Notes on Speedy Gonzales & Slowpoke Rodriguez, his half-baked cartoon cousin

July 27th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Last night a Mexican friend came over to watch some cartoons and, being the patronizing gringo that I am, the evening began with a handful of Speedy Gonzales shorts.

Of all the superstars in the Warner Bros. cartoon canon, Speedy Gonzales is probably the most nonessential. Within thirty-six hours of purchasing each of the five Looney Tunes Golden Collections, I had watched every cartoon and most of the supplementary features, including the audio commentaries. Until last night, the Speedy Gonzales disc remained the only virgin in the set.

With the possible exception of Being There, a feature length comedy cannot, nor should not be a one note proposition. (See Arthur. The title character is a drunk. Get it?) Live actors squandering five reels in search of variations to play on a one trick premise seldom works, yet with a little ink and paper and only seven minutes to fill, one joke can work miracles. Everywhere that the Wolf went Droopy was sure to go. No matter how hard he tries, Wile E. Coyote will never dine on Road Runner. Every move Daffy makes leads to a buckshot facial from Elmer’s rifle. In each instance, the comic resourcefulness and precision character response jumps out from the screen.

A grinning Speedy Gonzales yells, “Andale! Andale! Epa, Epa! Arriba! Arriba!” as he zips past El Pussygato, arms burdened with cheese for his impoverished amigos who react to his beneficence by jumping up and down.

Suddenly Little Audrey looks good.

Speedy wasn’t always a cuddlesome, Mexican hat-dancing mouse. In Robert McKimson’s Cat-Tails for Two, the pesos needed in order for Speedy to secure what would eventually become his trademark sombrero were spent on an unappealing gold front tooth. According to Robert McKimson, Jr., the fastest mouse in Mexico (and friend of everybody’s sister) was based on a pair of Mexican brothers his father played polo with. The grimy rodent, pitted opposite a much more appealing pair of John Steinbeck retreads, discharged little audience appeal short of Mel Blanc’s well-seasoned vocalization that he had spent years perfecting on The Jack Benny Program.

The studio had faith in the character so Friz Freleng and his designer Hawley Pratt set about retooling the rodent. Their final solution was a featherless cross between Tweety Pie and the Road Runner. As a Coyote substitute to play opposite Gonzales, Freleng recruited the services of his venerable foil, and Tweety’s arch nemesis, Sylvester the Cat aka Sylvero Gato. Speedy would frequently sneak up behind Sylvester and substitute a couple of “Arriba! Andale’s!” for “Meep Meep’s’” that sent the cat soaring to the stratosphere. Cannibalizing his own creation, Freleng modified Tweety’s “I like him, he’s silly” catchphrase to fit the mouse.

Continue reading Notes on Speedy Gonzales & Slowpoke Rodriguez, his half-baked cartoon cousin

Tags: Animation, Cartoons, Looney Tunes, Marijuana, merrie melodies, merry melodies, Mexican, mexican american, mexican boarders, mota, offensive, Photos, Political incorrectness, politically incorrect, Porky Pig, slowpoke rodriguez, Speedy Gonzales, speedy gonzalez, warner brothers cartoons

Filed Under DVD, Rants, Reviews

New Photos Added: Woody Allen, Bugs Bunny, HATARI!, Betty Boop, Jerry Lewis, Movie Paperbacks

April 12th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Bugs has Jugs?!?!?

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello for Popsicles - 1 Vintage 1954 Comic Book Ad
Woody Allen - 74 Photos
Cartoon All-Stars - 37 Photos
Aesop’s Fables ad
Fred “Tex” Avery model sheet
Batman & Superman for Sesame Street
Bob Hope
Betty Boop
Bugs Bunny
A Corny Concerto featuring Bugs and Porky Pig
DC Comics 1954 Line of Stars ad with Batman and Superman
Daffy Duck
Disneyland Color Television Only $1.00!!!
Felix the Cat
Gertie the Dinosaur
Ko-Ko the Clown
Looney Tunes title logo
Peter Lorre ?!?!?
Popeye the Sailor Man
The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
Woody Woodpecker
Hatari! - 22 Photos (many in Technicolor) and 8 Lobby Cards
The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon - 10 Photos
The King of Comedy - 1 Photo (It’s a good one!)
Jerry Lewis- 27 Photos
See the Movie, Read the Book - 19 New Movie Cover Paperbacks

The trick is it makes you look like Hitler!
- Vintage Newspaper ads - 7 Photos
Daisy Rifles, for kids who like to smoke!
Hercules Bicycles
Mr. X-Ray Specs
Monogram Models Rommel’s Rod, The Krazy Kommand Kar
Onion Gum
Thom McAn Shoes
Trick Black Soap

