To me, this movie is perfection.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

. . . Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes Think Tank came up with a far more practical solution to stem the periodic incursion of unauthorized North-Bounders: Land Mines. After spending the first five minutes of MEXICALI SHMOES--pointedly set in a border town--illustrating that even crack law enforcement teams (represented here by felines Manuel and Jose) are absolutely no match for any determined Homeland Invader (epitomized during SHMOES by Speedy Gonzalez), the action of the next minute suggests that land mines will slow if not entirely dry up the incoming Red Tide. (Mr. Gonzalez will be a little less Speedy minus a leg or two.) The remainder of SHMOES' running time is devoted to showing the consequences of NOT mining the Southern U.S. border: murder by gun-waving thugs. Few if any Americans would anticipate the U.N. giving us grief about duplicating the success of the current border between North and South Korea. However, to avoid any appearance of inconsistent favoritism, America probably should mine her Northern Border, as well, to safeguard us against baby seal clubbers gone rogue.

For many reasons this is the best Speedy cartoon, some of them are not that great but this was hugely enjoyable. The animation was a considerable improvement over that in a short like Quacker Tracker, not the best there is but there are some nice backgrounds. The music is nice, the dialogue is fun and the sight gags are sharp with a hilarious ending that serves as the cartoon's highlight. Mel Blanc is superb with the characterisations, and while I am not a huge Speedy fan(though I don't mind him either) he is fine here, as are the supporting characters. Overall, even if you're not a Speedy fan, this one is actually worth watching! 9/10 Bethany Cox

Directed by Friz Freleng, "Mexicali Shmoes" is a very entertaining Speedy Gonzales cartoon. This time around, Speedy must dodge and outwit two shaggy Mexican gatos.My favorite scenes: During the opening credits, the fat cat Jose plays guitar and sings in a very weak, off-key voice, with the skinny cat Manuel emitting a few cries in between phrases (I'm not fluent in Spanish, but I imagine the "Spanish" that Jose sings is nonsense). The two cats aren't much better during their singing & dancing of "In Guadalajara we go to catch Gonzales..." Upon arriving in Guadalajara, Jose and Manuel trick Speedy into joining them with their little guitar/dancing fiesta before they attack him. And Jose tricks Manuel into sticking his head in Speedy's mouse hole and getting a stick of dynamite blasted in his face.Speedy Gonzales' cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez makes a brief appearance in "Mexicali Shmoes", and the two pussygatos make a surprise reference to the "gringo" Bugs Bunny as well. A fun cartoon!

This cartoon, nominated for an Oscar, is the best of the Spedy Gonzales cartoon shorts that were made in the Golden Age of Warner Brothers. I saw this cartoon again recently and found it was much better than I originally thought it was years ago. The highlight of the cartoon for me has to be the appearance of "Slowpoke" Rodriguez, one of Speedy's cousins. Hilarious! Cartoon Network may or may not air this one. A bit difficult to find but well worth the effort. Recommended.