Editing Cecil Turtle (section)

===''Tortoise Beats Hare''===
[[Animator]] [[Tex Avery]] introduced Cecil in the [[short film|short]] ''[[Tortoise Beats Hare]]'', released on March 15, 1941.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=114}}</ref> 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 most of the credits, such as {{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|v|ɛr|i}} for "Avery" rather than the correct {{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|v|ər|i}}. When he finally gets to the title itself, he becomes outraged, tears apart the title card, and rushes to Cecil Turtle's house. He then bets the little, sleepy-eyed [[turtle]] ten dollars that he can beat him in a [[racing|race]].

Cecil accepts Bugs' bet, and the race begins several days later. Bugs races away at top speed just before finishing the shout of, "Get on your mark, get set, go!" Cecil quickly (for him, anyway) goes to a public telephone and calls up Chester Turtle, one of his relatives. After talking to Chester about the bet, he tells him to call "the boys" (cousins), and tell them to be ready when he comes to their position, and to "''give him the works''". Chester calls the relatives, all of whom look and sound like Cecil (some have deeper voices, some have higher voices), and relays the message. As Bugs runs relentlessly toward the finish line, Cecil and the other turtles 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 the money. Bugs suggests that he has been tricked, and all nine turtles approach and 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" follows one of the many folk variants of the [[Aesop]] [[fable]] "[[The Tortoise and the Hare]]" in which the faster beast is deceived by look-alikes placed along the course. More directly, it is Avery's [[parody]] of the 1935 [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]] ''[[Silly Symphony]]'', ''[[The Tortoise and the Hare (film)|The Tortoise and the Hare]]''. 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]].