Having fun with a giant pink cat

I remember when I was a kid I used to watch the Pink Panther cartoon series on Cartoon Network. The Pink Panther (see above) has always been an appealing cartoon to me because of the music and the humorous situations the big pink cat gets into. In fact, I believe that without the music and sound effects to illustrate the Pink Panther's many moods  or the situations he gets into, the audience would not fully grasp what is going on and thus, lose out on getting the humor of the Pink Panther.

Believe me, I tried watching a Pink Panther cartoon short without any sound and it was not as fun as it was when I watched it with sound. The Pink Panther cartoon short (see below) I watched was an episode called GI Pink where the Pink Panther enlists in the United States Army. The episode starts out with the Pink Panther walking down the city sidewalk, when suddenly he spots an advertisement for the United States Army. Seeing the advertisement and feeling a sense of patriotic duty, he decides to join the army.

Right a way, the Pink Panther gets into trouble with his drill sergeant because he is put on sweeping duty; this happens after he lines up to get his rifle, but the drill sergeant gives him a push broom instead. The drill sergeant gives the Pink Panther a push broom because he is annoyed with the fact that the Pink Panther's uniform is too big. Giving,the Pink Panther a push broom results in something that the drill sergeant does not expect, when the Pink Panther turns around and marches off with the broom resting on his shoulder, the broom goes off and hits the drill sergeant in the face, as if it was a rifle going off.

The drill sergeant tries his best to make the Pink Panther miserable, but instead ends up either getting shot in the face by a rifle blast or getting chase by a big dog. The drill sergeant also gets into trouble with the MPs or military police because they are seen twice in the cartoon beating the drill sergeant for getting a general shot in the face and for trying to hit the general's big dog. The episode culminates with the drill sergeant trying to ship the Pink Panther to the United States Navy, but fails because the Pink Panther returns on a ship that pulls onto the base and the drill sergeant chases after the ship when the ship departs. The Pink Panther simply shrugs and returns to duty.

While, I must admit that anybody can figure out what is going on without the sound or music, I believe that people would lose out on the humor and charm that is exhibited by the characters because these effects enhances the characters expressions and personalities. For instance, when the Pink Panther sees the advertisement for the United States Army, patriotic music is played for a few seconds to show his patriotism and when the drill sergeant keeps getting shot in the face or beaten up by the MPs, a gun shot sound  and a beating sound effect are used to enhance the comedic effects of the story. Without, these music and sound effects, the story would be too bland in my opinion. In the end, I think the Pink Panther is one of those cartoon series that uses both music and sound effects pretty effectively.