The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril

Wanderlust Interactive

Industry	Video game development
Headquarters	United States
Products	The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril

The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril is an adventure title developed by Wanderlust Interactive and distributed by BMG Interactive (USA first edition), Simon & Schuster Interactive (USA second edition), Anglia Multimedia (UK), and Ravensburger Interactive (Germany). Launched in October 1996 for Windows platforms, this game merges educational elements with classic point-and-click mechanics. Players navigate the Pink Panther through six distinct nations—England, Egypt, China, Bhutan, India, and Australia—unraveling a mystery while gaining cultural knowledge. Contrary to the character’s usual silent portrayal, Michael Sinterniklaas provides full voice acting for the Pink Panther.

Inspired by the 1993–95 television series The Pink Panther, the game utilized familiar branding to appeal to families and educational audiences. Its follow-up, The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink, was released on October 18, 1997, further establishing the series within the educational adventure genre.

Gameplay

The game employs point-and-click navigation, allowing players to steer the Pink Panther through various environments, interact with characters and objects, solve puzzles, and progress through the narrative. Items of importance are stored in Pink’s pouch, which can be accessed by clicking on him. Additionally, players can consult the Pink Digital Assistant (PDA) at any moment to explore information about each country’s native peoples, languages, attire, entertainment, art, history, wildlife, and cuisine. The PDA’s main subjects are presented by cameo appearances from characters featured in the 1993-95 TV show.

Plot

Serving as a secret agent for the Inspector, the Pink Panther is dispatched to Camp Chilly Wa-Wa—an elite international summer camp designed for gifted children of prominent individuals. His objective is to maintain camper happiness to avert global discord. At camp, he encounters a multicultural group of children—Nigel, Chione, Yung-Li, Ananda, Indrani, and Kumoken—as well as their counselor. Pink also reunites with his scientist acquaintance Helmut Von Schmarty, who demonstrates inventions such as the Dial-a-Day device capable of manipulating local weather and time.

The villainous Dogfather infiltrates the camp under the guise of a "Better Camping Bureau" agent intent on shutting down the facility if disturbances occur. He spies on Pink and sabotages Von Schmarty’s Dial-a-Day machine to sow disorder. As campers begin behaving uncharacteristically, Pink employs Von Schmarty’s PDA for investigation and travels to each child’s homeland to resolve problems while evading Dogfather’s operatives Pugg and Louie.

Pink’s global journey involves retrieving Nigel's Guy Fawkes puppet in London by negotiating with Nigel's influential father; securing supplies in Cairo while uncovering that Chione never left camp; addressing Yung-Li’s peculiar conduct amid cultural tensions in Beijing; earning favor with Ananda's father—the King of Bhutan—and paying respects to Indrani’s grandfather in India; and confronting sabotage attempts en route to Australia. In the Outback, Kumoken’s spirit animal—a crocodile—alerts Pink that danger threatens the camp.

Ultimately, Pink reveals Dogfather’s scheme to replace the children and Von Schmarty with robots programmed to despise the camp so that Dogfather can establish a "Dogburger" fast food outlet on its grounds. After a climactic showdown utilizing Von Schmarty’s inventions, Pink apprehends the antagonists and restores order at Camp Chilly Wa-Wa. Upon completion of his mission, Pink resigns from his role under the Inspector after discovering his next assignment involves working undercover as a cafeteria employee.

Soundtrack

The game's musical score, issued on CD on October 21, 1997, features nine original compositions with lyrics penned by Emily Kapnek and melodies composed by Jared Faber. Additionally, it includes a 1990s pop-rock rendition of the "The Pink Panther Theme" arranged by Faber. This theme was originally designed for the introductory cutscene, although the in-game version was altered slightly to circumvent copyright concerns. All pieces were produced at City Sound located in New York City. Seven of these tracks are inspired by the traditions and histories of the nations represented within the game.