It has recently been raining, and the Princess is playing with her new friend, a snail named Speedy. She asks the narrator if he likes him, and when he hesitates, she takes it as a "no". The Maid calls out, "Lunch time!", so the Princess leaves, carrying Speedy with her. She meets the Gardener on her way, who claims to dislike snails because they eat his vegetables. The Princess claims that Speedy doesn't, surprising the Gardener.
Then, on the way to lunch, the Maid, King, and Queen gag and groan when they see Speedy, offending the Princess. At lunch, the Princess becomes even more offended when the Maid brings up the "no pets in the kitchen" rule, but the Chef makes an exception... because he eats snails!
Later, the Princess is drawing, but tells the curious narrator, "You wouldn't like it." He asks why, and she replies that the drawing is of Speedy, and the narrator doesn't like it. The narrator admits that Speedy's eyes are nice, and then the Princess is impressed that Speedy can do "gymnastics", i.e. balance well, spin in place (referred to as a "turnaround" by the Princess) and climb up walls. The Princess and Puss try to do these things too, but the Princess understandably fails at the latter and Puss doesn't even try. Speedy then goes into its shell and rolls along, which the Princess interprets as a somersault.
Still later, the Princess makes Speedy a medal for the best "gymnast" in the world. She's about to award it to the snail, only to find it missing. She follows the slime trail to the stairs and finds the Prime Minister about to take Speedy outside. At first, she berates him for trying to "hurt" it, and when he reveals that he was only trying to take it outside, she tells him that it's her pet. She then tries to show the Prime Minister Speedy's "gymnastics", but it doesn't do anything. The Prime Minister suggests that Speedy needs a nap, so the Princess considers putting him to bed, but unfortunately he wakes up, then she steps on him, killing him.
The Princess cries, then runs into her room still crying, and the Prime Minister puts the body in a matchbox. He meets up with the Princess in her room and tries to console her by pointing out that it was an accident, but she still feels responsible. The Prime Minister suggests having a funeral, but the Princess doesn't know what one is, so he explains.
The Princess invites all the adults to the funeral, and the Gardener chooses a cabbage as a marker. The Princess then says a eulogy: "Speedy was, um... he was a good friend... and a great gymnast!". After the funeral, the Princess is surprised that she's still sad, but she cheers up when she sees 100 baby snails.
This episode provides examples of
- Accidental Murder: The Princess accidentally kills Speedy by stepping on him.Prime Minister: "It was an accident."Princess: "I still killed him!"
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Notable aversion. Puss, the Maid, and the Queen disliked Speedy, but Puss still looks shocked when he sees Speedy die, when the Princess invites the Queen to the funeral, she says in a sad, shocked voice, "Speedy's dead?!", and at the funeral, the Maid even cries a little bit.
- Artistic License – Biology: Speedy is referred to as a "him". In reality, snails are hermaphrodites, so "them" or "it" would be more correct.
- Black Comedy: The Chef thinks that burying the late Speedy is a "waste".
- Black Comedy Pet Death: Heavily downplayed. There are some jokes such as the Gardener choosing a cabbage as a grave marker, and the Chef calling Speedy's funeral a "waste", but the death of Speedy is generally taken very seriously despite its being a snail.
- Cats Are Superior: Implied. The Princess talks about the "best gymnast in the whole world", and Puss obviously thinks she means him.
- Foreign Queasine: Implied when the Maid gags and frowns when the Chef reveals that he eats snails.
- Friend to Bugs: The Princess befriends a snail (who unfortunately dies) in this episode.
- Happy Dance: Defied. The Princess starts to dance when she sees the baby snails, but then decides not to lest she step on one.
- Hollywood Cuisine: This episode reveals that the Chef, who is French, eats snails, like the majority of French cartoon characters.
- Inelegant Blubbering: When the Princess is crying over killing Speedy, she makes loud sobbing sounds and has a runny nose.
- Ironic Name: Snails are known for being slow, but this one was named Speedy.
- It Always Rains at Funerals: At Speedy's funeral, the weather is grey and rainy.
- Jealous Pet: Zigzagged. Puss doesn't like Speedy and tries to one-up him with tricks, but it's unknown if he's jealous, or he just thinks a snail is a ludicrous pet. Part of it could also be simple arrogance, as when the Princess talks about the "best gymnast in the whole world", he assumes she means him.
- Mourning an Object: Discussed when the Admiral initially thinks they're having a funeral for a nail.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Speedy's snail movements are interpreted as gymnastics by the Princess.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After accidentally killing Speedy, the Princess sobs, "I killed him!".
- Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Initially, the King and Queen think Speedy is the Princess's imaginary friend, and only realise the truth when they look up after the Princess notes that he probably doesn't have any hands to wash.
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: Most episodes of this show don't focus on death, but this one does.
