Tortoise Beats Hare

Despite not being terribly well-versed in American animated shorts, I have already seen and enjoyed Wilfred Jackson's 'The Fox and the Hare (1934),' an amusing adaptation of Aesop's classic fable, in which cockiness leads to defeat, and perseverance proves invaluable ("slow and steady wins the race"). This Disney Silly Symphonies short was spoofed in 1941 by Tex Avery at Warner Bros., in a film titled 'Tortoise Beats Hare,' featuring Bugs Bunny and (in his cartoon debut) Cecil Turtle. The short opens in an interesting fashion, as Bugs – while chomping down on a carrot – ambles into the opening credit screen, casually mispronounces the name of each crew member, and splutters the title of the film. Determined to prove his superiority to as sluggish a creature as a tortoise, Bugs tears away the credit screen and stamps towards Cecil's home, and the tortoise agrees to a race in his own lazy drawl.

This, however, is where Avery turns the fable on its head. Not content with playing it fair – and recognising, no doubt, that his opponent is not stupid enough to fall asleep underneath a shady tree – Cecil calls up a few of his identical-looking friends and sets about baffling and humiliating an increasingly-exasperated Bugs. With tortoises positioned at periodic intervals along the racetrack, the zippy rabbit finds himself unable to outrun his dawdling opponent, and is driven crazy trying to understand how the tortoise keeps turning up ahead of him. Interestingly, in a break from the typical story, both racers exhibit a considerable amount of arrogance, and the harmless-looking Cecil, having implemented his cunning plan, at one point turns to the audience and remarks "we do this kinda stuff to him all through the picture!" With a suitably cynical outlook on sporting ethics, Avery appears to be telling us that "slow and steady" can't guarantee a gold medal, but cheating certainly can.

Mel Blanc, as usual, provides the voices for each of the film's characters, though his characterisation of Bugs Bunny is slightly different to what I remember – I can't quite put my finger on it, but the disparity is there. However, this only being Bugs' third appearance (following 'A Wild Hare (1940)' and 'Elmer's Pet Rabbit (1941)'), I can certainly appreciate that both Avery and Blanc were still toying about with ideas and details in order to perfect the character. Though not a perfect animated short – I think I prefer the corresponding Silly Symphony in comparison – 'Tortoise Beats Hare' is an enjoyable alteration of a predictable formula, and Bugs Bunny, rather than being the character who dishes out the pranks, is given a healthy dose of his own medicine. I wonder if he managed to get his ten dollars back?

Bugs Bunny is incensed after seeing the name of the cartoon. There's no was a small slow turtle can beat his wiry fast rabbit legs and he aims to prove it. Enter Cecil Turtle, in the first of three races he'd have with Bugs. The short is funny and it's nice seeing Bugs being the fall guy once in a while. I found it very humorous, yet I still maintain that "Tortoise Wins by a Hare" has the edge over this cartoon, as slight as that edge may be. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by Chuck Jones via old interviews. If that's not enough it also features a SECOND commentary by Micheal Barrier.

My Grade: A

All of the Bugs vs. Cecil cartoons are extremely good, while Rabbit Transit was the one that introduced me to that lovable turtle Cecil(despite the fact this is the actual cartoon that introduces him), Tortoise Wins by a Hare is my personal favourite. From the title, you may already know how Tortoise Beats Hare ends, but the cartoon begins brilliantly and originally while the final gag is actually amusing. The story is well done, the animation is excellent(even if Bugs looks a little different having longer ears for example), the music is rousing and bouncy, the dialogue is witty and sharp and the sight gags are a real joy. Not to mention Bugs and Cecil having a great time together and individually, and Mel Blanc's vocals are superb. Overall, delightful. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Aesop's fable gets brought to life in the first pairing of Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle. I guess that you could say that Bugs Bunny has a tendency to let his ego get in the way of everything, especially since Cecil has friends in high - and low - places. A previous reviewer said that Tex Avery helped bring Bugs to his fullest potential here. I don't know whether I fully agree with that, but there's no doubt that Avery (or, as Bugs pronounces it: a-vary) had some neat ideas.

Anyway, the title explains how it ends. Some scenes in "Tortoise Beats Hare" were shown in the sequel "Tortoise Wins by a Hare". I suppose that no matter what happens, that'll never be all, folks. At least not for the Looney Tunes.

Of all the early appearances by Bugs Bunny, "Tortoise Beats Hare" might just be the best. The story is so good that it was reworked in the studio's later cartoons.

The cartoon features a great character, Cecil the Turtle. In some ways, his slow delivery sounds like MGM's Droopy...but unlike Droopy, he's a bit of a jerk!

The story begins with Bugs walking across the screen and seeing the credits. When he sees that the tortoise beats the hare, he's incensed and demands a rematch. The tortoise, with a lot of help and cheating, manages to once again upstage the rabbit.

The way the characters break the fourth wall is very funny...and very typical of many of the Tex Avery directed cartoons. It's well animated, fun and among the studio's best.