Editing Speedy Gonzales (section)

==History==
[[File:Early-Speedy.jpg|thumb|A still of an early version of Speedy Gonzales as appeared in ''[[Cat-Tails for Two]]'' (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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rovin |first1=Jeff |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals |date=1991 |publisher=[[Prentice Hall|Prentice Hall Press]] |isbn=0-13-275561-0 |access-date=8 April 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc00rovi/page/246/mode/2up/ |page=246}}</ref> It would be two years before [[Friz Freleng]] and layout artist [[Hawley Pratt]] redesigned the character into his modern incarnation for [[Speedy Gonzales (film)|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 language|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 Animated Short Film|Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)]].

[[File:Speedy Gonzales (1955 short).jpg|thumb|Speedy Gonzales in the 1955 [[Speedy Gonzales (film)|short film of the same name]]]]
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 sauce|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!"<ref name="gun">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALe_bG4VFmU | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019110535/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALe_bG4VFmU| archive-date=2013-10-19 | url-status=dead|title=Speedy Gonzales and Slowpoke Rodriguez in Mexicali Shmoes |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=April 11, 2010}}</ref> In the mid 1960s, Speedy's main rival and second nemesis became [[Daffy Duck]], whom Speedy usually referred to as "the [[wiktionary:loco#Etymology 2|loco]] duck."

Speedy has the reputation of being a hit with the female mice. In many cartoons, when the mice decide to get Speedy to help them, one of the mice mentions that "Speedy Gonzales is friend of my sister". Another mouse adds that, "Speedy Gonzales is friend of ''everybody's'' sister", which earns a big laugh from the other mice.

===Notable cartoon appearances===
* ''[[Cat-Tails for Two]]'' (1953) – Early version
* ''[[Speedy Gonzales (film)|Speedy Gonzales]]'' (1955) – Debut, official, <small>[[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film#1950s|Academy Award-winner, 28th (1955) – Short Subject (Cartoon)]]</small><ref name="28th-oscars">{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1956 |title=The 28th Academy Awards (1955) Nominees and Winners - Short Subject (Cartoon) |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |website=Oscars.org |access-date=June 9, 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Tabasco Road]]'' (1957), <small>Academy Award-nominated</small><ref name=caged />
* ''[[Mexicali Shmoes]]'' (1959), <small>Academy Award-nominated</small><ref name=caged />
* ''[[The Pied Piper of Guadalupe]]'' (1961), <small>Academy Award-nominated</small><ref name=caged />
* ''[[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.