10 Film Sequels That Went In Wildly Different Directions

6. Return Of The Pink Panther

Peter Sellers was a human chameleon, yet for many he'll always be associated with the role of Inspector Clouseau. Famously constructed on a plane on the way over to film the original Pink Panther, the most incompetent boob outside of a Beverly Hills surgery played a supporting part in Blake Edwards' standalone farce. Before Will Ferrell got his groove on smashing motorbikes through walls, Sellers went one better half-destroying the planet as a top police bungler.

After vehicle/sequel A Shot In The Dark Sellers lost interest in the character, but a decade later Edwards signed him up for 1975's The Return Of The Pink Panther. This signalled an end to the elegance and the beginning of a great big ball of warped weirdity. From here on in the franchise was defined by outrageous disguises, elaborate stunts and an air of genuine mania from the versatile star.

The Inspector dressed as a hunchback and a midget in the pursuit of his increasingly strange investigations. This led to such insanity as a seaman with an inflatable parrot and, after Sellers' death, the appearance of Roger Moore as Clouseau. Return was the point at which the series altered course, and was never the same again.