon cat in the title sequence moves in time with the tune. The single went on to win three Grammy Awards.
Q 03Which comedian played Inspector Clouseau in the 2006 reboot of The Pink Panther, a film he also co-wrote?
Steve Martin
Steve Martin wrote the script with Len Blum and took the role after Mike Myers and Chris Tucker were considered. Reviews were mostly negative, but the film still earned $164 million worldwide.
Q 04Which pop superstar played Xania, the murdered coach's girlfriend, in the 2006 film The Pink Panther?
Beyoncé
Beyoncé also recorded Check on It for the film, and the single became a number-one hit. Her character turns out to have the missing gem sewn into the lining of her purse.
Q 05Which manservant has standing orders to ambush Inspector Clouseau at home in the Pink Panther films?
Cato
Cato attacks without warning to keep his employer's fighting skills sharp, and the brawls usually wreck the apartment. The running gag began in the second film of the series.
Q 06The end credits of The Pink Panther Strikes Again show a giant panther lurking under the water, spoofing which film?
Jaws
Jaws had come out the year before, and the cartoon detective surfaces in the river unaware of the huge pink predator beneath him. The film's opening titles spoof Dracula and Singin' in the Rain too.
Q 07Which instrument carries the slinky main melody in the original 1963 recording of The Pink Panther Theme?
Saxophone
The saxophone solo was played on a tenor by Plas Johnson, whom the composer had in mind before writing the tune. He said he nearly always chose his players first and wrote around them.
Q 08In the 2006 Pink Panther reboot, Inspector Clouseau is arrested at an airport after failing to pronounce which food?
Hamburger
Hamburger defeats his accent, and he had also tried to smuggle some onto the flight home. His boss had already swapped his bag for one full of weapons to make sure he was caught.
Q 09Which director, the husband of Julie Andrews, made most of the Pink Panther films starring Peter Sellers?
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards is said to have bonded with Sellers over silent-era clowns such as Buster Keaton on a drive from the airport. That shared taste pushed a suave caper film towards slapstick.
Q 10The cartoon Pink Panther used karate to carve the letter K from a block of stone on which children's TV show?
Sesame Street
Sesame Street borrowed him for a short lesson on the letter K, and the punchline is that his stone carving crumbles moments after he finishes it.
Q 11In the Pink Panther's Oscar-winning first cartoon short, a little man keeps trying to paint a house which colour?
Blue
Blue is the painter's choice, but the Panther keeps swapping in pink paint behind his back. By the end the house, the garden and even the sun have turned pink.
Q 12At the end of The Pink Panther Strikes Again, a bed snaps upright and hurls Inspector Clouseau into which river?
The Seine
The Seine receives Clouseau, a Russian agent and his manservant when the reclining bed crashes through the apartment wall. A surprise attack by the manservant is what sets the bed off.
Q 13What is the first name of Inspector Clouseau, the bumbling French detective of the Pink Panther films?
Jacques
Q 21In The Pink Panther Strikes Again, a doomsday weapon makes which New York landmark vanish as a warning to the world?
UN headquarters
UN headquarters is disintegrated a week after the villain's televised threat, and he then demands that the world's governments kill Clouseau. Engineers from Sony designed the prop machine.
Q 22The costume party and frantic car chase in the 1963 film The Pink Panther take place in which capital city?
Rome
Rome hosts the party at the princess's villa, where two would-be thieves find the safe already empty. The pile-up in the piazza was a nod to Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent.
Q 23The score of the 1963 film The Pink Panther lost the Academy Award for Best Original Score to which musical?
Mary Poppins
Jacques Clouseau starts the series as an inspector and is later promoted to Chief Inspector, taking his own boss's job. Other countries rate him France's greatest detective until they meet him.
Q 14In The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Clouseau enters the villain's castle disguised as which professional?
A dentist
A dentist was needed for the villain's toothache, so Clouseau arrived as one, dosed them both with laughing gas and pulled the wrong tooth. The scene was inspired by Bob Hope in The Paleface.
Q 15In Revenge of the Pink Panther, Inspector Clouseau turns up at his own funeral disguised as which figure?
A priest
A priest's robes let Clouseau attend his own burial after the press wrongly reports his death. When he quietly reveals himself, his former boss faints and falls into the open grave.
Q 16Which Monty Python co-founder took over as Inspector Clouseau's exasperated boss in The Pink Panther 2?
John Cleese
John Cleese replaced the actor who held the part in the first reboot film and played the Chief Inspector as less hostile. He joined a cast that included Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina and Lily Tomlin.
Q 17Revenge of the Pink Panther climaxes with a chase into a fireworks warehouse in which Asian port city?
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is where Clouseau poses as a Mafia godfather to wreck a heroin deal. His old boss, following him into the warehouse, sets off the fireworks by accident.
Q 18The accident-prone American president in The Pink Panther Strikes Again was modelled on which real president of the day?
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford's reputation for clumsiness was a national joke at the time, and actor Dick Crockett looked and sounded like him.
Q 19Which James Bond star made a cameo as a surgically altered Inspector Clouseau in Curse of the Pink Panther?
Roger Moore
Roger Moore filmed his scenes during a break from making Octopussy and was billed under the joke name Turk Thrust II. The plot explains the new face as plastic surgery.
Q 20Which animal chases a red ant named Charlie in a cartoon series that shared The Pink Panther Show on television?
An aardvark
An aardvark is the hunter in The Ant and the Aardvark, though he often calls himself an anteater. Impressionist John Byner voiced both animals, basing the hunter on comedian Jackie Mason.
Mary Poppins and its songwriters, the Sherman Brothers, took the Oscar at the 37th Academy Awards. The losing score later ranked 20th on the American Film Institute's list of great film scores.
Q 24The cartoon Pink Panther became the advertising mascot of which American maker of pink fiberglass insulation?
Owens Corning
Owens Corning had begun dyeing its insulation pink and licensed the character to match the colour. The partnership has lasted more than four decades.
Q 25Which top-billed English star played gentleman thief Sir Charles Lytton in the 1963 film The Pink Panther?
David Niven
David Niven was meant to be the film's star, but Peter Sellers stole so many scenes that the sequels followed the detective instead.
Q 26Which star of Léon: The Professional played Gilbert Ponton, Clouseau's partner in the 2006 Pink Panther reboot?
Jean Reno
Jean Reno's gendarme reverses an old gag: Clouseau keeps launching surprise attacks on him and is flattened each time by a single blow. He returned for the 2009 sequel.
Q 27Which boss of Inspector Clouseau goes insane and holds the world to ransom in The Pink Panther Strikes Again?
Dreyfus
Dreyfus develops a twitch and a childlike giggle as Clouseau's blunders wear him down, a tic the actor devised for the part. He seems to be vaporised at the end, yet returns in the next film.
Q 28Sir Charles Lytton, the gentleman jewel thief of the 1963 film The Pink Panther, operates under which alias?
The Phantom
The Phantom's calling card is a white glove embroidered with a gold P. He ends the first film a free man, having framed Clouseau for his robberies.
Q 29In the 2006 film The Pink Panther, how is the French football coach killed moments after his team's win over China?
A poison dart
A poison dart is jabbed into the coach's neck during the celebrations, made to look as if it had been fired from a distance. The poison came from Chinese herbs, which sends the police after the wrong man.
Q 30Which Oscar winner for A Fish Called Wanda played Clouseau's scheming boss in the 2006 film The Pink Panther?
Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline had turned down the lead in Son of the Pink Panther years earlier, deciding after reading the script that it would not work. In 2006 his Chief Inspector uses Clouseau as a decoy.