Cecil Turtle is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
in the
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. '' and ''
Merrie Melodies'' series of films. Though he made only three theatrical appearances, Cecil has the unusual distinction in that he is one of the very few characters who was able to outsmart
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
, and the only one to do so three times in a row and at the rabbit's own game.
History
''Tortoise Beats Hare''
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His mo ...
introduced Cecil in the
short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
''
Tortoise Beats Hare
''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). It was released on March 15, 1941. The short, loosely based on Aesop's ...
'', released on March 15, 1941. Even from the cartoon's opening titles, Avery lets on that Bugs Bunny is about to meet his match. Bugs wanders onto the screen munching his obligatory carrot and absent-mindedly begins reading the title card, grossly mispronouncing most of the credits, such as for "Avery" rather than the correct . When he finally gets to the title itself, he becomes outraged, tears apart the title card, and rushes to Cecil Turtle's house. He then bets the little, sleepy-eyed
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
ten dollars that he can beat him in a
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
.
Cecil accepts Bugs' bet, and the race begins several days later. Bugs races away at top speed just before finishing the shout of, "Get on your mark, get set, go!" Cecil quickly (for him, anyway) goes to a public telephone and calls up Chester Turtle, one of his relatives. After talking to Chester about the bet, he tells him to call "the boys" (cousins), and tell them to be ready when he comes to their position, and to "''give him the works''". Chester calls the relatives, all of whom look and sound like Cecil (some have deeper voices, some have higher voices), and relays the message. As Bugs runs relentlessly toward the finish line, Cecil and the other turtles take turns showing up at just the right moment to baffle the bunny. 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 suggests that he has been tricked, and all nine turtles approach and reply, "It's a possibility!" Voice actor
Mel Blanc supplies Cecil's drowsy drawl, which is like a slowed-down version of Blanc's later characterization of
Barney Rubble.
"Tortoise Beats Hare" follows one of the many folk variants of the
Aesop
Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...
fable
Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that illustrat ...
"
The Tortoise and the Hare
"The Tortoise and the Hare" is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 226 in the Perry Index. The account of a race between unequal partners has attracted conflicting interpretations. The fable itself is a variant of a common folktale theme in w ...
" in which the faster beast is deceived by look-alikes placed along the course. More directly, it is Avery's
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
of the 1935
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
''
Silly Symphony
''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...
'', ''
The Tortoise and the Hare
"The Tortoise and the Hare" is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 226 in the Perry Index. The account of a race between unequal partners has attracted conflicting interpretations. The fable itself is a variant of a common folktale theme in w ...
''. Avery left Warner Bros. before he could produce any new cartoons featuring Cecil. However, he introduced a similar character in 1943 named
Droopy Dog
Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-G ...
. Droopy would even take some of his tricks from his slow-and-steady predecessor, such as using his relatives to help him outsmart a
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
.
''Tortoise Wins by a Hare''
Bob Clampett
Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...
took Avery's scenario and altered it for his film ''
Tortoise Wins by a Hare
''Tortoise Wins by a Hare'' is a ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon released on February 20, 1943, and directed by Bob Clampett. It stars Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle. It is a sequel to 1941's ''Tortoise Beats Hare'', with footage from said cartoon briefl ...
'' released on February 20, 1943.
The title is an appropriate pun on "hair". Bugs again challenges Cecil to a race after viewing footage from their previous encounter two years earlier (which seems to depict Cecil as having won fairly instead of by cheating Bugs with his cousins). Bugs then goes to Cecil's tree home disguised as an old man (a parody of
Bill Thompson's "Old Timer" character from the radio series ''
Fibber McGee and Molly
''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program.
The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...
'') to ask the turtle his secret. Cecil, not in the least bit fooled by the disguise remarks, "Clean livin', friend. Clean livin'...". And then reveals his streamlined
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
lets him win, and produces a set of blueprints for his "air-flow
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
". The turtle ends the conversation with the comment, "Oh, and another thing... Rabbits aren't very bright, either!" just before slamming the door in the enraged bunny's face. Not getting the hint that the turtle's story is a
humbug
A humbug is a person or object that behaves in a deceptive or dishonest way, often as a hoax or in jest. The term was first described in 1751 as student slang, and recorded in 1840 as a "nautical phrase". It is now also often used as an exclama ...
, Bugs builds the device and prepares for the race.
Meanwhile, a bunny
mob
Mob or MOB may refer to:
Behavioral phenomena
* Crowd
* Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication
Crime and law enforcement
* American Mafia, also known as the Mob
* Irish Mob, a US crimin ...
learns of the upcoming match-up and places all its bets on Bugs. ("In fact, we don't even think that the toitle will finish... Do we, boys?" "Duh, no, Boss, no!") The race begins, and Bugs still outpaces his reptilian rival. However, in his new get-up, the dim-witted gangsters mistake him for the turtle. Cecil reinforces this misconception by dressing in a gray rabbit suit and munching on some delicious
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...
s. The mobsters thus make the shelled Bugs' run a
nightmare
A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...
, ultimately giving the race to Cecil (in an aside to the audience, as the rabbits cheer him, Cecil remarks "I ''told'' you rabbits aren't very bright!"). When Bugs angrily tears off the chassis, and shouts, "You FOOLS! I'M the rabbit!" the rabbit gangsters remark, in mock-Bugsy style, "Ehhh, ''now'' he tells us!" and commit
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
by shooting themselves with a single bullet that goes through the sides of all of their apparently soft heads. (The final gag is often cut when shown on
basic cable television, but can be found uncut on the ''
Looney Tunes Golden Collection
The ''Looney Tunes Golden Collection'' is a series of six four-disc DVD box sets from Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' animated shorts. The series began on October 28, 2003, and ended on Octo ...
'': Volume 1.)
