Merrie Melodies - Bugs Bunny - Tortoise Wins by a Hare (1943)

Tortoise Wins by a Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon released on February 20, 1943, and directed by Bob Clampett. It stars Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle. Bob Clampett took Tex Avery's scenario from 1941's Tortoise Beats Hare and altered it for this film. This is one of the first shorts to feature Robert McKimson's design of Bugs Bunny.
Voice Cast:
Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny, Cecil Turtle, Narrators, Rabbit Bookie, Rabbit Thugs and Mrs. Turtle
Kent Rogers as Rabbit with Telescope
Michael Maltese as Various Rabbit Thugs
Tedd Pierce as Various Rabbit Thugs

Analysis:
The animated short contains wartime references. Bugs displays "A" and "C" ration cards. He claims he has a secret weapon. A Japanese cruiser is mentioned in a newspaper headline, as is the accurate prediction of Adolf Hitler's suicide two years later. A chorus of turtles sing "He did it before and he can do it again".

Nichola Dobson mentions the short as an example of both Bob Clampett's attention to detail and of the fast pace of his work.

The suicide gag at the end is normally edited out of television broadcasts, fading out just as the rabbits say, "NOW he tells us."