Cecil Turtle
Cecil Turtle is an
animated cartoon character in the
Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies series of films. Though he made only three theatrical appearances, Cecil is remarkable in that he is one of the very few characters who was actually able to consistently best Warners' studio star,
Bugs Bunny.
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Cecil Turtle minus his shell. |
Animator Tex Avery introduced Cecil in the
short Tortoise Beats Hare, released on
March 15,
1941. Even from the cartoon's opening titles, Avery lets on that Bugs Bunny is about to meet his match. Bugs wanders onto the screen munching his obligatory carrot and absent-mindedly begins reading the title card, grossly mispronouncing all of the credits. When he finally gets to the title itself, he becomes outraged and rushes to Cecil Turtle's house. He then bets the little, sleepy-eyed
turtle ten dollars that he can beat him in a
race.
Cecil accepts Bugs' bet and quickly (for him, anyway) calls up nine of his cousins, all identical. The race begins, and as Bugs runs relentlessly toward the finish line, Cecil and his siblings take turns showing up at just the right moment to baffle the bunny. In the end, Bugs is convinced he has won, only to see Cecil (or one of his kin) across the finish demanding his money. Bugs suggests that he has been
tricked, and the turtles reply, "It's a possibility!"
Voice actor Mel Blanc supplies Cecil's drowsy drawl, which is like a slowed-down version of Blanc's later characterization of
Barney Rubble.
"Tortoise Beats Hare" is, of course, a take off of the
Aesop fable "
The Tortoise and the Hare". But even more directly, it is Avery's
parody of the
1934 Disney Silly Symphony,
The Tortoise and the Hare. Interestingly,
Max Hare from the earlier Disney film is often cited as one of the inspirations behind Bugs Bunny.
Avery left Warner Bros. before he could produce any new cartoons featuring Cecil. However, he introduced a similar character in
1943 named
Droopy Dog. Droopy would even take some of his tricks from his slow-and-steady predecessor, such as using his relatives to help him outsmart a
wolf.
Bob Clampett took Avery's scenario and altered it for his film
Tortoise Wins by a Hare released on
February 20,
1943. Bugs again challenges Cecil to a race after viewing footage from their previous encounter (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, 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 enranged 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 think that the toitle will finish... Do we, boys?" "Duh, no, Boss, no!") The race begins, and Bugs still outpaces his reptilian rival. However, in his new get-up, the dim-witted gangsters mistake him for the turtle. Cecil ameliorates this misconception by dressing in a gray rabbit suit. 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 all through the sides of their apparently soft
heads with a single bullet (this final gag is usually
edited out for broadcasts in the U.S.).
Cecil and Bugs would have one final match up in
Friz Freleng's cartoon,
Rabbit Transit, released on
May 10,
1947. Unlike
Tortoise Wins by a Hare, this cartoon presumes that Bugs and Cecil have never met before now. While relaxing in a steam bath, Bugs reads about the original fable and, as he did reading the credits of
Tortoise Beats Hare, becomes incensed at the idea of a turtle outrunning a rabbit. Cecil, also in the steam bath, claims that he could outrun Bugs, prompting Bugs to challenge him to a race (again, as in
Tortoise Beats Hare, although at least here Bugs receives some provocation). This time, Bugs and Cecil agree to no
cheating. Cecil, however, quickly reveals that his shell is now
rocket propelled. Bugs does his best to steal, dismantle, and destroy the device, all to little effect. In the end, however, Bugs does manage to top the turtle and crosses the finish line first. Nevertheless, it is Cecil who has the last laugh when he rooks the rabbit into confessing to "
doing over 100" behind bars. Cecil closes out the cartoon by saying Bugs' famous line, "Ain't I a....stinker?"
The Warners directors retired Cecil after his third showdown with Bugs. Nevertheless, Cecil has made occasional
cameos in later projects. He is seen briefly in the
1996 film
Space Jam and the
2003 DVD
Looney Tunes: Reality Check, his voice now provided by
Joe Alaskey. He also features in some issues of the
Looney Tunes comic book.
Cecil the Turtle's three shorts are noteworthy as they represent some of the very few occurrences where the Warner directors allowed Bugs Bunny to be bested. Despite this apparent departure from formula, however, the cartoons are perfectly in keeping with previous shorts. Normally, Bugs is purely a reactive character; he is a relentless foe, but only when other characters first provoke him. Bugs never sets out to pick a fight with
Elmer Fudd or
Yosemite Sam; they come looking for him and soon learn that this means war.
In the Cecil shorts, however, it is Bugs who plays the instigator. He defies the formula and goes out of his way to pester the easy-going turtle. Yes, his
overconfidence helps lead to Bugs' downfall, but his disregard for formula plays an equal and perhaps more important role. It is also notable that Cecil was not the exclusive property of any one director. Rather, the character was employed by three different animators who all seemed to agree on one simple axiom -- Bugs is still top dog, but only when he plays by the rules.
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Cecil image gallery*
WAV file of Cecil's voice
