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Rabbit Transit is a 1947 Looney Tunes short directed by I. Freleng.

Title[]

The title is a play on the phrase "rapid transit."

Plot[]

While relaxing in a steam bath, Bugs reads about the original fable of the tortoise beating the hare and becomes incensed at the idea of a turtle outrunning a rabbit. Cecil, also in the steam bath, claims that he could outrun Bugs, prompting Bugs to challenge him to a race. This time, Bugs and Cecil agree to no cheating. Cecil, however, quickly reveals that his shell is now rocket propelled, allowing him to go a surprising combination between fast and slow. Enraged by Cecil's lack of commitment to a fair challenge, Bugs speeds up as best as he can until he receives a telegram from his rival. When he reads it, the greeting card says, "At this joyous time of year, I wish you loads of Xmas cheer" signed by Cecil. Bugs pauses for a second to realize how neighborly Cecil is and decides to do something to return the favor. So he rushes over to the post office.

At the beach, Cecil is seen relaxing with his shell off. He receives a present from the delivery man. When he opens it, Bugs pops out of the gift box and gives Cecil a kiss on the lips before resuming the race. Annoyed, Cecil puts his shell back on and continues racing against Bugs while claiming that he doesn't like that character at all. Bugs manages to steal and wear Cecil's rocket-propelled carapace. Cecil took notice of this and runs after his rival.

Bugs does his best to steal, dismantle, and destroy the device, but all to little effect. Cecil then tricked Bugs into repairing his shell before zooming off. Bugs roasts a hot dog over the afterburners of the exhaust pipes, and then pours into Cecil's shell to slow the turtle down. Cecil quickly scoops all the water out of his shell and continues racing against the rabbit. Bugs paints a short tunnel on a tree to try and trick Cecil into running into it. But when Cecil actually passed through it, Bugs tries to do the same only to knock himself out cold. Then the hallucination of himself wakes him up and Bugs continues racing against the turtle. Cecil slows down as soon as he saw Bugs catching up at high speed. Bugs tops Cecil and crosses the finish line first. Nevertheless, it is Cecil who has the last laugh when he rooks the rabbit into confessing to "doing a hundred easy" in a thirty-miles-per-hour zone. Bugs is taken away by the police. Cecil says, "Ain't I a...um...stinker?"

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Goofs[]

  • When Bugs agrees with Cecil to not cheat while saying "Okay, mac. It ain't that I don't trust you, BUT-" before tipping Cecil upside-down, his mouth does not move properly in sync to what he is saying.
  • Bugs' front and back views do not match up when he smashes into the tree, as when Bugs smashes into the tree, he hits it face first. Yet when he slides to the ground, his back is facing the tree instead of his front.

Notes[]

  • The painted tunnel gag in this cartoon would become a recurring gag by Chuck Jones in his Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote shorts, starting two years later in 1949.
  • Cecil Turtle and Bugs Bunny had previously raced each other in "Tortoise Beats Hare" (1941) and "Tortoise Wins by a Hare" (1943). This cartoon was their final encounter. Unlike "Tortoise Wins by a Hare", this cartoon presumes that Bugs and Cecil have never met before.
  • This is the second time Cecil is seen without his shell, the first time being in "Tortoise Beats Hare". Unlike that cartoon, where Cecil is seen wearing underwear underneath his shell, here Cecil is seen wearing a bathing suit underneath his shell.

Gallery[]

References[]

Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-OHare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraA Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitTortoise Beats HareHiawatha's Rabbit HuntThe Heckling HareAll This and Rabbit StewWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitHold the Lion, PleaseBugs Bunny Gets the BoidFresh HareThe Hare-Brained HypnotistCase of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a HareSuper-RabbitJack-Wabbit and the BeanstalkWackiki WabbitFalling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding RabbitWhat's Cookin' Doc?Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsHare Ribbin'Hare ForceBuckaroo BugsThe Old Grey HareStage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets HareThe Unruly HareHare TriggerHare ConditionedHare Tonic
1946 Baseball BugsHare RemoverHair-Raising HareAcrobatty BunnyRacketeer RabbitThe Big SnoozeRhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit TransitA Hare Grows in ManhattanEaster YeggsSlick Hare
1948 Gorilla My DreamsA Feather in His HareRabbit PunchBuccaneer BunnyBugs Bunny Rides AgainHaredevil HareHot Cross BunnyHare SplitterA-Lad-In His LampMy Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare DoMississippi HareRebel RabbitHigh Diving HareBowery BugsLong-Haired HareKnights Must FallThe Grey Hounded HareThe Windblown HareFrigid HareWhich Is WitchRabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy HareMutiny on the BunnyHomeless HareBig House BunnyWhat's Up Doc?8 Ball BunnyHillbilly HareBunker Hill BunnyBushy HareRabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We GoRabbit Every MondayBunny HuggedThe Fair Haired HareRabbit FireFrench RarebitHis Hare Raising TaleBallot Box BunnyBig Top Bunny
1952 Operation: RabbitFoxy by Proxy14 Carrot RabbitWater, Water Every HareThe Hasty HareOily HareRabbit SeasoningRabbit's KinHare Lift
1953 Forward March HareUpswept HareSouthern Fried RabbitHare TrimmedBully for BugsLumber Jack-RabbitDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain HareblowerBugs and ThugsNo Parking HareDevil May HareBewitched BunnyYankee Doodle BugsBaby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Hyde and HareKnight-Mare HareRoman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' BonnetsBroom-Stick BunnyRabbitson CrusoeNapoleon Bunny-PartBarbary-Coast BunnyHalf-Fare HareA Star Is BoredWideo WabbitTo Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBedevilled RabbitPiker's PeakWhat's Opera, Doc?Bugsy and MugsyShow Biz BugsRabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less WolfHare-Way to the StarsNow, Hare ThisKnighty Knight BugsPre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton BunnyHare-abian NightsApes of WrathBackwoods BunnyWild and Woolly HareBonanza BunnyA Witch's Tangled HarePeople Are Bunny
1960 Horse HarePerson to BunnyRabbit's FeatFrom Hare to HeirLighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitCompressed HarePrince Violent
1962 Wet HareBill of HareShishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud CakeThe Million HareHare-Breadth HurryThe UnmentionablesMad as a Mars HareTransylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb PatrolDr. Devil and Mr. HareThe Iceman DuckethFalse Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas CarolFright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young BunnySpaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las VegasDaffy Duck for President
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