Tortoise Wins by a Hare

Tortoise Wins by a Hare is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Bob Clampett and stars Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle. Bob Clampett took Avery's scenario and altered it for his film Tortoise Wins by a Hare released on February 20 1943. The title is an appropriate pun on "hair".

toryline

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 Fibber McGee and Molly) to ask the turtle his secret. Cecil, not in the least bit fooled by the disguise, so tells him he remarks that his streamlined shell lets him win, and produces a set of blueprints for his "air-flow chassis". 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, Bugs builds the device and prepares for the race.

Meanwhile, the bunny mob learns of the upcoming match-up and places all its bets on Bugs. ("In fact, we don't even t'ink dat de toitle will finish... Do we, boys?" "Duh, no, Boss, no!") The race begins, and Bugs easily 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 a carrot. The mobsters thus make the shelled Bugs' run a nightmare, 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 removes the chassis and sobbingly reveals that he's the rabbit, the rabbit gangsters remark, in mock-Bugsy style, "Ehhh, now he tells us!" and commit suicide by shooting themselves with a single bullet that goes through the sides of all of their apparently soft heads.

Censorship

*The ending where the gambling ring shoots themselves after realizing that they've been trying to sabotage Bugs throughout the cartoon has been cut from many TV prints of this cartoon, including versions shown on the Turner channels Cartoon Network (excluding its appearance on "The Bob Clampett Show"), TBS, and TNT.
*When this was shown on Turner Classic Movie's animated anthology show, "Cartoon Alley", a fade-out after the suicide (which aired intact) was used instead of the original "iris-out".
*The TBS version also shortens the part where the rabbits pounce on Bugs before he can reach the finish line.

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before= Case of the Missing Hare
title= Bugs Bunny Cartoons
years=1943
after= Super-Rabbit|