With the Lego Movie universe expanding well and other cartoon films in development, Warner Bros. is dipping back into its Looney Toons roster for another crack at bringing fast-paced mouse Speedy Gonzales to the big screen.
If you're feeling a distinct sense of deja vu at the idea, you're not imagining it: Speedy was last targeted for big screen treatment in 2010, when the studio was looking at a hybrid CG/live-action film that would have seen him working with a nervous racing driver. But that take, which had American comedian George Lopez producing and voicing the character, never got off the starting grid.
Now the studio is looking at a pure CG version, hiring Mexican filmmaker Eugenio Derbez to provide the voice. The Hollywood Reporter's story on the film's new development doesn't mention any other creative people attached yet. Despite the racial overtones to this one, Speedy himself has a long history – he debuted back in the ‘50s as part of the Tunes ensemble, quickly establishing himself as nemesis for Sylvester the Cat. He even starred in an Oscar-winning short in 1955. Can he snatch a gold statuette again? Well, he has to have a finished movie, first...