Lost paper on Pynchon
robinlandseadel at comcast.net
robinlandseadel at comcast.net
Sat Sep 29 16:37:35 CDT 2007
Hi everybody!!! 9 years ago, I wrote this paper concerning Pynchon, starting
off by citing Geli Tripping's doings in GR, and ending with a sequence that
conflated Billy Wilder's "Some Like it Hot" with Bob Clampett's "Tortoise
Wins by a Hare":
A hilarious sequel to Tex Avery's Tortoise Beats Hare (1941), the cartoon even
starts out with Bugs watching selected film footage of the former cartoon. Bugs
is very aggressive here and is determined to do everything in his power to win
the race this time. If in the Avery cartoon the roles of Bugs and Cecil were
reversed, so that Bugs was the loser and Cecil the heckler, here they literally
switch identities. Bugs is dressed like a turtle in a mistaken belief that his
"streamlined" shell will make him faster (If you're going to miscast Bugs Bunny
as the loser you might as well go all the way with it), while Cecil is dressed
like a rabbit because he knows the rabbit underworld has bet heavily on the hare
to win and will use whatever means necessary to ensure a rabbit victory.
Mel Blanc's acting is especially good here, probably one of his best performances.
One standout scene is the passion in Bugs' voice as he draws nearer to the
finish line. In an interesting side note, the newspaper that announces the rematch
also contains an article in the lower right hand corner labeled "Adolf Hitler Commits Suicide." (Remember, this was 1943.) Were the animators at Warner Bros.
clairvoyant? Unfortunately, the ending is censored on most television prints today,
so try to see this cartoon uncut on videotape instead.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036452/
. . . .in any case, I've lost the paper. As I recall, I sent an e-mail off-list
tp Andrew Dinn, but wonder if He might have sent out copies. Any help
[like how to contact Andrew Dinn] would be appreciated.
More information about the Pynchon-l
mailing list