Short films – Cecil


The Cecil Turtle is a character existing in the Warner Bros universe (i.a. as part of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, which we describe collectively in this note) a version of the turtle from the classic story about the Tortoise and the Hare. A note about this turtle, with links to other places where it appeared, can be found here , and below is detailed description of three animated short films in which he appeared:

Tortoise Beats Hare (Year: 1941)
In this story from Merrie Melodies, Bugs Bunny (for whom this is his seventh onscreen appearance, so he was still quite a fresh character) races with debuting Cecil. Cecil, however, wins, or actually, cheats – after Bugs challenged him, he contacted nine other turtles that looked like him, and thanks to strategic placement of them all over the race route, they messed with Bugs head, despite the fact that he was still overtaking a turtle, “Cecil” still was in front of him. Finally, when Bugs says that he must have been deceived, all ten of the turtles on the screen together confirms, that it is possible.

Tortoise Wins by a Hare (Year: 1943)
In theory, a continuation of the above story, also part of the Merrie Melodies series. In practice, there are some inaccuracies, because Bugs is watching the recording of the race and is convinced that Cecil won fairly, which was not true. He challenges him to a duel again, but he thinks, that the turtle’s previous victory was possible thanks to his aerodynamic shell. So he make such shell for himself – but he is is stopped by members of the mafia who want the rabbit to win (and they thinks, that he is turtle, because the shell). Meanwhile, Cecil, disguised as a bunny/rabbit, wins again.

Rabbit Transit (Year: 1947)
The story in the Looney Tunes series, includes the characters of Cecil and Bugs, but it is not a continuation of the above – today we would call it a reboot, because it shows how these characters meet “for the first time”. This time, however, the result is different, despite the fact that Cecil’s shell is full of various things giving him an advantage, he loses the race. Bugs, however, ends up in jail, where the police take him away for speeding, so his victory came at a cost.

Author: XYuriTT

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