Talk:List of The Pink Panther characters

Cato vs. Kato
Cato (spelled "Kato" in A Shot in the Dark as a tribute to Kato in the Green Hornet television series)

That above-mentioned 1964 film (which first introduced the character) could not have been influenced by a 1966-67 TV series. However, the character (and initial spelling of the name) may have been (and probably was) inspired by the Green Hornet comics and film serials from the 1940s. I suspect that the spelling change for his second (1975) and subsequent appearances was in effort to avoid continued suggestion that their recurring character was an intentional parody or unlicensed usage of someone else's trademarked property, which had since been revived and become well-known through Bruce Lee's portrayal of the action-hero sidekick on television. Starling2001 (talk) 19:01, 13 April 2023 (UTC)