1964? the tortoise and the hare/the little white duck. 45 rpm Mr. Pickwick Extended Play Record. No singers or composer acknowledged. Woodbury, NY: Pickwick International. $.05 at flea market, 1991.
TH lasts 3:21. It seems like vintage "Hit Paraders" music: cute, silly, bubbly, harmless. If there were not a zip code on the jacket, I would have guessed the date of production to be 10 years earlier. The rabbit in this version keeps thinking he can always catch up, and he enjoys many diversions.
1985? The Tortoise and the Hare/Hill of Fire. Reading Rainbow. TH: illustration by Janet Stevens. Narrated by Gilda Radner. Hosted by Levar Burton. Hill of Fire: Author Thomas P. Lewis. Illustrator Joan Sandin. Hosted by Levar Burton. Stamford, CT: Children's Video Library 1555. $9.50 from George Minkalis, Round Lake, IL, through Ebay, Nov., '00.
This is a complex video that brings together many things, even within the separate stories that it presents. Burton is training for a bicycle race, and the story supports him. Little children give various morals. The whole TH segment lasts perhaps twelve minutes. The TH segment proper within that uses stills from Stevens' book. The one time that I notice something done perhaps for the video presentation occurs when the sleeping rabbit opens his eye.
2008 The Tortoise and the Hare: The Rematch of the Century. DVD. The Jim Henson Company. Alliance Films: The Weinstein Company. 76 minutes. $10 from Maud Bourgeeais, Rosemere, Quebec, Nov., '09.
Here is a feature film using the voices of Jay Leno, Dannuy Glover, and others. Special features include "How to Draw a Character" and "The Making of Tortoise vs. Hare." I thoroughly enjoyed watching the whole animated feature. It pits the families, now neighbors, against each other in the "Mount Impossible Adventure Race" fifteen years after Walter Tortoise beat Murray Hare. Murray keeps running into the dreaded "Slow and steady wins the race" statement. The adventure race has many twists and turns, including a surprise winner. The start and finish are provided by two stork sports announcers, Rex and Bob, who report throughout. Good fun, based on the fable. Part of a trilogy including "Goldilocks" and "Three Pigs and a Baby."
