Tortoise Beats Hare
| Tortoise Beats Hare | |
|---|---|
 Bugs Bunny, disgusted after reading the title of the cartoon | |
| Directed by | Tex Avery |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Animation by | Charles McKimson Uncredited: Robert McKimson Rod Scribner Virgil Ross Sid Sutherland Don Williams Rollin Hamilton J. Carey |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Running time | 7 minutes 55 seconds |
Tortoise Beats Hare is a 1941 Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Tex Avery. The short stars Bugs Bunny and, in his first appearance, Cecil Turtle.
Plot
Bugs wanders onto the title card munching his obligatory carrot and absent-mindedly begins reading the title card, grossly mispronouncing all of the credits (but gets Carl Stalling's name right, save for pronouncing the G sound with a soft sound rather than hard), such as [Avary] for "Avery" rather than the correct [Avery], and crediting Dave "Menahenn" with the story rather than "Monahan", and animator Charles "Mac-Emson" (McKimson). When he finally gets to the title itself, he becomes outraged {"Why, the big bunch of joiks!! [to audience] And I oughta know- I woik for 'em"}, tears apart the title card, and rushes to Cecil Turtle's house. He then bets the little, sleepy-eyed turtle ten dollars that he can beat him in a race.
Cecil accepts Bugs' bet. After the race starts (with the rabbit easily gaining a head start), he 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 the works". Shortly after, 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. At one point, Cecil confides to the audience, "We do this kind of stuff to him all through the picture!" 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 is left wondering if he's been tricked; then all ten turtles approach and reply, "Hmmm...eh, it's a possibility!" [echoing Artie Auerbach's catch phrase as "Mr. Kitzle" on Al Pearce's then-popular radio program] and give Bugs a kiss. Fade out.
Notes
- The first time Bugs takes the shell off of Cecil, he is wearing polka-dot underpants. However, if Bugs played closer attention, when he takes off and hurls the shell of "Cecil" during the race, he would notice the imposter is wearing striped underpants.
- When Bugs sees Cecil sitting at the finishing line, he calls him a "blankedy, blank, blank turtle." He obviously meant to call Cecil curse words, which were also very common among United States culture — though considered taboo for films — in the 1940s.
- This was Tex Avery's 54th cartoon and Bugs's 3rd appearance.
Availability
It is included on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 DVD set.
