. . . 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."

"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.

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.

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.