<P> There have been a number of film versions of the fable, although many have taken considerable liberties with the original story line . They include animated cartoons in France (1920), and the US (1921), Silly Symphonies cartoons during the 1930s and by Merrie Melodies during the 1940s . Encyclopædia Britannica Films followed with a dramatized version of Aesop's fable starring live animals, including an owl, a fox, a goose, a rooster, a raccoon, and a hare . This was a 1947 production in black and white with narrated voice - over . Later divergent versions that referenced the fable appeared in Filmation's Aesop's Fables (1971), Sesame Street (1973),, and the Japanese TV series Manga Aesop Monogotari (1983). </P> <P> In 1952, the model animator Ray Harryhausen began a version of the fable, before moving over to more lucrative work on monster movies . Young enthusiasts Seamus Walsh and Mark Caballero later helped Harryhausen complete "The Story of the Tortoise and the Hare", having refurbished the original puppets and, under Harryhausen's guidance, completed the film in 2002 . A feature in this, is that the hare drops off to sleep as a result of taking a big meal near the end of the race, thus allowing the tortoise to win . The same situation had appeared in Georges de la Grandière's 1960's cartoon version of the fable, Le Lièvre et la tortue . </P> <P> The many other variants of the story in oral folk tradition appear worldwide and are classed as Aarne - Thompson - Uther type 275 . In most of these there is a race between unequal partners but most often brain is matched against brawn and the race is won by means of trickery . Broadly this is of two types: either the slower animal jumps on the other's back or tail and hops off at the end when the creature turns round to see where his challenger has got to, or else he is deceived by lookalikes substituting themselves along the course . </P> <P> Tales with a similar theme emphasizing doggedness have been recorded in Native American culture . Hummingbird and Crane agree to race from one ocean to the other . Though Hummingbird flies faster, he stops at night to sleep . Crane, however, flies overnight and is overtaken by Hummingbird later and later during the day, at length coming in first . The ultimate prize differs between versions and includes choice of habitat, the love of a girl, or the right to cut the other down to size . </P>

Where did the tortoise and the hare originate