Tortoise Beats Hare
Tortoise Beats Hare | |
---|---|
![]() Lobby card | |
Directed by | Fred Avery |
Story by | Dave Monahan |
Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
Starring | Mel Blanc |
Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
Animation by | Charles McKimson |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. The Vitaphone Corp. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7:55 |
Language | English |
Tortoise Beats Hare is a 1941 Merrie Melodies animated short supervised and laid out by Tex Avery (solely supervisal credited as "Fred A-Very," as read by Bugs Bunny).[1] It was released on March 15, 1941.[2] The short, loosely based on the Aesopian fable The Tortoise and the Hare, stars Bugs Bunny and, in his first appearance, Cecil Turtle. This is the first in a series, featuring the same basic plot, and Cecil Turtle is thus the only character in the Warner Bros. stable that could always beat Bugs Bunny at his own game (i.e., harassment). The film is one of very few Warner Bros. shorts whose opening credits are neither faded out nor irised due to Bugs tearing up the title card in anger and disgust.
Plot[]
As the opening credits appear, Bugs Bunny comes on the screen while eating an obligatory carrot and absentmindedly begins reading them, grossly mispronouncing all of them in the process (e.g. /əˈvɛrɪ/ for "Avery" over the correct /ˈeɪvərɪ/), except for the words "story," "animation," the first names of Charles McKimson, Dave Monahan, and Fred Avery, and all of Carl W. Stalling's name. As he finishes, he sees the name of the cartoon and becomes exasperated, spitting out his mouthful of the carrot he was eating. After a brief tirade involving ripping apart the opening credits, he finds Cecil Turtle and bets him ten dollars he can win against him in a race.
Cecil accepts and, after Bugs takes a big lead, hurries to a telephone center, to a phone intended for turtles only, and rings up his cousins on a telephone. He devises a scheme in which they will double as him at significant points along the track while he himself crosses the finish line ahead of Bugs. The plan works, with Bugs being befuddled at what looks like Cecil always being one step ahead of him. After reaching the finish line, thinking he's won, Bugs finds Cecil waiting for him, the apparent victor. Bugs, both furious and perplexed, pays Cecil his owed ten dollars. As Bugs somberly walks away, he suddenly wonders if he'd been tricked. When he turns around, Cecil and his cousins, each with one of the ten dollars in hand, say to him in unison, "Ehhh, it's a possibility," and all of them then kiss Bugs.
See also[]
Home media[]
- DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2, Disc One
- Blu-ray/DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc Two
References[]
- ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 114. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
External links[]
- 1941 films
- English-language films
- 1941 short films
- 1941 animated films
- 1940s American animated films
- 1940s animated short films
- Films directed by Tex Avery
- Running films
- Merrie Melodies short films
- American films
- Self-reflexive films
- Films based on Aesop's Fables
- American animated short films
- Films scored by Carl Stalling
- Films featuring Bugs Bunny
- Films produced by Leon Schlesinger
- 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films
- Merrie Melodies stubs