''Tortoise Beats Hare'' is a 1941 ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' animated short supervised and laid out by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

(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 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 ...

's fable ''

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 wh ...

,'' stars

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, in his first appearance,

Cecil Turtle Cecil Turtle is a fictional character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' 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 w ...

. Bugs "tears up" the title card.

Plot

As the opening credits appear Bugs Bunny comes on the screen eating a carrot and absentmindedly begins reading them, grossly mispronouncing all of them in the process (e.g. for "Avery" over the correct ), 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 infuriated, 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's 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.

Home media

*DVD - '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'', Disc One *Blu-ray/DVD - '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2'', Disc Two

References

External links

* * 1941 films 1941 short films 1941 animated films Films directed by Tex Avery American track and field films Merrie Melodies short films Self-reflexive films Films based on the Tortoise and the Hare Films scored by Carl Stalling Bugs Bunny films Films produced by Leon Schlesinger 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films {{MerrieMelodies-stub

Plot

See also

Home media

References

External links