Tortoise Beats Hare is a 1941 Merrie Melodies animated short supervised and laid out by Tex Avery (solely supervisal credited as "Fred A-Very," as read by Bugs Bunny). It was released on March 15, 1941. The short, loosely based on Aesop's fable The Tortoise and the Hare, stars Bugs Bunny and, in his first appearance, Cecil Turtle. Bugs "tears up" the title card.