The Ant and the Aardvark (1968)

I wrote an article this past week for Radio WFMU about Don Adams'not-so-well known penchant for joke stealing. In the article I mention both Jackie Mason and John Byner which got me thinking about this Depatie-Freleng classic. John Byner provided all the voices ... including a Jewish aardvark. I always loved the music in this cartoon - it was provided by jazz greats like Pete Candoli, Ray Brown and Shelley Manne. This was Depatie-Freleng's first venture into shorts unrelated to The Pink Panther. Their series of shorts featuring The Inspector was the first without the panther but it was also loosley based on Inspector Clouseau. The Ant and The Aardvark was the first clean break into something original. The shorts were originally released theatrically and then later repackaged for television.