Tabasco Road (1957) Online

Speedy Gonzales was essentially a one-note character (kind of like the Roadrunner) so the quality of a Speedy cartoon is largely dependent on the surrounding characters and situations they get themselves into rather than Speedy himself. The two mice Speedy is rescuing frequently, Pablo and Fernando are excellent characters. The songs they sing in this are very funny and the situations that arise from their actins are what makes the cartoon. Not easy to find and rarely aired on Cartoon Network, but well worth digging up and Recommended.

This time, Speedy Gonzales isn't fetching cheese, but is rescuing his drunken friends Pablo and Fernando, both in danger of getting eaten by a cat (not Sylvester). Watching "Tabasco Road", I get the feeling that it may be one of the Looney Tunes cartoons that drew criticism: it basically portrays Mexicans as drunks. On that subject, maybe the cartoon was intended as an anti-alcohol warning.

Then again, maybe I'm trying too hard to analyze it. As long as we understand that it sort of makes stereotypes about Mexicans - namely with "ceety leemits" - we can enjoy it. And as long as we know to drink responsibly.

"Tabasco Road," directed by Robert McKimson, is a very funny Speedy Gonzales cartoon. Following a boisterous celebration for Speedy at a "cantinita" the size of a mouse hole, Speedy is obliged to look after his two inebriated "compadres" (Pablo and Fernando) and to see that they arrive home safely. But in their drunken stupor, Pablo and Fernando feel obliged to fight any large "pussygato" adversary that gets in their way.

Highlights: Speedy performs a very good hat dance while all the other mice shout, clap, and cheer. Throughout this cartoon, Pablo and Fernando are hilarious as they sing "La Cucaracha" with their own English lyrics. AND, for the benefit of the audience, Speedy replays in "slow motiono" how he manages to outwit a burly gray Mexican "gato".

"Tabasco Road" is an entertaining cartoon that partially derives its humor from its freely mixing of Spanish and English. Speedy's adversary in this case is not the more familiar Sylvester, but that's okay. The important thing is that the legendary fastest mouse in all Mexico also has the fastest wits, thus enabling him to act "pronto" when his friends are in danger.

Like many of the Warner Brothers cartoons of the late 1950s, the beautiful backgrounds and gorgeous animation were giving way to a UPA-style of cartoon making--with crappy backgrounds and simpler characters. While this particular cartoon is still very watchable, it's not up to the quality standards of the studios cartoons from just a few years earlier.

This is a Speedy Gonzales cartoon. I am NOT a huge fan of this character, so keep this in mind--if you love him, I am sure your opinion will probably be a bit more favorable--though I did enjoy it. However, apparently Speedy and his alcoholic friends are not politically correct, as the film had an added speech in the prologue about hurtful stereotypes. However, I saw this same cartoon many times as a child and never once assumed all Mexicans (or Mexican mice) were alcoholics nor did they run at 100 miles per hour! And, unless you are VERY thin-skinned, I think you'll enjoy the heck out of this violent little cartoon (yeah, violence!). It's quite funny and very good despite the budget cutbacks at Looney Tunes.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Speedy Gonzales is not a favourite character of mine and his cartoons, whether it's with Daffy Duck, Sylvester or other characters, are extremely variable. Leaning more towards having more average or more misses than hits, and even the hits are rarely classics. It is always interesting to see supporting characters that aren't Daffy or Speedy, and 'Tabasco Road' is a good example. It is something of an odd cartoon to receive an Oscar nomination, but it is not an undeserving one by all means and the strange on paper idea that it has works well.

'Tabasco Road' has imperfections, none of the Speedy cartoons seen are even the best ones.

Budget and time constraints, with the budget being lower, resources being fewer and time constraints tighter, show in the animation. This aspect is very limited, apart from some good flow in how the characters move, especially in the scrappy and incomplete-looking backgrounds.

As is the case with all Speedy cartoons, the story is basic and obvious, not an awful lot to it and the predictability factor is high.

Music however in 'Tabasco Road' is full of beautiful and clever orchestration and lively energy. The songs sung are very catchy. No cheapness or repetitiveness here whatsoever.

Furthermore, Mel Blanc's vocals as expected are very exuberant and full of vigour, few actors have voiced multiple characters in one cartoon alone and give all of them a different identity with such conviction. Speedy is not annoying, serves a purpose and actually is in a situation where he is treated sympathetically. Pablo and Fernando though are funnier and more interesting.

The dialogue is not particularly fresh but it is quite sharp-witted and amusing and there is a crisp pace throughout. The gags are nothing innovative but raised still a number of smiles and laughs. For a Speedy cartoon, 'Tabasco Road' is very violent but not in a sadistic way. Some of the characterisations are stereotypical but not in an offensive way.

Overall, good fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox

. . . pay homage to prolific American dirty book author Erskine Caldwell, whose Pornucopia outpouring was led by TOBACCO ROAD. In Warner Bros.' minds, sex and Mexico apparently went hand-in-hand. The kinky gray "Pussygato" (this is the spelling of the most frequently used noun in Warner's TOBASCO ROAD, according to the English subtitles on LT Academy Awards Disc 3) is first pictured here wearing an adult diaper (not unlike the Crazy "Bill" cat in the comic strip "Bloom Country"), an obvious nod to the Caldwell story in which the young wife trimmed her sails down . . . perhaps you should read THAT one for yourself. This same feline constantly gives the in-and-out treatment to Speedy's friends Pablo and Fernando, clearly referencing the Caldwell tale in which the deranged chick approaches her sleeping overnight male guest from the local tavern with open over-sized shears and . . . maybe you should read THIS one for yourself, too. By watching Speedy Gonzalez Toons with English captions, Today's American Major League Baseball players can learn to communicate with the 26% of their foreign teammates born in Spanish-speaking countries. "El Steenko Sardinhas," for instance, is Spanish for "good grub." And if you're being paid $24 million annually while batting .220, Motor City fans will run you out of town beyond the "Ceety Leemits."

This is another outing for Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all of Mexico, however in this cartoon most of the laughs come from Pablo and Fernando, two of his friends who have had too much tequila in the taverna. As the stagger home they decide to pick a fight with an alley cat. Luckily for them Speedy is at hand to rescue them, although as soon as they get rescued they are back trying to fight the cat again meaning speedy has his work cut out for him.

The combination of English and Spanish is well done, even if like me you don't speak Spanish it is easy to figure out the gist of what they are saying. Some people might not like the suggestion that Mexicans like their tequila a bit too much but as it is done in a funny way and didn't suggest that they were all like that, just those two I didn't think it was offensive. Definitely worth watching for a laugh.

1957 must have been an awful year for cartoons for this mess of a short to be nominated. There are some very funny Speedy Gonzales cartoons out there, but TABASCO ROAD is not one of them. The Speedy Gonzales cartoons tend to be a little annoying anyway, but this movie is just plain unfunny and unbearable to sit through. If you really want to watch a Speedy Gonzales cartoon then check out CAT-TAILS FOR TWO or MEXICALI SHMOES. Now, those are funny. All three of these cartoons are available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Four. If you are easily offended by racial stereotypes then I would avoid this cartoon - actually all Speedy Gonzales cartoons for that matter.