Tortoise Wins by a Hare (1943)

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

. . . or take down a Legend during TORTOISE WINS BY A HARE. After losing his Umpteenth race against a turtle, Bugs disguises himself and interviews his competition to learn why rabbits are such losers. Bugs finds out that it's mostly because bunnies are so much dumber than turtles. To prove this point, the tortoise turns his greatest handicap--a cumbersome shell--into an advantage. He convinces Bugs that the shell provides an aerodynamic "modern design stream-lined edge" compared to the wind-resistant excess baggage of rabbit ears. This revelation prompts Bugs to outfit himself with a Heavy Metal shell--about the only racing load more burdensome than a turtle shell. To make matters worse, Bugs does not tell his fellow hares--who have bet serious carrots on his promised success--about this Switcheroo. To top it off, the tortoise dons a rabbit suit mid-race. Therefore, even when Bugs over-achieves and nears the finish line in the lead, half of his rabbit brothers waylay and pummel him, while the other half carry the turtle-in-a-rabbit-suit across the finish line for another tortoise triumph.

Or why does the turtle always win? Well maybe, it's about the material a lot in racing. But also at least as much in film. And in here is some good material. The races between turtle and rabbit were a famous topic in these old cartoon movies, even if the outcome was always the same. This is the second of 3 Bugs Bunny movies about this topic. And it seems he finally found his match. Not only in the turtle here, but also in a bunch of rabbit brutes from the betting mafia. Bugs decides it must be about the turtle's aerodynamics, so he dresses up like the turtle, but sadly for him he is mistaken by the brutes mentioned before and beaten up several times, so he won't win the race. And who wins it? The turtle. In a rabbit dress of course. When I saw it first in that, I had to laugh. Robert Clampett and Warren Foster, both very prolific back in the day made this short and the voice acting is all about Mel Blanc once again. Michael Maltese did not write this as he usually does, but he did some voice acting in here for the thugs, which is an interesting aspect. Still, I have to say that this 7-minute cartoon is not on par with Disney's Oscar-winning "The Tortoise and the Hare". That one profited a lot from the tortoise being such a gentle and fair sportsman and the turtle in this Warner Bros film here is actually pretty arrogant, which I did not like that much. Nonetheless, this is a solid short film. It could have done with a bit less of the thugs scenes as it gets a bit repetitive towards the end, but it's all good. Recommended.

Tortoise Wins by a Hare (1943)**** (out of 4) Semi-sequel to TORTOISE BEATS HARE has Bugs Bunny asking Cecil Turtle for a rematch since the rabbit can't stand losing the race. Bugs tries to gain an advantage but have no fear because Cecil has a few tricks up his own sleeve. This is another very enjoyable film that manages to be as fun as the original. I enjoyed both of the shorts but think I prefer this one a little more because of the supporting characters, which include a bunch of rabbit gangsters who show up to make sure Bugs wins. The uncut ending, available on the Warner DVD, is a bit over the top and we probably didn't need it but it doesn't take away from any of the laughs in the film.

Hilarious triple inversion not only of the original fable, but the previous Looney Tunes lampoons, this effort is a little more grounded than such Clampett monuments as "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" and "The Big Snooze." As a result, it shows how the director, restrained from throwing out all the surrealistic stops, could channel his energy into a dizzyingly twisty plot.Above and beyond that, this cartoon is worth tracking down for Mel Blanc's masterful and startlingly moving voice performance. From Bugs' near-hysterical outburst as he realizes he's winning to his heartbreaking chastisement of his so-called supporters ("You FOOLS! You FOOLS! I'm the RABBIT!"), this cartoon, all on its own, demonstrates that Blanc's talent reached far deeper than a mere capacity for silly voices.