Speedy's major traits include the ability to run extremely fast and speaking English with an exaggerated Mexican accent. In his Oscar-winning 'Best Short Subject' (cartoons) debut, titled "Cat-Tails for Two", a cat guards 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!", the cat soon gets his comeuppance and Speedy is honored as a hero.
Despite controversy over potentially offensive characterizations, Speedy Gonzales remains a popular character in Latin America, with many Hispanics regarding him fondly as a quick-witted, heroic Mexican character who always got the best of his opponents, with the Hispanic-American rights organization "League of United Latin American Citizens" calling Speedy Gonzales a 'cultural icon'.
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