#88 -- Tabasco Road

Title - Tabasco Road

Director - Bob McKimson

Released - 1957

Interesting Fact -- Nominated for Academy Award for Short Subject, Cartoons (but would end up losing to Birds Anonymous)

Reason for Placement --

In most Speedy Gonzales cartoons, we see Speedy going to fetch cheese, going up against Sylvester, or (in the much later cartoons of the 60s) facing Daffy Duck. But in Tabasco Road, Speedy is on a mission to save his two friends, Pablo and Fernando before they get eaten by a hungry alley cat.

So why is this cartoon so great? Very simple: Pablo and Fernando are completely drunk! Sorry, but the blunt humor of two drunk cartoon mice doesn't get much better than this. There's even a scene where Speedy tries to get his friends to stop drinking by saying, "No mas tequilla, already muy loaded!" I remember hearing that when I was a teenager and thinking, "Did Speedy Gonzales actually make a reference to someone being drunk?!?" Call me crazy, but I can't help but think that nowadays, this cartoon would probably be used to help educate children on the dangers of alcohol.