Roland and Rattfink

Roland and Rattfink is a series of animated shorts produced and released from 1968 to 1971. The main characters also made several guest appearances on the The Pink Panther animated series. The series was produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng.

Plot
The cartoons concerned blond, good-looking, pacifist Roland and the many attempts by the evil, mustachioed Rattfink to ruin his good time. The cartoons were surprisingly off-beat and painted the two characters as extreme polar opposites. Roland seemed to parody the peace-loving, 'Make Love, Not War,' long-haired 'good guy' as a gentle, kind, and soft-hearted youth. Rattfink was, however, a cynical, mischievous, negative and malicious man (appearing older than Roland) out to destroy anything happy or positive.

Roland and Rattfink were both voiced by Lennie Weinrib (except in "The Deadwood Thunderball" where they were voiced by John Byner and Dave Barry).

Hurts and Flowers (one long, running joke about Rattfink destroying Roland's daisies) concluded with Rattfink getting killed and Roland leaving daisies on his grave. When Roland walked away, Rattfink's ghost rose from the grave to throw the flowers at him. Seventeen cartoons were produced.

Availabilty

 * The series was released January 27, 2009 on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment as a part of The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection. There is no release date at this time for a single release.


 * The original shorts are available to view on Hulu.