''Rabbit Transit''
Cecil and Bugs would have one final match up in
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
's cartoon, ''
Rabbit Transit'', released on May 10, 1947. The title is a play of
Rapid Transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
. Unlike ''Tortoise Wins by a Hare'', this cartoon presumes that Bugs and Cecil have never met before now. While relaxing in a steam bath, Bugs reads about the original fable and, as he did reading the credits of ''Tortoise Beats Hare'', becomes incensed at the idea of a turtle outrunning a rabbit. Cecil, also in the steam bath, claims that he could outrun Bugs, prompting Bugs to challenge him to a race (again, as in ''Tortoise Beats Hare'', although at least here Bugs receives some provocation). This time, Bugs and Cecil agree to no
cheating
Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...
. Cecil, however, quickly reveals that his shell is now
rocket propelled, allowing him to go a surprising combination between fast ''and'' slow. Bugs does his best to steal, dismantle, and destroy the device, but all to little effect. In the end, however, Bugs does manage to top the turtle and crosses the finish line first. Nevertheless, it is Cecil who has the last laugh when he rooks the rabbit into confessing to "
doing 100 easy"—in a 30-miles-per-hour zone. Bugs is taken away by the police to
enjoy his victory — behind bars. Cecil closes out the cartoon by saying Bugs' famous line, "Ain't I a...um... a stinker?"
Iris
Iris most often refers to:
*Iris (anatomy), part of the eye
*Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess
* ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
* Iris (color), an ambiguous color term
Iris or IRIS may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fictional ent ...
-out.
''Shell Shocked''
Released on January 21, 2021 from ''
Looney Tunes Cartoons
''Looney Tunes Cartoons'' is an American animated television series developed by Peter Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series made its worldwide debu ...
'', ''Shell Shocked'' sees Cecil Turtle return. Traveling from Bronx to Brooklyn, Bugs beats a Public Transit Train and comments how nobody is faster than him. However, Bugs becomes infuriated when he comes across advertisements showcasing Cecil Turtle as the "actual fastest thing in New York City". Bugs runs into Cecil and challenges him to a footrace to a nearby lamppost. Bugs gains the early lead but Cecil ties the street Bugs is on to a taxi going to
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, allowing Cecil to win. Bugs then challenges Cecil to see how fast they can multiply numbers, but Cecil wins again by multiplying himself. Bugs becomes enraged and has one more challenge for Cecil: how fast he can eat carrots. However, Bugs disguised a bomb as a carrot. When the bomb doesn't go off, Bugs looks and sees all the carrots have been eaten by Cecil. Bugs looks into Cecil's shell, coming face-to-face with the bomb that explodes right in his face. As Cecil proclaims victory, Bugs says there is one thing he's better at than Cecil: losing and starts crying.
Other appearances
The Warners directors retired Cecil after his third showdown with Bugs. Nevertheless, Cecil has made occasional
cameos in later projects. He is seen briefly in the 1996 film ''
Space Jam
''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel ...
'' as an audience member during the game and its 2021 sequel ''
Space Jam: A New Legacy'' in Bugs' flashback leaving Tune World in front of
Charlie Dog
Charlie Dog (also known as Rover, Charlie, and sometimes Charles the Dog) is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Brothers ''Looney Tunes'' series of cartoons. The character was featured in nine cartoons between 1941 and 1958.
Development ...
. He also appears in the 2003 DVD ''Looney Tunes: Reality Check'', voiced by
Joe Alaskey. He also made a cameo in one episode of ''
The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', voiced by
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
.
He features in some issues of the ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. '' comic book.
His only notable Warner Bros. Animation ''Looney Tunes'' short cameo came in 1954's ''
Devil May Hare
''Devil May Hare'' is a 1954 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The short was released on June 19, 1954, and stars Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil making his debut.
Plot
Bugs is spring cleaning until he is int ...
'', which was directed by
Robert McKimson and pitted Bugs against the
Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...
, who made his debut here.
Cecil Turtle appears in ''
The Looney Tunes Show
''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran from May 3, 2011, through November 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network. The series consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features ch ...
'', voiced by
Jim Rash
James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...
. He and Bugs are once again enemies like in the classic shorts, and he has a habit of mispronouncing Bugs's name as "Buges Buney." In Cecil's appearances on this show, he is the one who gets outwitted by Bugs, the first time in Looney Tunes history. His next appearance was in the episode ''The Shell Game''. Now working as a scammer, Cecil tricks both Bugs and Porky into thinking they damaged his shell. However, Bugs started seeing through Cecil's con, and confronted him with Porky and took down his shell scam and sending him to prison, as well as scoring another victory over Cecil. Cecil also appears in the spinoff film ''
Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run'', voiced again by Rash and appearing as a spy working for the Mexican general Foghorn Leghorn.
Cecil makes recurring appearances in ''
New Looney Tunes
''New Looney Tunes'', originally titled ''Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production'' in the US and ''Bugs!'' in some markets for its first season, is an American animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation based on the characters from ''Loo ...
'', voiced by series producer Matt Craig.
Cecil appears in ''
Looney Tunes Cartoons
''Looney Tunes Cartoons'' is an American animated television series developed by Peter Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series made its worldwide debu ...
'', voiced by
Keith Ferguson.
Cecil appeared in ''
Bugs Bunny Builders
''Bugs Bunny Builders'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series aired on July 25, 2022 on Cartoon Network on their Cartooni ...
'', where he is voiced by
Bob Bergen
Robert Bergen (born March 8, 1964) is an American voice actor. He voices Warner Bros. cartoon characters Porky Pig and Tweety and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted the children's game show '' Jep!'', ...
.
References
External links
Cecil image gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turtle, Cecil
Looney Tunes characters
Fictional turtles
Male characters in animation
Film characters introduced in 1941