Speedy Gonzales

The native mice of Mexico want some American cheese, but Sylvester the cat is guarding the border. After a few disastrous attempts to get at it. They send for Speedy Gonzales to get pass this gringo pussycat. The second appearance of Speedy is a classic and cemented yet another great character in the already impressive array of Looney stars. Don't listen to the mind-stealing PC police, Speedy is funny. This Oscar-winning animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 and features an optional music only track as well as a commentary by Jerry Beck.

My Grade: A

This is probably one of the best Speedy Gonzales cartoons. While I strongly agree with another reviewer who said they "hated Speedy Gonzales" and he was "overrated", I must admit this was a pretty good cartoon. It was a lot of fun watching Sylvester get tortured throughout the film by Speedy as he ran back and forth grabbing goodies for his starving mouse friends. I think, though, that apart from a few early Speedy cartoons, they were definitely a few notches below the other Loony Toons cartoons. In fact, in the 1960s, they inexplicably paired Speedy with Daffy Duck to produce what were probably the worst Warner cartoons since the mid-1930s. Watch and enjoy this film--just be forewarned about other Speedy pictures.

Don't take my title the wrong way, I don't hate Speedy Gonzales(the fastest mouse in all Mexico, as we now know him today), far from it, but his cartoons have been hit and miss. Some have been surprisingly good and funny, but others suffer from lacklustre, rushed animation and from being predictable. Speedy Gonzales is actually one of the better Speedy cartoons, actually worth watching. The animation is not too bad here, not absolutely brilliant but it is one of the better-looking Speedy cartoons. The music is nice too, as are the visual gags and dialogue. The story is simple but decently-structured, Speedy is funny and tolerable and Sylvester is a worthy foil(better at it than Daffy I'd say). These characters are all brought to life by the unique vocal talents of Mel Blanc, who does brilliantly as always. Overall, definitely worth seeing. 9/10 Bethany Cox

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.

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.