Tortoise Beats Hare
| Tortoise Beats Hare | |
|---|---|
| File:.png | |
| Production company | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date | March 15, 1941 |
| Run time | 7:55 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc |
| Music composed by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Story by | Dave Monahan |
| Animation | Charles McKimson Robert McKimson Rod Scribner Virgil Ross Rev Chaney Sid Sutherland[1] |
| Director(s) | Fred Avery |
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Tortoise Beats Hare is the hundred and seventieth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on March 15, 1941. It was written by Rich Hogan, produced by Dave Monahan, and directed by Tex Avery.
Bugs bets $10 on a race against Cecil Turtle, but unbeknownst to the rabbit, Cecil sets up a strategy to have his cousins impersonate him at various points.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Bugs: Tortoise Beats Hare!? Why, these screwy guys don't know what they're talkin' about! Why the big bunch'a joiks! (to audience) I ought'a know, I woik for 'em...
Cecil: Uh, hello...
Bugs: Now, if you t'ink you can beat me...
Cecil: Uh, yes?
Bugs: Now, what's this about a toitle beatin' a rabbit? Why you measly little, shriveled-up dope. You know darn well I beat you any day in a week! You know that, don't yuh?
Cecil: Uh, no.
Bugs: I can't figure that out back there. I'm goin' along in a good clip, didn't see 'im pass me. Then bingo, just like that, an' there he was in front o' me!
Cecil: Hello.
Bugs: I tell yuh, it just don't make sense! I... Huh?
Bugs: Oh, you blankety-blank-blank turtle! How? How did...? How?
Cecil: And how about my ten bucks?
Bugs: It's amazin'! It's stupefyin'! I don't see how'd he done it. I can't understand it... HEY! I wonder if I've been tricked?
Cecil and his cousins: Ye-e-e-e-ah, it's a possibility!
Characters
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Organizations
- Bell Turtlephone Co.
Locations
Objects
- Local telephone
Vehicles
- None
Production
Music
Crew credits
- Backgrounds: John Didrik Johnsen
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: March 15, 1941
Behind the scenes
- The MPAA certificate number is 6620.
- The film's plot is loosely adapted from Aesop's fable "The Tortoise and the Hare", but is likely a spoof of Disney 1934 Silly Symphonies short of the same name. Max Hare, from the earlier Disney cartoon, is cited to have close resemblance to Bugs as his design was used for the latter's inspiration in A Wild Hare.
- When Bugs knocks on Cecil's door, he accidentally recites the Big Bad Wolf's phrase, "I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in," from "The Three Little Pigs" fable.
- Before the race, Bugs begrudgingly calls Cecil "Seabiscuit". This is a reference to the Thoroughbred racehorse of the same name.
- It is notable for being the first time Bugs Bunny loses in the end, proving that Bugs is not completely unbeatable. It is also the first instance of Bugs being portrayed as a slightly antagonistic character.
Legacy
- The cartoon would receive two follow-ups in 1943 and 1946, with the shorts Tortoise Wins by a Hare and Rabbit Transit, respectively.
- In The King of Queens episode "Parent Trapped," Doug is making him and Carrie late by watching the end of a cartoon (which could've been this one) involving Bugs and Cecil, even though Doug has seen it a hundred times before, and comments, "Hey, the tortoise beat Bugs Bunny. Who'd a thunk it?" But Doug responded it was about the journey, not who wins.
Home availability
- In the United States:
- November 2, 2004: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 on DVD.
- October 16, 2012: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 on Blu-ray Disc.
- October 16, 2012: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 on DVD.
