So it turns out that the old Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Top Cat (that’s Don Gato to you, gringo) is just huge south of the border.

How huge? Huge enough that he rates his own feature film. The Guardian has the skinny:

“Apparently Don Gato, to give him his Spanish name, has been one of the most beloved cartoon imports in Mexico since it was first broadcast there in the 1970s. One former viewer I spoke to said, “You could ask any middle-aged Mexican about the programme and they’ll probably be able to name all of Don Gato’s gang and a few of the incidental characters, as well as a good number of catchphrases and the storylines of quite a few shows.” So Warner Brothers, owner of the Hanna-Barbera properties, has turned to Latin American animators to produce a film just for that market.

Don Gato y Su Pandilla (Top Cat and His Gang) opened handsomely on 16 September – 11 days before TC’s 50th anniversary – with the highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a Mexican film in Mexico: 41m pesos ($2.9m). Most effectual – but not quite the indisputable leader of the gang yet. After a month on release it’s cleared the $7m mark, putting it in with a shout of becoming the most successful ever local film at the Mexican box office – a title currently held by the 2002 Gael García Bernal drama El Crimen del Padre Amaro ($16.3m). It’s also come out in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, with a Peru release happening this week – but no news about the US, or anywhere else, yet.

Read the full story here.