The Tortoise and the Hare (partially found Brad Bird animated short film; early 1970s)

Title card.

Status: Partially Found

The Tortoise and the Hare is a black-and-white animated short film adaptation of the Aesop fable of the same name by American film director Brad Bird, who has since worked on projects such as The Simpsons and The Iron Giant, but is most well known for his Pixar films The Incredibles and Ratatouille with the short being his very first animation project.

Production

The short began production after Brad visited Disney's studios in Burbank, California at the age of 11 through George Bruns, composer for Disney films such as Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians. It was made from an 8mm camera that Brad's father had bought and was animated in pencil. Production finished when he turned either 13 or 14, and according to Brad, was showcased at contests and won some awards. Afterwards, it was sent to Disney and in return, they let him visit their headquarters at any time he was in Los Angeles, where he worked with his mentor, Milt Kahl, one of Disney's Nine Old Men (aka Disney's core animators).^[1]

Plot

The short is described as a "Road Runner film" adaptation of the fable, with the tortoise being a villain trying to capture the hare. It also introduces new characters along the way, such as a donkey, a bird, and fly. The short concludes with the race ending in a five-way tie.^[2]

Availability

While some clips of the short have been made available in documentaries and interviews and have been mentioned by Brad on several occasions, the short in its entirety, remains unavailable. Although due to the aforementioned clips, Disney likely still has the short in their archives, which means it could receive a home media release or become available on their streaming platform Disney+ at some point in the future.