{"id":39484,"date":"2023-04-14T00:05:12","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T04:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=39484"},"modified":"2023-04-13T18:54:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T22:54:24","slug":"the-bootleg-files-see-ya-later-gladiator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/14\/the-bootleg-files-see-ya-later-gladiator\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: See Ya Later Gladiator"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 828:<\/strong> \u201cSee Ya Later Gladiator\u201d (1968 animated short with Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzalez).
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\nLAST SEEN:<\/strong> On DailyMotion.com. <\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: <\/strong>It seems to have fallen through the proverbial cracks.
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\nCHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Not likely at the moment.<\/p>\n

Fans of the Looney Tunes animation series will probably wince upon learning which film is in the spotlight in this column. \u201cSee Ya La Gladiator\u201d has the sad distinction of being the last (and perhaps the least) of the theatrically produced Looney Tunes animated shorts featuring the classic-era characters \u2013 in this case, the severely mismatched pair of Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales.
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Daffy and Speedy were brought together in the mid-1960s after the Warner Bros. animation studio briefly closed down and was later reopened for a new series of cheaply-made shorts. While Speedy was the same mischievous, feisty Mexican mouse introduced in the 1950s, Daffy was excessively dyspeptic and his hatred of Speedy seemed wildly out of proportion with the antics that the rapid rodent displayed. It also didn\u2019t help that the production budgets for these shorts were a shade above non-existent \u2013 the animation was closer to the cheap-jack style of the Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward cartoons playing on television at the time. But whereas those small screen gems had amusing scripts and gently off-beat characters that helped compensate for the poverty of their animation, the Warner Bros. theatrical output of the time was just slapped together muck with no redeeming features.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee Ya Later Gladiator\u201d finds Daffy as a janitor in the laboratory of a Mexican scientist who just invented a time machine. Speedy has a mariachi trio and their music irritates Daffy, who throws a broom at the musical mouse \u2013 the broom handle flies directly into Speedy\u2019s trumpet and into his throat. Speedy blows the broom out of the trumpet and flies back into Daffy\u2019s face. <\/p>\n

Daffy tries to get rid of Speedy via the new time machine \u2013 he pretends it is a recording studio and convinces the mouse to step into it to cut a record. Not surprisingly, the plan goes awry and both Daffy and Speedy are sent back to Ancient Rome of 65 A.D., where Daffy insults a gladiator who arrests the time travelers and brings them to be fed to the lions at the Roman Colosseum under the watch of Emperor Nero.<\/p>\n

With only wooden swords to protect themselves against a ferocious lion, the pair make the most of their challenge. Daffy cuts off the lion\u2019s flowing mane with his sword, leaving the beast with an unflattering crewcut. Daffy also winds up biting the lion\u2019s tail while Speedy feeds him hot chili peppers \u2013 an assault on both ends of the animal. <\/p>\n

Daffy and Speedy someone get projected out of the ring and into Nero\u2019s lap, where they break the emperor\u2019s prized fiddle. Nero chases Daffy and Speedy through a strangely depopulated Rome \u2013 but back in the 20th century, the Mexican scientist (remember him?) watches a television screen on his time machine and witnesses what is taking place in the past. He manages to bring Daffy and Speedy back to the present, but Nero comes along with them. Rather than return to his era, Nero stays in Mexico and joins Speedy\u2019s mariachi band \u2013 to Daffy\u2019s consternation, as the group\u2019s music wakes him from a much-desired nap.<\/p>\n

Except for Mel Blanc\u2019s voice performances, there is nothing in \u201cSee Ya Later Gladiator\u201d that shares any resonance with the Golden Age animation from the Warner Bros. studio. The animation is beyond sloppy \u2013 the broom that Daffy and Speedy use to assault each other shrinks and grows depending on who is getting whacked \u2013 the story is just plain dumb and the characters are wholly without charm. One gets the feeling this short was made to fill a quota rather than to create genuine entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee Ya Later Gladiator\u201d has turned up on television and it can be found on the DailyMotion.com website. It has yet to appear in any home entertainment format, and its absence isn\u2019t such a bad thing.<\/p>\n