(Oh sure, and the fast mouse is the racist.)

Noted Mexican George Lopez is set to voice Speedy Gonzalez in an upcoming movie for New Line. The company was careful to note that this won’t be the “racist”, Looney Tunes version of Speedy that you’re used to, in which Mexicans are unfairly depicted as lightning-fast cartoon rodents.  From Reuters:

The character has often courted criticism that the ethnic characterizations of him and his compatriots (especially lazy cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez) are stereotypically racist and severely outdated.
Aware of this, New Line and the producers plan to update the brand with a modernized sensibility.
“We wanted to make sure that it was not the Speedy of the 1950s — the racist Speedy,” said the comedian’s wife Ann Lopez, who will serve alongside him as a producer. “Speedy’s going to be a misunderstood boy who comes from a family that works in a very meticulous setting, and he’s a little too fast for what they do. He makes a mess of that. So he has to go out in the world to find what he’s good at.”

Mira, Speedy, ju need to eslow down.  Ju selleen los oranges muy, muy queeckly.  Ju makeen jour cousens look bad.  Ay yay yay, we’re so esleepy.

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This is a clip from So You Think You Can Dance when Adam Shankman was guest hosting — the dancing was so beautiful it made him cry, you see.  It’s related because Shankman, a former choreographer who went on to direct The Pacifier, Bringing Down the House, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2, has signed on to direct the screen version of the musical Rock of Ages, which he calls “Mamma Mia for dudes.”

The musical tells the story of a couple that meets at the Sunset Strip club Rock of Ages, falls in love and tries to stay together amid the rough and tumble rock lifestyle [?]. The cast finds reasons to belt out 80s rock anthems by Journey, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar and others.

“I had the best time of my life making `Hairspray’ and badly wanted another musical, and when I watched `Rock of Ages,’ I was struck by the fact that not only had much of the audience seen it more than once, every guy in the audience knew the words to the songs,” Shankman said. “I thought, `this is `Mamma Mia!’ for dudes.’”

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