| Mexicali Shmoes | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Friz Freleng |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Produced by | John W. Burton |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Dal McKennon |
| Edited by | Treg Brown |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | Virgil Ross Gerry Chiniquy Art Davis |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Tom O'Loughlin |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | English |
Mexicali Shmoes is a 1959Warner Bros.Looney Tunescartoon short directed byFriz Freleng.[1] The short was released on July 4, 1959, and starsSpeedy Gonzales and the singing cats Jose and Manuel.[2] Voice actors includeMel Blanc as the voices of Speedy Gonzales and Jose plus an uncreditedDal McKennon as the voice of Manuel.
TheAcademy Award-nominated cartoon has Jose and Manuel chasing Speedy Gonzales inMexico. This cartoon introducesSlowpoke Rodriguez, Speedy's cousin. Slowpoke would appear in only one other classicLooney Tunes short, 1962'sMexican Boarders.
Twosombrero-wearing cats, Jose and Manuel, are singing while relaxing on the "Avenida de Gatos" when they are taunted bySpeedy Gonzales. After Manuel fails to catch Speedy, Jose informs Manuel that Speedy is "the fastest mouse in allMexico" and that they will have to use their brains, not their feet, to catch him. The pair set off for Speedy's home inGuadalajara where they again fail to capture him. During their struggles, Manuel gets hit on the head by Jose with a guitar, Jose hooks Speedy with a fishing line and gets towed toLos Angeles, Manuel gets blown up bydynamite, and both cats get blown up in aminefield that they constructed.
Jose and Manuel are sitting on top of a wall after failing to outsmart and catch Speedy. Manuel laments they should have gone after Speedy's cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez, the "slowest mouse in all Mexico". Jose is convinced to go after him and runs off. Manuel desperately tries to catch up to warn him about Slowpoke and his reputation. No sooner than Jose arrives at the mouse house and catches him, Slowpoke shoots him. Manuel finally catches up and tells Jose exactly what he was trying to warn him about Slowpoke: "He pack a gun". Slowpoke blows steam off his gun and returns to his mouse hole, leaving the charred Jose to lament, "Now he tolls me."
Animation historianDavid Gerstein writes, "InMexicali Shmoes, stocky Jose is more serious and calculating than geeky Manuel, but in their attempts to catch Speedy Gonzales, both cats provide equal hilarity. The treatment easily transcends the characters' feline nature and Mexican culture:Rocky and Mugsy (Bugs and Thugs) and Henry Bear and Junyer (A Bear for Punishment) follow flawlessly in the same tradition. It's amazing how, outside of Warner Bros., so many cartoon studios' straight man-funny man pairings flopped."[3]