Mexican Boarders (1962) watch online HD

After making a series of blister-fast duels between Speedy Gonzales ("the fastest mouse in Mexico") and 'El Gato' (Sylvester), director Friz Freleng provided a larger role for Slowpoke Rodriguez (Speedy's slothful but hungry cousin), who he introduced at the end of "Mexicali Schmoes" (1959). Sylvester, who's had enough of getting himself sliced and diced (literally!) while chasing Speedy, is more than happy to make a meal of Speedy's antithesis. Slowpoke, for his part, wants to raid the pantry without protection. This makes for quite a few suspenseful moments, more than you'll find in most other Speedy cartoons.

Too bad Sylvester wasn't in Mexicali -- he would have seen that Slowpoke isn't as helpless as he looks. Slowpoke saves himself by performing as fast an act of hypnotism as has ever been shown in cartoons. Sylvester may have nine lives, but only one mind.

This atypical Speedy cartoon is further boosted by Milt Franklyn's fine music and Tom O'Loughlin's attractive backgrounds.

-Tony

This cartoon features an appearance by Speedy's cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez, "The Slowest Mouse in all of Mexico". I personally think that Slowpoke is a more interesting character than Speedy and this cartoon is considerably more entertaining because of him than a lot of the other Speedy shorts are. Because I want to talk about the cartoon, this is a spoiler warning:

This cartoon opens with a narrator talking about Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all Mexico and Sylvester ("Sylvero Gato") and Sylvester's inability to catch Speedy. Sylvester is shown taking "Pep Pills" and fanning himself. He then chases Speedy up a long flight of stairs, only to poop out and slide down to the bottom.

Then, with a knock on the door, Slowpoke enters the short. Sylvester thinks he has it made, as Slowpoke slowly ambles over to Speedy's mouse hole while swinging a few lines from "La Cucaracha". Speedy rushes out and rescues Slowpoke before Sylvester can get him.

The next part of the short is a series of bits showing Speedy getting food and either outwitting or outrunning Sylvester. The two best gags are Speedy pouring Tabasco sauce in Sylvester's mouth as he tries to eat Speedy and Sylvester running through a mesh screen and getting diced to bits and pieces.

The last section of the cartoon is basically Slowpoke's finest hour, so to speak. He has three of the best lines in the short, two as he prepares to go out to get more food and the last line of the short. Slowpoke manages to hypnotize Sylvester and make the cat his servant. His last line is hilarious, so I won't spoil it here. This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is well worth seeing. Recommended.

"Mexican Boarders" is an excellent Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. In addition to the star characters Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester, this film allows the development of a secondary character, Speedy's cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez. When Slowpoke pays Speedy a visit, Sylvester figures he can finally have an easier time catching a mouse to eat. He's wrong.

Highlights: Slowpoke is hilarious as he lazily sings "La Cucaracha" throughout this short, accompanied by a lazy guitar. When Speedy pours some Tabasco sauce down Sylvester's gullet, Sylvester's body sure as hell reacts! Sylvester also chases Speedy through a screen door and reduces himself into miniature cubes.

Slowpoke Rodriguez was first introduced in an earlier Speedy cartoon called "Mexicali Shmoes" (1959), but he doesn't do very much in that film, yet he's still funny! As I mentioned earlier, in "Mexican Boarders" his character was developing, even though director Friz Freleng eventually decided to eliminate Slowpoke altogether because it took so long to animate him. In any case, I highly admire one of Slowpoke's surprising remarks at the end of this film: "Maybe Slowpoke is pretty slow downstairs in the feet, but he's pretty fast upstairs in the 'cabeza'."

Usually, I don't think about whether or not extreme velocity runs in Speedy Gonzales's family. If so, it must not affect everyone, as his cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez is the most unhurried mouse in Mexico. But that gives "Mexican Boarders" an interesting aspect. In this cartoon, Speedy lives in the same house as Sylvester. As the most accelerated rodent in the United Mexican States, Speedy naturally never has to worry about Sylvester catching him (especially since Sylvester apparently suffers from listlessness).

Anyway, one day there arrives Slowpoke, who has even less energy than Sylvester. But Slowpoke is desperately hungry, and only Speedy can get the food. I shouldn't have to tell you what Speedy does to Sylvester, but I will say that one trick involves Tabasco sauce! The lackadaisical Slowpoke is certainly an eye-opening counterbalance to the expeditious Speedy, and he eventually plays a bigger role than we assumed. He even sings "La cucaracha" and includes the line "marijuana que fumar"! So I like this cartoon.

And yes, Sylvester is kind of stupid. Unfortunately, dictators get stupid people to carry out their evil deeds (of course, I'm not comparing Speedy and relatives to despots).

. . . Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes version of A-Rod, "Slowpoke Rodriguez," says during MEX!CAN BOARDERS of his drug abuse enabler Bud Selig (played here by Sylvester Cat). "He's nice and stupid," A-RodSlowpoke adds. I viewed BOARDERS for the first time the day that Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez announced his firing by the New York Yankees. Warner's uncannily accurate prognosticators draw Slow-Poke as a dead-ringer for his future namesake, right down to the drug-addled "Who, me?!" dazed and confused look which graced so many A-Rod interviews. When Slow-Poke demands that his cousin Speedy Gonzalez smuggle him some Tabasco Sauce to go with Speedy's welcoming stack of cheese (representing the Yankees' two hundred million bucks of A-Rod salary), my close-captioning scroll read "A-Rod's steroids--get it?" (if my Spanish did not fail me). The consensus among baseball experts is that A-Rod MIGHT have hit 399 career Dingers without the aid of illegal drugs. The overunder among Social Epidemologists about how many American Youths succumbed to "juice" overdoses (often via premature heart attacks), 'Roid Rage (often disguised as Suicide-by-Cop), and excess-testosterone induced rape slayings due to Selig's craven caving in to let the outlaw "Role Model" Slow-Poke Rodriguez enjoy his ill-gotten loot and records is 18,000 dead kids.

Mexican Boarders is perhaps a little too short, a little leisurely in the pacing and a little too slight in the story department. However, it is one of the better Speedy cartoons, as it is pretty funny. And I have to say the animation is an improvement over other Speedy cartoons, it is much more thought-out in the backgrounds and colours, and the music is good too, there have been times I have found it too repetitive and annoying, but it was good and authentic here. The dialogue is funny and the sight gags are clever. Speedy is less abrasive here than he has been, which is a good thing, while Slowpoke Rodriguez is an amusing supporting character, but it is Sylvester who steals the show. As always, Mel Blanc's voice work is outstanding. Overall, entertaining and worthwhile, not really a classic but it is an improvement over other Speedy cartoons. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This short sees Speedy Gonzales living in a fancy hacienda, a house he shares with Sylvester the cat who is constantly trying and failing to catch him. Sylvester thinks his mouse catching luck is about to change when Speedy's cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez comes to visit. Slowpoke seems to be constantly hungry and want to raid the fridge but Speedy realising the danger goes instead. When he returns with a pile of cheese Slowpoke is upset at the lack of Tabasco sauce so he makes another trip and is caught in Sylvester's glue trap on his return journey. Sylvester's joy at finally capturing Speedy is short lived however as just as he is about to eat him Speedy empties the Tabasco bottle into his mouth with painful results.

Unfortunately this wasn't as funny as Slowpoke's introduction in "Mexicali Schmoes", there he was only in for a few seconds but ended the episode with a bang, literally, but here he is just slow and his final victory over Sylvester isn't as funny, also Sylvester isn't as funny as Manuel and Jose were. It isn't a bad cartoon, I just don't think it was a classic.