. . . or, in this carnation, "Cecil Turtle," to close the Warner Bros. animated short RABBIT TRANSIT. True Crime aficionados will immediately recognize this outing as one of those Warner cartoons with a more serious mission than to just elicit a few chuckles: To warn the Olympic World in general and one specific South African Beauty Queen in particular about the Unsportsman-like and murderous ways of the so-called "Blade Runner." If such a sociopath had cropped up in the American context of a sport people actually care about, such as NBA Basketball, no one would have given two seconds thought to the ludicrous idea of allowing some White jerk with a sob story about being short permission to compete against Michael Jordan or LeBron James while wearing five-foot stilts! Yet this is exactly what the bozos running the Olympics did, cowering in the face of a clown wearing souped-up rocket blades for fear of appearing "Politically Incorrect" if they exercised an ounce of Basic Common Sense. So Cecil Turtle is presented here in a cautionary light, trying to cheat his way to the Victory Podium with a rocket-powered shell, just because he was born slow. And, of course, when you let a Menace to Society get away with murder on the playing fields, it should come as no shock when the villain thinks that he'll get a pass for the homicides he commits in Real Life, as well.

Another Bugs Bunny variation on the "tortoise and hare" story. The third such one, I believe. Bugs is incensed to discover that the tortoise beat the hare in the classic fable. Cecil the turtle shows up and claims he can beat Bugs in a race, which leads to the inevitable cheating and dirty tricks from both parties. It's a fun short, although it really offers little that the previous versions of this didn't already cover. The animation is colorful and bright. The backgrounds are especially nice. The gags are funny and there are some amusing lines throughout. Mel Blanc is in rare form doing the voice for both Bugs and Cecil. It's good but not as memorable as the earlier two.

"Rabbit Transit" is a Bugs Bunny cartoon in which Friz Freleng's direction is superb and Bugs is hilarious. A clever takeoff of the famous "Tortoise and the Hare" fable, this cartoon once again pits Bugs against Cecil Turtle, reminiscent of the earlier Bugs/Cecil cartoons "Tortoise Beats Hare" (1941) and "Tortoise Wins by a Hare" (1943). Once again, Bugs actually becomes the fall guy, which I'm sure at least some fans of the wascawwy wabbit find difficult to accept.My favorite highlights from "Rabbit Transit": Before the race begins, Bugs empties Cecil's robe and reveals a pair of skates, a bicycle, and a couple of scooters. At the end, Bugs finds out that he ran way above the speed limit, and two cops haul him off to jail! Bugs dismantles the engine inside Cecil's shell, and the turtle casually walks up and asks Bugs to hand him a few tools so that he can repair the engine. Remembering an old boy scout rule, Bugs pours water in Cecil's engine, and Cecil is hilarious as he uses a bucket to get the water out of his shell.When you're in the mood for a brisk-paced, hilarious Bugs Bunny cartoon, watch "Rabbit Transit". I believe it hits its mark in the laughter department.

Relaxing in a spa reading Aesop's fables, Bugs is shocked to read of a tortoise beating a hare in a race. To prove his point he takes a challenge from a tortoise to have a race, however when the race starts it is evident that Bugs will need to use guile to win as the tortoise has a motor inside his shell!This cartoon has all the markings of a good cartoon - good story, good characters and plenty of opportunity for imaginative humour. For the most part it works very well and is pretty funny. The plot allows for some good gags, although a little too much mileage (!) is wrung out of the motorised shell idea. The short even has a good ending which nicely twists one of Bugs' own catch phrases on himself!The one weakness it did have was in it's lead character - which was a surprising thing to me. I love Bugs and enjoy seeing him twist things on those who would get him! I like to se the many ways he gets the upper hand. However here he was very much the lesser character in terms of scoring points. He is shown to be easily tricked and fooled and, at times, out of his depth. This didn't ruin the cartoon for me as it was still funny, but this was not the usual character I expect to see when I watch Bugs Bunny.Despite this, I enjoyed the film as it was funny with good sight gags covering the `topical' references that went over my head. The only thing to remember is that this is not Bugs Bunny in his normal, wise cracking confident self.