The Inspector is an American series of 34 theatrical cartoon shorts produced between 1965 and 1969 by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists.

The cartoons are dedicated to an animated version of Inspector Clouseau comically battling against a rogues' gallery of internationally styled villains.

Outside of the episode titles, much of the humor in these shorts is derived in part from the surreality of the villains and situations, and also from the stylized animated slapstick, the brunt of which is endured by the Inspector, who is often bested by his nemeses, forcing him to face the wrath of his supervisor, the blustery and ill-tempered Commissioner (based on Herbert Lom's portrayal of Commissioner Dreyfus, if somewhat more violent) who holds him in well-deserved contempt.

[2] But in slight contrast to the completely inept live-action Clouseau, the animated unnamed Inspector is more competent, though still prone to bad luck and poor judgment.

The Commissioner is a heavily built, blustery, ill-tempered, bullying, bald man dressed in a suit and a black tie.

[1] The first entry in the series, The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation, preceded screenings of the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball.

The Inspector character design remained basically the same throughout the DePatie–Freleng shorts, and was used in the opening credit sequence of the 1968 live-action film Inspector Clouseau (with Alan Arkin as Clouseau), but in the opening titles of later Pink Panther features beginning in the 1970s, his look is changed dramatically to resemble Sellers, and then Steve Martin in the 2006 reboot of the series.

[1] 17 entries made their television debut during the inaugural season (1969–1970) of The Pink Panther Show, featuring shorter opening titles (minus credits).