phantom_tollbooth
Friz Freleng's 'Gonzales' Tamales' is a typically so-so Speedy Gonzales cartoon. It seemed to be Sylvester's fate to be paired with some of the least funny characters in the Warner Bros. repertoire and the poor gringo pussy cat got lumbered with Speedy for a long time, until he was finally relieved of that duty by Daffy Duck, bizarrely enough. 'Gonzales' Tamales' actually starts out promisingly with an interesting premise: all the other Mexican mice are tired of Speedy taking all their women so they decide to dispose of him. How? Therein lies the cartoon's problem. They decide to manipulate Sylvester into chasing Speedy out of town, at which point 'Gonzales' Tamales' becomes a standard Speedy and Sylvester cartoon, in which Sylvester tries to lure Speedy out of his hole in a variety of different ways. While there are a couple of laughs (I particularly like a scene in which Sylvester attempts to shoot Speedy only for the mouse to quickly dismantle the gun piece by piece), 'Gonzales' Tamales' largely seems like old hat. Even as a child when I loved even the dullest Sylvester and Tweety cartoon, I was disappointed when a Speedy cartoon came on and that feeling hasn't left me. 'Gonzales' Tamales' is just another in a long line of Speedy clangers.
slymusic
"Gonzales' Tamales" is a good but not great Speedy Gonzales/Sylvester cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. Usually, all of the Mexican mice are Speedy's friends, but this time, things are different. Speedy lures away all of their women! Their only recourse is a certain "gringo pussycat" to chase Speedy out of town.Only one memorable highlight: Sylvester dares Speedy to pull his tail out by its roots, and Speedy actually does it, exposing the slobbering feline's naked fanny.There's an interesting footnote to "Gonzales' Tamales". When Speedy sings "La Cucaracha", listen very carefully to the last three words!
ccthemovieman-1
Pedro and Manuel are frustrated that all the pretty girls go out with Speedy Gonzales. "All that are left are Chihuahuas," they say.Every time one of those poor guys is starting to get somewhere with a pretty females, the obnoxious Speedy races in and beats them to the punch. Finally, the mice organize because "we've got to do something about Speedy Gonzales, who is taking away all our girls."Jose comes up with the best idea: to hire a "gringo pussycat" to run Speedy out of town. Enter: good 'ole Sylvester! You know who lost this battle. The best gag was the gun in the cat's hand being dismantled piece by piece until only a bullet was left, floating in the air.I remember liking Speedy when I was a kid, but now he's just loud, too repetitive and just plain obnoxious. I'm sorry Sylvester didn't devour him.
mousie_hole
i was watching this today on the third golden collection DVD set, and suddenly realized that in the scene when Speedy is singing in his hole, the words to his version of "la cucaracha," are translated to English thus:the cockroach, the cockroach, no longer can walk, because he doesn't lack because he doesn't have any marijuana to smoke!leave it to the guys at Termite Terrace to sneak in subversive bits of humor past censors and such.
AD
