The Pied Piper of Guadalupe

“Don’t go Armando! No! Don’t go!”

Directed by Friz Freleng. Released in 1961

Another Academy nominee? Speedy sure got a few of those didn’t he? So what did it lose to? (*Google search*) “Ersatz”? That’s a darn, fine film to lose to.

Sylvester it seems, has really lost his touch. He can’t catch any mice. They’re fast and they carry demeaning signs and smack him with planks. Thinking in front of a book sale, (One of which is apparently written by story man Warren Foster. Which makes perfect sense.) he spies a copy of the Pied Piper. Surely, the same thing would work on mice as well as rats. After taking some lessons from the J.C. Mendelez, he gets dressed up to play the part and begins to play his flute. The mice laugh at his attempts, but soon stop when it works. They can’t help but dance over to him, where he knocks them out and places them in his jug. Even tying their tails to a stake can’t hold them back and soon they’re all captured. Save one.

Speedy is still there. (Did he not hear the music?) He asks for the gato to release his friends, or Speedy will just have to rescue them. Underestimating him again, (Sylvester! You have to stop doing that.) he opens the jug and Speedy makes good of his word. Sylvester plays the flute and Speedy dances over only to smack him with a mallet. Why is Speedy immune? It’s not fair or good story writing. You could have shown Speedy trying to sleep, plugging his ears to keep out the noise, and warning his friends that their teasing is dangerous.

Sylvester ditches his cute outfit and hides in a barrel with some dynamite. Speedy rolls the barrel along which ends up trapping Sylvester in the container with a lit explosive and a dog. He gets a motorcycle and chases the mouse, who stops short at a cliff and lets the cat careen over the edge. Sylvester eventually gets out, but Speedy next leads him into a collision with a bus. Sylvester has no choice but to go to the “El Gato Infirmary” and get some casts on his broken bones. Speedy points out he dropped his flute. (“Don’t you want heem?” “No, I don’t want ‘heem’.”) Sylvester tells Speedy he can have it. The mouse plays and Sylvester is forced to dance after him on his broken foot. (That’s harsh.)

Personal Rating: 3

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