Speedy Gonzales rival became Daffy Duck. Feeling that the character presented an offensive Mexican stereotype, Cartoon Network shelved Speedy's films when it gained exclusive rights to broadcast them in 1999 (as a subsidiary of Time Warner, Cartoon Network is a corporate sibling to Warner Bros.). In an interview with Fox News on March 28, 2002, Cartoon Network spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg commented, "It hasn't been on the air for years because of its ethnic stereotypes." Despite such controversy over potentially offensive characterizations, Speedy Gonzales remained a popular character in Latin America. The Hispanic-American rights organization League of United Latin American Citizens called Speedy
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) of 1940. On the strength of the Oscar nomination and public demand, Hanna and Barbera were assigned to direct more cat-and-mouse cartoons, soon christening the characters "Tom and Jerry". "Puss Gets the Boot" did not win the 1940 Academy Award for Best Cartoon, but another MGM cartoon, Rudolf Ising's "The Milky Way" did, making MGM the first studio to wrestle the Cartoon Academy Award away from Walt Disney. "Tom and Jerry" quickly became MGM's most valuable animated property. The shorts were successful at the box office, many licensed products (comic books, toys, etc.) were released