Three little letters: ITC. Blake Edwards retained the rights to the Pink Panther and its characters, but was on very bad terms with both Peter Sellers and United Artists following A Shot in the Dark. UA responded by releasing the awful Inspector Clouseau starring Alan Arkin. Edwards, after smoothing over his differences with Sellers, made a 1-picture deal with Lew Grade (head of ITC), and thus Return of the Pink Panther was born in 1975. Artisan got the rights to Return in a deal for several ITC properties, including On Golden Pond and The Last Unicorn. Why MGM couldn't have bought the rights or licenced them from Artisan is beyond me.