Favorite Speedy cartoons

[Brandon Pierce]

http://www.toonzone.net/looney/news-speedy2.jpg
What's you guys' and gals' favorite Speedy Gonzales cartoon? I can't really say what my favorite is, since it's been years since I last saw Speedy. But the ones I did like were Mexicali Shmoes and Here Today, Gone Tamale. Say, I noticed no one here posted this question or at the old TTTP boared. Surely none of you think Speedy's offensive?
-Brandon "i'm stirring, and i'm a mouse" Pierce

[PlopKat]

Mexicali Shmoes and Here Today, Gone Tamale make my list, too. I would also add Cat-Tails For Two, Tabasco Road, and Tortilla Flaps.

I think Robert McKimson's Speedy cartoons spotlight Speedy a bit more than Friz Freleng's. Freleng's cartoons of the late fifties tend to give the lion's share of the footage to the bad guys (not necessarily a debit when the bad guy is Yosemite Sam or Sylvester).

-PlopKat

[Matthew Hunter]

I like the ones you mention, but for some reason I tend to find Friz Frelelng's Speedy cartoons funnier. I'm not sure what it is, it could be the standout backgrounds or Hawley Pratt's impressive layout, but they're just funnier. McKimson did do some good ones, mostly in the DePatie/Freleng era, though. my faves (and yes, I did include a couple of -GASP- DAFFY/SPEEDYS!):

"Gonzales' Tamales", "Here today, Gone Tamale", "Mexican Boarders", "Swing Ding Amigo", "Go Go Amigo", "Mexicali Schmoes", "Cannery Woe","Pied Piper of Guadelupe"(possibly the best, if it's not it's close.)

-Matthew

[Jack]

Perhaps Freleng's are funnier because he was so good with timing. He had decades of experience, and a group of people he was comfortable with (many had been with him since the 40s)...

Also, he focussed more upon the villains, as Plopkat noted. The villain is often funnier than the hero, especially in "chase" cartoons.

Having not seen many Speedy shorts for so long, I'd have to say that I like "Tortilla Flaps", with it's interesting use of that crow and its early roadrunneresque backgrounds. I also like "Cat Tails For Two", done in McKimson's prime with funny gags (the "Of Mice and Men" thing is always funny).

I always loved "Pied Piper Of Guadeloupe" (I BARELY remember this one), great little plot there, and, like Matthew pointed out, it is right up there with the best of them. Of the later ones, I like the one with the Sam-like character.

Slowpoke was always funny, though.....

Jack:D

[grundle]

I haven't seen most of the Speedys in a long time, so it's hard to pick my favorites. Of those that I have seen recently, I guess I would choose Here Today Gone Tamales and Tobasco Road.

I don't like most of the post '64 Speedys. I guess the two exceptions are The Great Chase and the one with the Mexican Yosemite Sam.

It's interesting to note that the original studio only made about 15 Speedys. The later studio made about twice as many. But it's those early ones that make Speedy great.

Even if CN does start to play Speedy on a regular basis, I worry that those later ones would dominate the airplay, and the earlier ones wouldn't get much play. Because the current way that CN airs the Road Runners seems to give more prominence to the later Road Runners as oppsed to the first 17, which are the best. I really don't think the people at CN make any attempts to play the quality Road Runners very often. They just act as if all Road Runner cartoons are equal. And I worry that people who don't know the history of these cartoons might just see a few of those horrible Larrivas and mistakenly come to the conclusion that the Raod Runner cartoons in general aren't very good. I agree with Leonard Maltin that it would be better if those had never been made.

So, going back to the Speedy issue, I think the Daffy/Speedy cartoons are pretty bad, and I think that even if CN was to air Speedy, those cartoons would get the most attention. And so people who aren't very familiar with Speedy might mistakenly come to the conclusion that there were no truly great Speedy cartoons.

I think the post '64 cartoons should be relegated to their own seperate show. Maybe 30 minutes a week, in the middle of the night.

[Cartoon King]

Seeing this question sent me looking back at the Speedy's that I taped off Nickelodeon in the early 90's. It seems that Speedy has had trouble getting any airplay since he left CBS in the mid 80's. Once ABC got the rights to the cartoons, they stopped showing Speedy altogether and for the longest time did not show any of the roadrunner cartoons.

It wasn't until Nickelodeon started showing WB's in the late 80's that we saw the fastest mouse in all of Mexico again. The Kid's WB picked up a few in the 90's but Nickelodeon was the main medium for showcasing these toons. Fortunately I have all of them (42 I believe) in my collection.

