Hot 888 Mama
. . . during this phoned-in lackluster version of THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE. During the early going of this Battle of the Sexless, the terrapin sees himself passed by a herd of slowly slithering snails. However, when the race is on the line, he guzzles a can of Human Growth Hormone while popping a bottle of Steroid Pills. To encourage this sort of prohibited Substance Abuse, Disney then shows the hopped-up turtle putting additional inches on his legs faster than Barry Bonds went through bigger and bigger baseball helmets. Speaking of cheating, Disney also adds about five minutes of "padding" to the middle of this ho-hum affair showing the hare's main way to impress the ladies: by playing with himself! Rather than being judge, jury, and executioner, this show-off rodent offers himself as pitcher, catcher, and Aaron Judge on the ball diamond. If you think that this is fair, just ask yourself one question: How can he lose? Finally, the misguided Thumper makes hay in the tennis racket, risking nothing as he's again BOTH the Ying and the Yang. It's as if Siamese Twins are playing Twister!
Shawn Watson
There's not much to say about this cartoon. I guess it's the original underdog tale. It doesn't expand upon the fable and presents the story in its most basic form.A tortoise and a hare have a race, viewed by a large audience. The dull-witted tortoise seems no match for the cocky, over-confident hare. But when the race actually begins the hare is too busy with distractions while the tortoise focuses on winning.It may be a cautionary tale on never straying or deviating from following your dreams. Never accept what is and always chase what can be.Apparently the design of the hare was an inspiration on the design of Bugs Bunny, I character I like much better.
TheLittleSongbird
What can I say, brilliant! It is funny, original and fast paced. Adapted from the Aesop fable, it deals with overconfidence and perseverance in the way only Disney can do, and at no time does it preach. The Technicolour animation is very very good, and the music was just wonderful. The little rabbits were adorable, and both the tortoise and the hare(who I admit is a bit of a jerk) are great with great personalities that positively shine through here. There is an irreverent script, and although the pace is very fast, it is a hugely enjoyable silly symphony, that keeps true to the original fable, and in the meantime putting its own irreverent spin on it. Time to give it the standing ovation it deserves. 10/10 Bethany Cox
tavm
Just watched this Oscar-winning animated short on YouTube. Based on the classic Aesop Fable, the obnoxious hare challenges the shy tortoise to a relay race. If you're familiar with the tale, you know how it goes but this being animated, you get the hare causing some wind to blow as well as him stopping to chat up some feminine admirer fans while the tortoise keeps going. There are some amusing gags but nothing hilarious. Still, this was a pretty exciting cartoon from Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies and it spawned a sequel-Toby Tortoise Returns-that I did think was hilarious. Oh, and it's easy to see why Frank Tashlin thought the hare-eventually called Max in the sequel-was the inspiration for Warner Bros.' Bugs Bunny. So for all that, I highly recommend The Tortoise and the Hare. P.S. I first saw some of these scenes when The Disney Channel presented on their "DTV" program their version of The Doobie Brothers' "It Keeps You Running" with this as well as other Disney cartoon scenes for the music video.
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