The Tortoise and the Hare (1935)

Best movie ever!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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

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.

While Disney has all too often taken a classic and "cuted" it into inanity, this actually is a very good cartoon that still manages to retain the underlying message (while still being almost too cute for it's own good). Toby Tortoise is every kid who had to fade into the background to avoid being stuffed into a locker and manages to win out as much through being too lightly regarded as through his own determination. This won Disney it's third straight Oscar for Animated Short, a category they maintained a death-grip on until the early 1940's, when another mouse and his cohort started winning. Recommended.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE compete in a foot race. While Max Hare struts & smirks & shows off, Toby Tortoise keeps plodding right along...Aesop's Fables provided the inspiration for this Academy Award winning cartoon. Max is rather insufferable, but Toby's gentle good nature provides the core of the story. This little film was followed by a sequel, TOBY TORTOISE RETURNS (1936).The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.