Speedy Gonzales

Speedy Gonzales is another one of my favorite Looney Tunes characters, along with Bugs Bunny, Pepe le Pew, Tweety, and the lesser-known Hubie and Bertie. This award-winning short is one of my favorites out of Speedy's filmography. Just because I gave it a 9 out of 10 rating doesn't mean it can still be a favorite. This short marks Speedy's second screen appearance, following his debut in a 1953 Bob McKimson cartoon titled "Cat-Tails for Two." But of course, he didn't look the way we know him now.

The sight of Sylvester defending the cheese factory while on all fours amuses me greatly. I also love the pseudo-Spanish conversation between Speedy and the mouse villager.

An apparent criticism of the Speedy Gonzales cartoons is that they stereotype Mexicans as sombrero-wearing wackos. I guess that this one - actually called "Speedy Gonzales" - basically does that, but it's still a really funny cartoon, as the Fastest Mouse in Mexico gets hired to snatch cheese out of a factory (presumably across the US-Mexico border) guarded by Sylvester.

If in fact it's the US-Mexico border, then the cartoon raises the immigration debate. We see the people - or mice - in our southern neighbor needing to get into our country for better opportunities (as far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as an illegal immigrant). Then again, maybe I'm reading way too far into the cartoon; it was probably intended as nothing more than silly entertainment. If so, then it succeeds. Worth seeing.

He's the friend of everybody's sister. Speedy certainly seems like he could be a playboy.

Speedy Gonzales (1955)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A group of Mexican mice are having trouble breaking into a cheese factory because none of them are faster than the guard, Sylvester the cat. With nothing left to do they hire Speedy Gonzales to steal some of the cheese. I might take a beating for this but I've never been a fan of Speedy and I might go even further as to call him my least favorite of all the popular animated stars no matter what studio they're from. I've always found him to be all one-joke but there are a couple good moments here. Having Sylvester in the mix brings a few laughs as he will stop at nothing to try and catch Speedy but of course we know he's going to fail. The stereotypes of Mexicans has been discussed to death so I'll just jump over that.

What a timely cartoon....50 years later....although illegal immigration isn't the issue here - it's stealing and eating some cheese! Here we see a bunch of little mice (in sombreros) behind barbed wire at the border in Mexico. Just 50 yards away on the American side is the Ajax Cheese Company....and those mice want that cheese. Guarding the border is the hapless Sylvester the Cat.

They draw straws to see who is going to race over give it a shot. Timid "Manuel" draws the short straw, but he lasts only seconds. The mice throw away is sombrero in a pile, signifying he's the latest casualty in the unsuccessful venture.

Finally, one of the mice suggests they go get "Speedy Gonzales." Most of the others haven't heard of him but those who have all describe him as "the fastest mouse in Mexico." One guy says, "I can contact Speedy because he's a friend of my sister." A wise-guy mouse remarks, "He's a friend of EVERYBODY's sister!! (You can read into that, what you want!)

Speedy then struts his stuff, and Sylvester tries to stop him. The racing rodent goes back and forth a number of times and the cat tries a different method to stop him each time. You can guess the result.

A steady diet of Speedy yelling "arriba! arriba!" all the time might grow tedious, but seeing him once in awhile is a treat.

This cartoon won the Oscar in the same year that "Legend of Rockabye Point" and "Good Will To Men" were eligible, which atonises me no end! While it's a good cartoon, either of those two run rings around this enjoyable, but unexceptional piece of work. I have no idea why it happened, but it is one of the more surprising flubs in the Animated Short category's history. *sigh* Oh, well. A pleasing and enjoyable cartoon anyway and well worth watching.