Tortoise Beats Hare is a 1941 Merrie Melodies short directed by Fred Avery.
Plot[]
Bugs wanders onto the title card, absentmindedly reading the title card with gross mispronunciations. Once he finally reads the title of the cartoon, he becomes outraged, accusing the makers of not knowing what they are talking about. He tears apart the title card and rushes to find Cecil Turtle's house. When he confronts Cecil, he strongly insists that he can beat him any day of the week. Then he bets the little, sleepy-eyed turtle ten dollars that he can beat him in a race.
Cecil accepts Bugs' bet and quickly (for him, anyway) calls up Chester Turtle and eight other cousins, all of whom look and sound like Cecil (some have deeper voices, some have higher voices). After talking to Chester about the bet, he tells him to call the other cousins and tell them to be ready when he comes to their position, and to "give him all the works". The race begins several days later, and as Bugs runs relentlessly toward the finish line, Cecil and his relatives take turns showing up at just the right moment to baffle the bunny. In the end, Bugs is convinced he has won, only to see Cecil or one of his kin across the finish demanding the money. Bugs suggests that he has been tricked, and all ten turtles approach and reply, "Mmm, it's a possibility!" And they all kiss Bugs.
Caricatures[]
- Artie Auerbach - "Mmm, it's a possibility!"
Production Details[]
Mel Blanc supplies Cecil's drowsy drawl, which is like a slowed-down version of Blanc's later characterization of Barney Rubble.
"Tortoise Beats Hare" is a takeoff on the Aesop fable "The Tortoise and the Hare", but even more directly, it is Avery's parody of the 1934 Disney Silly Symphony, "The Tortoise and the Hare". Max Hare, from the earlier Disney film, is often cited as one of the inspirations behind Bugs Bunny.
Avery left Warner Bros. before he could produce any new cartoons featuring Cecil. However, he introduced a similar character in 1943, Droopy. Droopy would even take some of his tricks from his slow-and-steady predecessor, such as using his relatives to help him outsmart a wolf.
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Notes[]
- The working title was "Tortoise + Hare".
- This cartoon premiered in The Rivoli and Hollywood Theater on Broadway on 12 March 1941 before being released theatrically on 15 March.
- When Bugs sees Cecil sitting at the finishing line, he calls him a "blankety, blank, blank turtle", which is meant to reference curse words, a violation of the 1934 Hays Code.
- This was Tex Avery's 54th cartoon and Bugs Bunny's third appearance.
- This is the first time Bugs Bunny loses in the end, proving that Bugs is not completely unbeatable; this is confirmed by animation historian Will Friedwald in the documentary King Size Comedy: Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution as part of Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Blu-ray bonus features.
- A sign reading "Bell Turtlephone Co." can be seen in the short. It is a parody of Bell Telephone Co., the first owner of AT&T.
- This short was featured in the final episode of The Bugs & Daffy Show that aired on 11 April 2004.[3]
Gallery[]
References[]
External links[]
- Animator Breakdown: "Tortoise Beats Hare" (1941) on Cartoon Research