In the beginning, the idea was to start a series of films starring David Niven as gentleman thief, but Peter Sellers as totally incompetent Detective Couseau stole the show, and the animated main title character, the Pink Panther walked out of the trailer and opening sequence and into an extended series of his own.
First, the teaser:
Then, the first cartoon of the series:
The character has been streamlined and become a silent comedian: there is almost no speech in the cartoons, except in foreign-released versions when a voice-over is used to read English, like signs and names.