YMMV / Speedy Gonzales

• Audience-Alienating Era: Speedy's bouts against Daffy Duck are often considered the lowest point of the original Looney Tunes series.
• Badass Decay: A gradual case throughout the 60s era. In the DePatie-Freleng shorts, Speedy was still Badass, but his Super-Speed wasn't as completely impenetrable as he was in the 50s shorts, having more moments he was overpowered, and in rare cases even lost altogether (though to compensate, Speedy also became a more cerebral trickster, able to use wits to win as often as his speed). By the Warner Bros.-Seven Arts shorts however, Speedy almost never runs at all, and his victories generally have more to do with Daffy somehow self-sabotaging. Even more jarring is Freleng's last effort Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island, where he's Daffy's Bumbling Sidekick. Most revivals after re-rail Speedy back to his original prowess.
• Designated Hero: While Speedy had a much cleaner track record than the other "heckler" protagonists of the Looney Tunes series, there were still a handful he was nominally heroic. He is portrayed as a home wrecker in "Gonzales Tamales" for example, with Sylvester only seeking him out of mistaken claims by the other vengeful mice. Incidentally, subverted totally with "Moby Duck", which is essentially a remake of "Canned Feud" retooled to make the mouse character incredibly sympathetic.
• Fair for Its Day: While he was somewhat stereotypical and depiction of other characters has aged poorly, Speedy himself was an intelligent, heroic minority character in an era infamous for racism. This is much of why Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales.
• Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: Trope Namer. His Mexican voice actors are actually really good at their jobs, and Speedy himself is a crafty, good-natured and endearing little guy when you get right down to it; he actually holds up well as a character beyond being a Token Minority in the Looney Tunes ensemble. As such, despite having some obvious Mexican stereotypes in his characterization, actual Mexicans have a very positive view of Speedy, making him popular in the country.
  Eugenio Derbez: In Mexico, we grew up watching Speedy Gonzales. He was like a superhero to us, or maybe more like a revolutionario like Simón Bolívar or Pancho Villa. He watched out for the little people but with a lot of bravado, and a weakness for the ladies.
• Saved by the Fans: What ultimately got his cartoons back on the air.
• The Woobie: He's this in Moby Duck. All he wanted was to nicely share the can food with Daffy, which was enough for both of them. Even when he gives the can opener to Daffy out of pity, the latter still refuses to share anything with him. Laser-Guided Karma strikes at the end however.
  • A similar deal happens in "Well Worn Daffy" and "Snow Excuse", with Speedy already starting off pretty worn down and Daffy showing No Sympathy. It doesn't help that Daffy is much more formidable against Speedy than usual in these cases.
  • Speedy himself lampshades this in "Daffy's Diner".
  Speedy: How do I get into things like this? I never hurt anybody.

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