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, 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	Unknown

Locations

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

Objects

• Guitar
• Mallet
• Fishing rod with cheese
• Dynamite
• Paper bag
• Landmines
• 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 of three cartoons starring Jose and Manuel. The first short they appeated in, 1956's Two Crows From Tacos, portrayed them as crows. They would revert back to being crows in the 1962 Merrie Melodies short, Crows' Feat.
• This is one of only two Friz Freleng-directed cartoons where Speedy doesn't appear along with Sylvester, the other one being Pancho's Hideaway.

Everlasting influence

• Slowpoke Rodriguez would appear once more in the 1962 short, Mexican Boarders, with a slight change to his character design; it would be his only other appearance during the golden age of American animation. Tom Holland would also voice the character in that short.
• A scene from this cartoon would reanimated in the 1966 short Mucho Locos.

Critical Reception

The short was nominated for the Best Short Subject, Cartoons category in the 32nd Academy Awards, although it lost to Moonbird by John and Faith Hubley.

Home availability

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