Pink Panther in cyberspace

Each week, the Browser features some pop-culture places on the World Wide Web offering the coolest in free interactive sounds and action.

Clouseau’s online case

Comedic chaos will occur Friday as legendary funnyman Steve Martin assumes the role of bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau in “The Pink Panther.” Sony Pictures’ official Web site for the film (www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepinkpanther) is anything but clumsy and provides a very active and amusing multimedia stop for fans.

After visitors hear Henry Mancini’s famed musical theme and see a shadow of the cartoon cat cross the screen, they are dropped into a collage of movie images and immediately put to work. The site requests that visitors help find the stolen Pink Panther diamond with help from a movable magnifying glass.

Junior detectives must visit each section of the site and use the spyglass to reveal pink paw prints. Getting to each section is the really fun part, accomplished by driving around the cyber-world in a Clouseau-Moto vehicle that can be customized.

Detectives use the arrow keys to move and the return key to honk and drive around the screen looking for hot spots. Places to stop by include the inspector’s apartment in Paris to view images from the film, Raymond Larocque’s penthouse in London for screen savers and desktop wallpapers, Chief Inspector Dreyfus’ office for production notes, and Xania’s hotel room in New York City for film clips.

Driving to the Team France Training Facility in Paris is especially rewarding with a series of four activities. Detectives can control Inspector Clouseau as he boxes his apprentice Ponton in a side-scrolling game and use Clouseau’s Masterpiece Movie Mixer to drag and drop 27 clips from the film on a timeline template to create an extended visual montage with sound.

They also can try their hand at Decode Clouseau by typing in what they think the linguistically challenged Inspector is saying and print the Pink Panther Activity Kit PDF to enjoy three coloring pages and three iron-on T-shirt transfers.

Those who find all of the paw prints during their madcap journey receive a special message from the inspector and a downloadable certificate of completion.

Cyber-Sundance

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival is over, but fans of independent films still can find plenty of video highlights from the 10-day celebration of cinema and artists on the festival’s site (https://festival.sundance.org/2006).

Besides about a dozen interviews with directors, more than 20 clips from the festival (including Stewart Copeland talking about the documentary he made chronicling his adventures as the drummer of the rock supergroup the Police), festival trailers from the past 25 years, and artist interviews, the site also offers 48 short films and documentaries shown during the event.

The films will be available for viewing until June and are a very eclectic mix of themes hitting all age ranges.

For example, James Duffy’s “Robin’s Big Date” gives viewers a glimpse into the complicated life of Batman’s trusted sidekick as his meeting with a potential soul mate turns into chaos thanks to his pitiful and obnoxious mentor butting in. Actor Sam Rockwell stars as the Dark Knight.

Also, Tom Eldridge’s “Beyond Iraq” presents an eight-minute look into the lives of American soldiers who were severely injured in the war in Iraq and how a snowy activity has helped revitalize them.

To watch all of the fun requires the latest Macromedia Flash Player plug-in and either Windows Media Player 9 or Flash Video Player.

Sundance fans also might want to check out the online culture stop Flavorpill and its blog devoted to the festival (www.flavorpill.net/sundance), where film reviews, photos, more video interviews and event coverage requiring DivX, a digital media format plug-in (www.divx.com), can be found.

Have a cool site for the online multimedia masses? Write to Joseph Szadkowski at the Browser, The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; call 202/636-3016; or send an e-mail message (jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com). Joseph also writes a Web-exclusive column for The Washington Times’ Web site where he reviews educational software and family-friendly video games. Check it out at www.washingtontimes.com/familytimes/romperroom.htm.