While I agree that the pre-1964 were the best, I still liked the post-1964 cartoons as well. Though why a duck wants to catch a mouse is beyond me. (Perhaps Daffy's house is too near a catnip factory that is subconsciously making him think like a cat).

My list includes:
Speedy Gonzales, The Pied Piper of Guadalupe, Swing Ding Amigo, A Squeak in the Deep, Mexican Boarders, The Wild Chase, Gonzales Tamales and Panchos's Hideaway (This is the cartoon that features the Yosemite Sam lookalike).


"I likes those pussycats fellows! They're so seely!"

[Sveven Dvorking]

I have only SEEN no more than 70% of Speedy's cartoons, with less than 50% on tape. I always liked the Daffy/Speedy cartoons better than the others.

My favorites: Fiesta Fiasco, A Squeak in the Deep, The Wild Chase, The Astroduck, Here Today Gone Tamale

Roadrunner cartoons have always been my favorites, both pre- and post-1964s.

[Matthew Hunter]

:( Many people tend to think of post-64 Road Runner as "bad". I don't really agree. They're cheap, they're not Chuck Jones, and they had some re-used animation and music, but they are still fun. The characters are still there. What some people overlook is the fact that Warner Bros. had to do SOMETHING. They realized they could not be as wild and daring as they had been before, and they needed a series that would be easy to understand and work with, easily recognized by the audience, and formulaic. Hence, they chose the chase, and the best candidate was Road Runner. True, they are shamed by the Chuck Jones masterpieces of the 1950's, but they are essentially a different series, and for what they are they are the best they could be. I have always liked them anyway.
Also, I just don't get why it's so universal in the opinions of fans and even programmers (liked that Daniel Wineman fellow at CN) that all Daffy and Speedy cartoons are also "bad." NOT so. The animation is even better than that of the Larriva Road Runners, and when the odd character matchups were used correctly they worked fine. DePatie/Freleng';s series of these is perfectly enjoyable, not at all politically incorrect, and in terms of '60's cartoons are really good, IMHO. Some were bad, but think how many of those suckers they had to turn out over such a short period of time (what, 27 or so over 3 years?).
The ones that REALLY suck are the Hendricks-produced Alex Lovy ones. I DO NOT like those at all. "Skyscraper Caper" is creative, but come on, the series was tired by then. People seem to punish the whole Daffy and Speedy because of the last 4 or 5 cartoons in it. Hey, bash those 5 all ya want, but the DePatie/Freleng shorts don't deserve that!
-Matthew

[Jack]

Actually, I think they did pretty good on those roadrunners. That particular series would be difficult to totally screw up (they're so formulaic, after all). I saw the Larriva roadrunners the most when I was little, so I sort of associate them a bit more with the characters than I do the Jones cartoons (I still think of Lava's music too....) The animation is awful on some (I sometimes wonder why they chose a series that completely depended upon pantomime), but the clangy music can be catchy, the backgrounds are sort of on par with the Jones stuff, and some are pretty funny (like others, I think the McKimson shorts were the best).

I guess my favorite is the one with the Indian rain dance, but maybe that's because I like cartoons with Indians (don't ask me why).

I just can't warm up to the later Speedys, I guess that are okay, but I don't know. Sort of like how I just can't get myself to see how "great" the Jones and Dietch T&Js are... The only one I ever liked was "Astro-Duck" (or whatever the cartoon where Daffy rents a house and it gets blasted up into the air is called).




Jack:D

[lislebartman]

I have almost all the Speedy cartoons on tape, and while I enjoy Friz Freleng's Speedy 'toons the best, Robert McKimson did some real good ones (two of which were nominated for Academy awards.) I also like the Daffy/Speedy 'toons (only the ones by McKimson; Alex Lovy's Daffy/Speedy 'toons are unbearable.)

My favorite Speedy 'toons:

Mexicali Shmoes
Here Today, Gone Tamale
Gonzales' Tamales
Snow Excuse (Daffy/Speedy)
Swing Ding Amigo (Daffy/Speedy)
Daffy's Diner (Daffy/Speedy)
A Taste of Catnip (Daffy/Speedy)

The only one I'm missing from my collection is Chili Weather

[Gossamer]

I'd have to say Pied Piper of Guadelupe, Mexicali Schmoes, Tobasco Road and Tortilla Flaps would be my favorites.

[Brandon Pierce]

Originally posted by Jack


I just can't warm up to the later Speedys, I guess that are okay, but I don't know. Sort of like how I just can't get myself to see how "great" the Jones and Dietch T&Js are... The only one I ever liked was "Astro-Duck" (or whatever the cartoon where Daffy rents a house and it gets blasted up into the air is called).




