Das große Rennen

Bugs Bunny is angry while reviewing the old film footage. The turtle always wins. He is besides himself and intends to find the reason why he keeps losing. In disguise, he asks Cecil Turtle for his secrets. The turtle sees right through Bugs and tells him that it's all about the streamline of the turtle shell. Bugs decides to make his own shell while the turtle dresses up as a rabbit. It turns out that rabbit mobsters are overwhelmingly betting on Bugs and would do anything to stop the turtle in the race. Of course, Bugs is dressed as the turtle in the race and mobsters keep interfering with Bugs.

I don't really like this Bugs cartoon. It's always tough for me to see Bugs acting slightly dumb. I would also like to have human mobsters. Maybe the rabbit mobster would look more compelling. All in all, this is not my favorite.

Hilarious triple inversion not only of the original fable, but the previous Looney Tunes lampoons, this effort is a little more grounded than such Clampett monuments as "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" and "The Big Snooze." As a result, it shows how the director, restrained from throwing out all the surrealistic stops, could channel his energy into a dizzyingly twisty plot.

Above and beyond that, this cartoon is worth tracking down for Mel Blanc's masterful and startlingly moving voice performance. From Bugs' near-hysterical outburst as he realizes he's winning to his heartbreaking chastisement of his so-called supporters ("You FOOLS! You FOOLS! I'm the RABBIT!"), this cartoon, all on its own, demonstrates that Blanc's talent reached far deeper than a mere capacity for silly voices.

A hilarious sequel to Tex Avery's Tortoise Beats Hare (1941), the cartoon even starts out with Bugs watching selected film footage of the former cartoon. Bugs is very aggressive here and is determined to do everything in his power to win the race this time. If in the Avery cartoon the roles of Bugs and Cecil were reversed, so that Bugs was the loser and Cecil the heckler, here they literally switch identities. Bugs is dressed like a turtle in a mistaken belief that his "streamlined" shell will make him faster (If you're going to miscast Bugs Bunny as the loser you might as well go all the way with it), while Cecil is dressed like a rabbit because he knows the rabbit underworld has bet heavily on the hare to win and will use whatever means necessary to ensure a rabbit victory. Mel Blanc's acting is especially good here, probably one of his best performances. One standout scene is the passion in Bugs' voice as he draws nearer to the finish line. In an interesting side note, the newspaper that announces the rematch also contains an article in the lower right hand corner labeled "Adolf Hitler Commits Suicide." (Remember, this was 1943.) Were the animators at Warner Bros. clairvoyant? Unfortunately, the ending is censored on most television prints today, so try to see this cartoon uncut on videotape instead.

This is the second of three shorts by Looney Tunes (this follows "Tortoise Beats Hare") featuring Bugs Bunny racing the tortoise--and, as usual, the clever tortoise gets the best of him.

In this case, Bugs decides to do a bit of spying before the re-match. The tortoise tells Bugs he won due to his streamline design--so Bugs makes a turtle costume of his own. However, this is NOT a good idea, as a syndicate of gambler rabbits are determined to make sure the tortoise loses the race--and the real tortoise is disguised as a rabbit. The results are quite funny but what comes as a real shock is the extremely violent and dark ending--even compared to other Looney Tunes shorts! Funny and well worth seeing.

Tortoise Wins by a Hare (1943)

**** (out of 4)

Semi-sequel to TORTOISE BEATS HARE has Bugs Bunny asking Cecil Turtle for a rematch since the rabbit can't stand losing the race. Bugs tries to gain an advantage but have no fear because Cecil has a few tricks up his own sleeve. This is another very enjoyable film that manages to be as fun as the original. I enjoyed both of the shorts but think I prefer this one a little more because of the supporting characters, which include a bunch of rabbit gangsters who show up to make sure Bugs wins. The uncut ending, available on the Warner DVD, is a bit over the top and we probably didn't need it but it doesn't take away from any of the laughs in the film.