The Little Man (The Pink Panther)

The Little Man, was a regular character who appeared in the original Pink Panther shorts created by David DePatie and Friz Freleng.

History
The Little Man first appeared in 1964 in the first entry of the Pink Panther animated series, The Pink Phink. The character was the perfect foil for the Pink Panther and would appear in the series throughout its 16-year duration.

The Little Man appears in various roles throughout the entire original series. He seldom speaks and has a distinctive big nose, and is usually white, but sometimes skin colored. Sometimes he seems to be totally naked, at other times he wears a costume fitting to his profession in the picture (or at least a hat). Strangely the Little Man's nudity did not trigger any controversy due to inappropriateness of nudity in children's animation, probably because his character design didn't have a lot of anatomical detail, which includes the character lacking genitals and buttocks. Several cartoons depict him with a white dog as his pet.

While he bears a resemblance to The Inspector in the animated credits of Pink Panther films, the Little Man is usually said to be a caricature of Friz Freleng, with his mustache, short stature, and equally short temper. (These same characteristics of Freleng had previously served as an inspiration for Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon character Yosemite Sam.)

The Little Man appeared in the 1993 TV series, The Pink Panther where he is voiced by Wallace Shawn. He goes by various names as well as filing various roles as he does in the shorts. In the series, he's skin-colored.

The Little Man also appears in the Cartoon Network show Pink Panther and Pals as a main character and main antagonist in the entire series (here renamed as Big Nose), he always has a plan to get rid of the teenaged Panther in an antagonistic manner, or if he is annoying him, but Pink Panther winds up foiling his plans. Sometimes his dog tries to get rid of the Pink Panther only to side with the feline later on in the short.