Jack:D
I think that cartoon was called "Daffy Rents", but I'm not certain. I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by Brandon Pierce

I think that cartoon was called "Daffy Rents", but I'm not certain. I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

No, it was "The Astroduck".


-Jon

[Tintin]

I am not very much Speedy cartoons, but my favorite are The Wild Chase, Go Go Amigo and The Chocolate Chase

[Matt Yorston]

Well, I first saw "West of the Pesos" last week on a tape I got from Matthew Hunter (BTW, thanks, Matt! :)) and I liked it quite a bit. Very good gags in this one. So that one's definitely up there.

But my all time favorite is easily "Gonzales' Tamales". I don't know but I've always considered this one a true classic. Maybe it's the hot pepper eating finale that gets me (IIRC, Art Davis animated that scene).

My favorite of the Daffy/Speedy series that I've seen is probably "Daffy Rents". I've always liked the gags in this one particularly when Daffy encounters Speedy's overgrown cousing Ramone who closes a mousetrap shut on his arms and legs ("Big bully. Picking on an innocent little duck!"). LOL!

Others I like are his first two cartoons, "Cat Tails for Two" and "Speedy Gonzales". They seem to have reserved some of the best gags in these two largely because of George and Benny (the former) and Sylvester (the latter).

[Matt Yorston]

Whoa there! I did NOT get a tape from Matthew Hunter last week. I got it from fellow poster Thad Komorowski in a tape deal. I am SO SORRY about that, Thad, if you're reading this. I sincerely hope you can forgive me for this MAJOR mix-up (and Matthew too). Sometimes I do not think everything out just right as I type.

Again, my apologies to both Matthew Hunter and Thad K.

:o :o :o :o :o

[J Lee]

Unfortunately, three of my favorite Speedys -- "Tabasco Road," "Mexicali Schmoes" and "Mexican Boarders" -- are probably the three Speedys least likely to make it back into the rotation.

"Here Today, Gone Tamale," "Pied Piper of Guadalupe" and even the D-FE debut cartoon "Panncho's Hideaway" also have some pretty good gags. "Gonzales Tamales" also has some good ones, but it's always bothered me that in this one, Sylvester really doesn't do anything to deserve the pounding he gets from Speedy, since he's basically set up by the other mice. As for the Daffy-Speedy cartoons, the problem I have with most of them is they really strain to come up with a plot to explain why a duck would be chasing a mouse -- and apparently the studio felt the same way, or they never would have made "A Taste of Catnip". That cartoon, and "It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House" and "Snow Excuse" are probably the three best ones as far as coming up with a logical reason to pair Daffy and Speedy, but they're still not as good as the earlier Freleng/McKimson ones.

[lislebartman]

Ok, my turn:

Gonzales' Tamales
Mexicali Shmoes
West of the Pesos
Here Today, Gone Tamale
Pancho's Hideaway
Go Go Amigo
The Astroduck (Daffy at his meanest!!)
Snow Excuse
Swing Ding Amigo
A Taste of Catnip

[Waggytoon]

I'm going to have to say that there's actually one Daffy Duck/Speedy Gonzales cartoon I appreciate. But not for the toon itself, rather, the theme variation at the opening. I refer of course to the final theatrical Daffy/Speedy release, "See Ya Later Gladiator".
This was the first of the Warner Bros.-Seven Arts cartoons in which the opening theme had a much more riff to it than the other W7s that were released.
I can't wait for CN to start airing that on theirWeekend Morning shows so I can tape it! :cool: :bosko:

[Thad Komorowski]

I like Speedy a lot, and here are my favorites (in no order):

1. Mexican Boarders

2. A Squeak in the Deep

3. Cat-Tails for Two

4. Tabasco Road

5. Speedy Gonzales

6. Here Today, Gone Tamale

7. Daffy's Diner

8. West of the Pesos

9. Gonzales' Tamales

10. The Quacker Tracker



Thad K

[Daffyfan2002]

Here's my opinion. I still haven't seen all the Speedy cartoons, but of the ones I remember I have to go with these top three:

Chili Weather
Cats and Bruises
The Quacker Tracker

Also, I want to comment on the post 1964 Road Runner cartoons, yeah they have their moments, but aren't nearly as great as Chuck Jones' originals. Except for the fact that I remember seeing "Harried and Hurried" and "Rushing Roulette" on ABC (without the original titles and credits). I really liked them. I didn't realize they weren't by Jones until later on. Other DePatie/Freleng cartoons didn't appeal to me that much. I didn't care for the way they drew Wile E. (Gray pads at the bottom of his feet; it didn't look right.)