Mexicali Shmoes

Mexicali Shmoes
Lobby Card
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	July 4, 1959
Run time	6:50
Starring	Mel Blanc Tom Holland
Producer(s)	John W. Burton
Music composed by	Milt Franklyn
Story by	Warren Foster
Animation	Virgil Ross Gerry Chiniquy Art Davis
Director(s)	Friz Freleng
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Title card

Mexicali Shmoes is the four hundred and fifty-eight Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on July 4, 1959. It was written by Warren Foster, and directed by Friz Freleng.

Two Mexican Cats, Jose and Manuel, try to catch Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all of Mexico. But they soon find out that it's easier said than done.

Memorable Quotes

Speedy: Hello, pussycats. You looking for nice, fat mouse for dinner?

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Jose	Mel Blanc
Manuel	Tom Holland
Speedy Gonzales	Mel Blanc
Slowpoke Rodriguez	N/A

Locations

• Earth
  • Mexico
  • Guadalajara
    • Speedy's Mousehole
    • Slowpoke's Mousehole

Objects

• Guitar
• Mallet
• Fishing Rod with Cheese for bait
• Dynamite
• Paper Bag
• Land Mines
• Gun pistol

Production

Second lobby card.

Music

The music was composed by Milt Franklyn.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: July 4, 1959 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• Even though they are portrayed as cats in this short, this is the second short of the Jose and Manuel trilogy series. The first short back in 1956, Two Crows From Tacos, portrayed them as crows. They would become crows once more in the 1962 Merrie Melodies short, Crows' Feat.
• This short marks the debut of Speedy's cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez, the slowest mouse in all of Mexico. He would undergo a design change and Tom Holland would voice him in the 1962 short, Mexican Boarders.
• This is one of only two Friz Freleng cartoons in The Golden Age of Animation where Speedy does not co-star with Sylvester, the other one being Pancho's Hideaway.

Critical Reception

While this short was nominated for the Best Short Subject of Cartoons Award in the 1960 Academy Awards Ceremony, it lost to Moonbird.

Everlasting influence=

A scene from this cartoon would reanimated in the 1966 short, Mucho Locos.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4
  • Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2