Rabbit Transit
Rabbit Transit
NR | 10 May 1947 (USA)
Rabbit Transit Trailers

This time Bugs' race with Cecil Turtle features a rocket-powered tortoise shell.

Reviews
Tacticalin An absolute waste of money
Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Rabbit Transit" is an American animated short film from 1947, so this one has its 70th anniversary this year and it is of course from the Golden Age of Animation. But sadly, despite the efforts by legends like Freleng, Maltese, Pierce and Blanc of course, these 8 minutes never really gain as much steam as its protagonists. Maybe if you know a bit about old cartoons, then you have come across the hare vs. tortoise race battle on other occasions too as this is the third and final Warner Bros. cartoon on the subject, but other studios have picked up on this underdog story as well several times. But here the turtle really isn't the underdog because the only slow thing about it is his speaking. The technology hidden inside its shell lets him win the race easily, but again it is the underdog that triumphs eventually. This, however, is the only success for Bugs in here because for once he takes the role of Sam, Elmer etc. and the turtle takes the role that Bugs usually has. The tree painting scene is the best example. However, I did not enjoy the watch too much. I like this duel more the traditional way, without motors in shells and the comedy was also pretty mediocre I would say. The only outstanding thing is once again Mel Blanc's voice talent. It's okay they did not make a 4th film about these two. Number 3 gets a thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.
Edgar Allan Pooh . . . 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.
TheLittleSongbird I thoroughly enjoyed Rabbit Transit, I felt it was a lot of fun. The only real quibble I have is that although Bugs himself is great, he is not as confident as he usually is and he is shown to be easily tricked here. This wasn't distracting as such, it's just that I love Bugs and his persona and this wasn't quite the Bugs I fell in love with. That said, the story is wonderful, a very fun twist on The Tortoise and the Hare or so it seemed, the animation is colourful and lively, the music is rousing and there are enough witty dialogue and sharp sight gags to amuse even the fussiest Looney Tunes fan. And I loved Cecil, he is a turtle, but he is an endearing and funny one. Plus Mel Blanc's vocals are superb. Overall, a wonderful Looney Tunes cartoon, very funny. 9/10 Bethany Cox
movieman_kev The third and finale race between Bugs and Cecil turtle is the least hilarious of the three, but it's still pretty funny at times. This time has Bugs reading Aesop's fables while relaxing. when he gets to the end of the story he's flabbergasted that the fairy tale had the Hare losing the race. So he challenges Cecil (whom he doesn't seem to remember from the other two times) to a race. As I said before the other two cartoons are funnier and more well paced than this one. The gag of the enhanced rocket shell also seems to be a tad long in the tooth, but I still had fun with the short. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.My Grade: B+