Tags: Abbott Costello, Ad, Advertisement, Animation, Batman, Betty Boop, Black Soap, Bob Hope, Bud Abbott, Bugs Bunny, Cartoons, Comic Book, Daffy Duck, Daisy Rifles, DC Comics, Dean Martin, Disneyland, Felix the Cat, Gertie the Dinosaur, HATARI!, Jerry Lewis, John Wayne, Ko-Ko the Clown, Looney Tunes, Lou Costello, MDA, Monogram Models, Paperbacks, Peter Lorre, Photoplay Edition, Popeye, Porky Pig, Road Runner, SESAME STREET, Superman, Telethon, THE KING OF COMEDY, Thom McAn, Vintage, Wile E. Coyote, Wile_E._Coyote, Woody Allen, Woody Woodpecker, X-Ray Specs

Filed Under Image Blog, News

Looney Tunes Vintage Metal Lunchbox (1959): Carrying Your Thermos In Style!

March 24th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Metal lunch pails: Fourth grade fashion accessory or mortiferous recess cudgel?

In 1971 a group of worried sick Floridians presupposed the concept of the metal lunchbox as a prime weapon to settle schoolyard disputes. With reams of signatures in hand the concerned parents marched their petition to the State Legislature demanding “safety legislation” be passed.

Who would have thought the reason lunchboxes initially switched from steel to plastic had nothing to do with cost cutting efforts?

The Golden Age of lunchboxes was ushered in by Hopalong Cassidy. In 1950, Chicago-based Aladdin Industries was the first company to manufacture a children’s lunchbox contingent on a television series. Western kid’s show superstar William Boyd’s likeness was branded on the front side of the box’s hinged lid. Soon ADCO Liberty, American Thermos (later King Seeley Thermos, or KST), Kruger Manufacturing Company, Landers, Frary and Clark (Universal) and numerous others began merchandising TV related tins.

Each box came equipped with a matching thermos — a steel, glass-lined vacuum bottle with a rubber stopper and screw-on cup — guaranteed to keep your soup hot and Kool Aid cool. That is until you dropped it. Even after the slightest fall, one shake and the measure of swirling liquids quickly dissolved into sounds reminiscent of an explosion in a hall of mirrors. The metal shell eventually gave way to plastic and the glass innards were replaced with inferior foam insulation, thus guaranteeing that come lunchtime both soup and Kool Aid would be served up at room temperature.

In the late 80s, early 90s vintage metal lunch kits became sought after high end collectibles. As always, condition was everything: less abrasion meant a higher price tag and several of them fetched over a thousand dollars. For a period, a good chunk of the south wall of Chicago’s Flashback Collectibles was lined from floor to ceiling with desirable boxes. In the time that I worked there, I must have seen every lunch pail from granddaddy Hopalong to contemporary plastic monstrosities like The Smurfs or Strawberry Shortcake.

For a brief period I fancied myself somewhat of a collector, meaning the most number of boxes I ever owned amounted to fifteen. The one that got away was a pristine Beany and Cecil vinyl box. White, without a speck of dirt and not a rip or ding on the entire surface. Steel dents where vinyl rips and the shelf life of these plastic-wrapped-around-cardboard boxes was short. Any vintage vinyl box in mint condition was bound to bring in a minimum of $500. A Barbie vinyl? Don’t ask! It all became a little too rich for my blood.

Of the initial fifteen, only four remain: Two Disney’s (Pinocchio and The Jungle Book), The Munsters and the 1959 Looney Tunes TV box. Growing up I had only one cool lunchbox: The Munsters; the rest of them looked like the nondescript black metal bucket Ed Norton toted to the sewer each day. After one summer at Adventure Day Camp, my colorful Munsters pail resembled a shell casing. The one in my storage locker was purchased at Flashback for $125.00 plus an additional fifty for the thermos. It’s in excellent condition (7+) and as soon as I dig it out, there will be a blog post.

Last week I unearthed my Looney Tunes tin and was delighted to find it still in exceptional shape. (A definite 8+!) There is “slight wear” (another term I learned at Flashback) and with the exception of a small strip along the bottom of the lid (looks like a previous owner used paint thinner to remove scuff marks), I’ve never seen one is such good shape.

I searched to no avail to find the name of the artist responsible for the drawings. If anyone knows, by all means drop a comment. And to those of us that enjoy knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing, this one set me back $175.00.

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