Which Looney Tunes short won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Animated Short?

The Looney Tunes short that won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Animated Short was “Speedy Gonzales.”

Released by Warner Bros. in 1955, the Merrie Melodies short was directed by Friz Freleng and stars Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester. In the story, Sylvester guards a cheese factory while Speedy helps starving mice by repeatedly crossing the border to bring them cheese. Speed’s cleverness and extraordinary pace repeatedly foil the cat’s increasingly elaborate traps.

The award is sometimes confused with other Looney Tunes Oscar winners. “For Scent-imental Reasons” won in 1949, “Birds Anonymous” won in 1957, and “Knighty Knight Bugs” won in 1958. Thus, those choices belong to different award years, not 1955.

Speedy’s modern design also debuted in this film. He had first appeared, largely as a prototype, in “Cat-Tails for Two” in 1953. The character was voiced by Mel Blanc, whose energetic performance helped establish Speedy as the self-proclaimed fastest mouse in Mexico.