Der hurtige Hase

Bugs Bunny is relaxing at a natural hot spring and reading The Turtoise and the Hare. He becomes incensed with the ending. Cecile Turtle nearby claims to differ and insists that he would win. Bugs challenges him to a race. Both characters are willing to cheat. It is a matter of one-up-man-ship in cheating.

This is a Bugs Bunny cartoon where he meets his match. It is fine. I am not that invested in the race where both people are randomly cheating. It doesn't really matter who wins the race. It is more about the ridiculousness of the cheating. That stuff has some fun and I enjoyed this for the most part.

I thoroughly enjoyed Rabbit Transit, I felt it was a lot of fun. The only real quibble I have is that although Bugs himself is great, he is not as confident as he usually is and he is shown to be easily tricked here. This wasn't distracting as such, it's just that I love Bugs and his persona and this wasn't quite the Bugs I fell in love with. That said, the story is wonderful, a very fun twist on The Tortoise and the Hare or so it seemed, the animation is colourful and lively, the music is rousing and there are enough witty dialogue and sharp sight gags to amuse even the fussiest Looney Tunes fan. And I loved Cecil, he is a turtle, but he is an endearing and funny one. Plus Mel Blanc's vocals are superb. Overall, a wonderful Looney Tunes cartoon, very funny. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Once again, Bugs Bunny races Cecil Turtle. Only this time, Cecil has an advantage in the form of a jet pack under his shell. With every one of these cartoons, the makers obviously just wanted to get as far out as possible, and "Rabbit Transit" sure does that. Some of the tricks involving the jet pack really seem to have come out of left field. But overall, it's always good to see how these cartoons aren't afraid to do whatever they want. I'd say that it was really during the next few years after this when they really brought Bugs to his apex, but this one's still good for a few laughs.

And remember, watch your speed!

Relaxing in a spa reading Aesop's fables, Bugs is shocked to read of a tortoise beating a hare in a race. To prove his point he takes a challenge from a tortoise to have a race, however when the race starts it is evident that Bugs will need to use guile to win as the tortoise has a motor inside his shell!

This cartoon has all the markings of a good cartoon - good story, good characters and plenty of opportunity for imaginative humour. For the most part it works very well and is pretty funny. The plot allows for some good gags, although a little too much mileage (!) is wrung out of the motorised shell idea. The short even has a good ending which nicely twists one of Bugs' own catch phrases on himself!

The one weakness it did have was in it's lead character - which was a surprising thing to me. I love Bugs and enjoy seeing him twist things on those who would get him! I like to se the many ways he gets the upper hand. However here he was very much the lesser character in terms of scoring points. He is shown to be easily tricked and fooled and, at times, out of his depth. This didn't ruin the cartoon for me as it was still funny, but this was not the usual character I expect to see when I watch Bugs Bunny.

Despite this, I enjoyed the film as it was funny with good sight gags covering the `topical' references that went over my head. The only thing to remember is that this is not Bugs Bunny in his normal, wise cracking confident self.

Rabbit Transit (1947)

*** (out of 4)

Third and final meeting between Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle has them racing cross country and both promising not to cheat, although that rule gets thrown out early on. This short isn't nearly as good as the previous two but there's still enough charm here to make it worth watching. What really brings this short down is the fact that there aren't enough laughs to keep it going. I wouldn't say we've seen this stuff too many times before but there's certain freshness missing from the story, characters and even some of the gags like the power jet turtle shell.