Classic Looney Tunes mouse Speedy Gonzales will soon be headed to theater near you. Will the movie be a CGI/live-action combo in the mold of Scooby-Doo, Garfield, and Alvin and the Chipmunks? Oh yes it will. Comedian/talk show host George Lopez is slated to do the voice of Speedy, and the premise will be updated for a modern audience.
Assuring that this new version won't feature "the racist Speedy," co-producer Ann Lopez had this to say to The Hollywood Reporter:
"Speedy's going to be a misunderstood boy who comes from a family that works in a very meticulous setting, and he's a little too fast for what they do."
Speedy has faced criticism over the years for what some consider to be a stereotypical and offensive portrayal of Mexicans. In fact, in 1999 the Warner Bros.-owned Cartoon Network stopped airing Looney Tunes featuring Speedy. In a 2002 interview with Fox News, a spokesperson for Cartoon Network commented,
"It hasn't been on the air for years because of its ethnic stereotypes. We have such a huge library, I think we intend to go with popular shows that aren't going to upset people. We're not about pushing the boundary. We're not HBO."
In that same interview, the spokesperson admitted that in Cartoon Network Latin America Speedy Gonzales was "hugely popular." And in 2009 the same spokesperson said regarding Speedy's immanent return to the network: "With the sudden interest in the show, we decided to rotate it in and see how it does." Of course, this was now the network which was home to The Venture Bros., Family Guy, and Robot Chicken – so perhaps their vigilance against "pushing boundaries" had loosened.
Though the initial Speedy cartoons were entertaining enough – with the self-titled 1955 cartoon short winning the Academy Award – I've always related them not so much with racism as with the end of the golden age of the Warner Bros cartoon shorts. By the 1960s, the animation studio leaned heavily on the poorly-matched duos of Speedy/Daffy & Speedy/Sylvester, as well as Road Runner cartoons. Sometimes, to be really creative, they'd mix Speedy with Road Runner, or have Speedy/Daffy/Sylvester/Road Runner in the same cartoon. The production values on many of these cartoons had rapidly fallen since the heyday of Chuck Jones, and it really shows:Note the awkward, stilted way Daffy Duck walks and talks, the corny special effects, and terrible background music. But this was an era in which TV cartoons – with their limited budgets – had become the dominant medium, so I guess it makes sense. These newer Warner Bros. cartoons were tailor-made for TV, not the movie theaters.
The point is, in the 1960s it was Speedy Gonzales – and not Bugs Bunny – who was the Warner Bros. star character. Speedy's dominance of the Looney Tunes slate pointed to his massive popularity. So who am I to second-guess the WB's decision in 2010 to make a major motion picture out of the character?
But in the battle over whether Speedy is racist, or the victim of overly-zealous political-correctness, I'm not sure what message this new movie is trying to send. By vocally making it clear that the movie will not feature "the racist Speedy," the film's producers are separating the character out from his classic cartoon roots. That's fine, but does that separation potentially alienate Speedy's fanbase, which apparently includes many viewers from Mexico? Is this reboot a validation of the enduring popularity of the character, or a condemnation of the character as it was originally conceived? Or is there a way to strike a balance?
Do you think Speedy Gonzales is racist, or is it all much ado about nothing? And what do you think of the character's new direction?
