'' (animated by
Charles McKimson) Speedy's first appearance was in 1953's
Cat-Tails for Two though he appeared largely in name (and super speed) only. It would be two years before
Friz Freleng and layout artist
Hawley Pratt redesigned the character into his modern incarnation for
the 1955 Freleng short of the same name. The cartoon features
Sylvester the Cat guarding a cheese factory at the international border between the United States and Mexico from starving Mexican mice. The mice call in the plucky, excessively energetic Speedy (voiced by
Mel Blanc) to save them. Amid cries of "¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Epe! ¡Epe! ¡Epe! Yeehaw!" (
Spanish for "Go on! Go on! Up! Up!", although "Ándale arriba" may have been intended as meaning "hurry up"), Sylvester soon gets his comeuppance. The cartoon won the 1955
Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons). While Speedy's last name was given as
Gonzalez in
Cat-Tails (on a printed business card shown in the cartoon), it was spelled with an 's' from
Speedy Gonzales onward. Today, the earlier spelling is sometimes used. Freleng and McKimson soon set Sylvester up as Speedy's regular nemesis in a series of cartoons, much in the same way
Chuck Jones had paired
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner in his Road Runner cartoons (and indeed, all four characters ended up competing with each other in the short
The Wild Chase). Sylvester (often called "
El Gringo Pussygato" by Speedy) is constantly outsmarted and outrun by the mouse, causing the cat to suffer all manner of pain and humiliation from mousetraps to accidentally consuming large amounts of
Tabasco hot sauce. Other cartoons pair the mouse with his cousin,
Slowpoke Rodriguez, the "slowest Mouse in all Mexico." Slowpoke regularly gets into all sorts of trouble that often require Speedy to save him—but one cat in
Mexicali Shmoes says that as if to compensate for his slowness, "he pack a gun!" In the mid 1960s, Speedy's main rival and second nemesis became
Daffy Duck, whom Speedy usually referred to as "the
loco duck."
Notable cartoon appearances •
Cat-Tails for Two (1953) – Early version •
Speedy Gonzales (1955) – Debut, official,
Academy Award-winner, 28th (1955) – Short Subject (Cartoon) •
Tabasco Road (1957), Academy Award-nominated •
Mexicali Shmoes (1959), Academy Award-nominated •
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe (1961), Academy Award-nominated •
A Message to Gracias (1964) – One of the rare Speedy Gonzales cartoons directed by
Robert McKimson • ''
It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House'' (1965) – first appearance with Daffy Duck. •
See Ya Later Gladiator (1968) – final theatrical appearance. ==Reception and controversy==