Steve Martin, who once famously spoofed King Tut in a “Saturday Night Live” shtick, is talking to two puppets who spoof film critics on Cartoon Network this week to plug his latest movie.
Martin, as the consistently obtuse Inspector Clouseau, is featured in a 60-second interstitial segment with Cartoon Net’s Jib and Crash—puppets posing as Hollywood insiders—to push “Pink Panther 2” during various shows on the animated Turner Broadcasting cable network. The film hits theaters on Feb. 6.
“It’s obviously more than a spot to promote the Pink Panther,” said John O’Hara, executive vice president and general sale manager for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. “This is a great example to use talent and find a way to integrate beyond a contest or something about the movie.”
In fact, Jib and Crash are old hands at this routine, having been created by Cartoon Network for that purpose. It’s the cartoon channel’s latest collaboration with Sony Pictures, which has similarly plugged “Spider-Man 3,” “Open Season,” “Surf’s Up” and “Daddy Day Camp.”
It’s been a successful formula that O’Hara expects to repeat with Sony and other movie studios seeking alternative publicity vehicles to traditional trailer ads.
“Where the sensibility fits and it works for the network, I would look forward to doing more of this again,” O’Hara said.
Cartoon Network currently reaches 97 million U.S. households.
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