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The unlikely success of this American cartoon import continues unabated with the release of a Mexican-made feature film

One pleasure available for the modern culture-flaneur is picking out the curios of globalisation: the unlikely cultural friendships struck up. I never knew Top Cat (or Boss Cat, as British viewers may remember him) was big in Mexico until last week, when I saw that a new feature-length animation version had been squatting on top of their box-office charts like a patronising moggie on a trashcan. How, in the age of the ubiquitous remake, had I not heard about this one?

Because it turns out that Tc is even more of a local hero than first intended. Apparently Don Gato, to give him his Spanish name, has been one of the most beloved cartoon imports in Mexico since it was first broadcast there in the 1970s. One former viewer I spoke to said,...