''Speedy Gonzales'' is a 1955

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

'' Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng from a story by

Warren Foster Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer, cartoonist and composer for the animation division of Warner Brothers and later with Hanna-Barbera. Early life He was born in Brooklyn, New York to Marion B. Fos ...

. The short was released on September 17, 1955, and stars

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fas ...

and Sylvester.

Plot

The short opens on a small, worried group of Mexican mice thinking of how to get cheese from the AJAX cheese factory across the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

that is guarded by Sylvester. Sylvester has eaten any mice who have tried. The leader comes up with a brilliant idea: Gain the services of the aptly named "Speedy Gonzales". The group agrees, so the leader goes to the carnival where Speedy resides. Speedy Gonzales is at the carnival attraction "Shoot Speedy" in which people try to shoot Speedy with bullets from a gun in order to "win a beeg prize." The leader tells Speedy, in Spanish, about the dire situation the mice are in, not having access to the cheese guarded by Sylvester. Speedy agrees to help and runs through the field between the mice and Sylvester to fetch an armful of cheese with each turn. After failing to catch Speedy by hand, Sylvester employs a hand net, mousetraps, landmines, baseball equipment, and a pipe to funnel Speedy right into his mouth, but Speedy manages to thwart him every time. Finally getting fed up, Sylvester gets all the cheese from the factory, stacks it, and uses dynamite to blow it all up. However, all the cheese ends up raining down on the mice, causing Sylvester to cry and bang his head on an electric pole in vexation. Speedy ends the short by saying: "I like this pussycat fellow; he's silly!"

Production notes

''Speedy Gonzales'' won the

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

in 1955. This short marks the first appearance of a redesign for Speedy, after his initial appearance in '' Cat-Tails for Two''.

Home media

''Speedy Gonzalas'' can be found on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1. * Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection: 15 Winners (restored)

References

External links

* 1955 films 1955 short films 1955 comedy films 1955 animated films 1950s English-language films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films American animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Speedy Gonzales films Sylvester the Cat films Animated films set in the United States Films set in Mexico Short films directed by Friz Freleng Films scored by Carl Stalling Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Mexico–United States border {{MerrieMelodies-stub

Plot

Production notes

Home media

See also

References

External links