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" and read by Bugs Bunny).[2] It was released on March 15, 1941.[3] 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).

Tortoise Beats Hare
Lobby card
Directed bySupervision:
Fred Avery
Produced byLeon Schlesinger
Story byDave Monahan
StarringMel Blanc (uncredited)
Music byMusical direction:
Carl W. Stalling
Orchestra:
Milt Franklyn (uncredited)
Animation byCharles McKimson
Uncredited animation:
Robert McKimson
Rod Scribner
Virgil Ross
Sid Sutherland
Rev Chaney[1]
Effects animation:
A.C. Gamer (uncredited)
Layouts byCharacter and background layout:
Tex Avery (uncredited)
Character design:
Bob Givens (uncredited)
Backgrounds byBackground paint:
John Didrik Johnsen (uncredited)
Color processTechnicolor
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • March 15, 1941 (1941-03-15)
Running time
7:55
LanguageEnglish

Plot

As the opening credits appear, Bugs Bunny comes on the screen while eating an obligatory carrot and absent-mindedly begins reading them, grossly mispronouncing all of them in the process (e.g. /əˈvɛrɪ/ for "Avery" over the correct /ˈeɪvərɪ/) except for the word "story," the first names of 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, 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

Availability

References
  1. "Animation Breakdowns #17". Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  2. 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.
  3. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
Preceded by
Elmer's Pet Rabbit		 Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1941		 Succeeded by
Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt


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