Toby Tortoise Returns (1936) Reviews

Sure, it's not the masterpiece that "The Tortoise and the Hare" was, but "Toby Tortoise Returns" is a perfectly fine sequel. It leans very heavily on slapstick, but any cartoon that features caricatures of Mae West and Harpo Marx as anthropomorphic birds is worth a viewing and a recommendation in my book.

The basic premise is the same -- Toby and Max are competing against each other again, with no one predicting that Toby will come out on top. This time instead of a race it's a boxing match. Of course, Max's pride and ego get in his way once more and he loses a challenge he could have easily had won in the process. But it's so hard not to root for and be happy that that dim-witted turtle won out in the end.

The jokes and sight-gags fire off at a rapid pace, and if I didn't know any better I'd have assumed this was a long-forgotten Looney Tunes short. A few that I liked were the cameos from the Three Little Pigs, Max jumping out of his gloves and rob while they continue to independently do the movements he was just making, and the aviary versions of the Hollywood icons I mentioned earlier. All told, it's a very solid, enjoyable and entertaining little seven minutes.