What's Opera, Doc?

This is one of the greatest cartoons ever made. When many experts in the field of animation got together a few years ago to list the 50 greatest cartoons ever made, this one ended up at number 1. Watching this cartoon, it's easy to see why they ranked it at the top. It's a classic. Everyone knows this one, especially the scene with Elmer Fudd, Spear in hand, magic helmet on head, singing "kill the wabbit!"

Elmer Fudd is again hunting rabbits - only this time it is an opera. Richard Wagner's Siegfried with Elmer as the titular hero and Bugs as Brunnhilde. They sing, they dance, they eat the scenery.

"What's Opera, Doc?" required about six times as much work and expense as any of the other six-minute cartoons his production unit was turning out at the time. Jones has admitted as much, having described a surreptitious re-allocation of production time to complete the short.

There are a handful of cartoons that people will remember forever. This is one of them. Is there another Bugs and Fudd short that stands out more? Not that I can think of.

Elmer Fudd as the demigod Siegfried & Bugs Bunny as the Valkyrie Brunhilde, star in this classic cartoon masterpiece that will not only stand the test of time, but seemingly gets all the better with age. Brilliantly voiced, expertly animated, and amazingly greatly scored. This is Looney Tunes at the top of it's form. Funny and a tad bit sad, but always exhilarating. This short singly handedly got me interested in classical music, when countless music teachers could not. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional commentary by Chuck Jones, Micheal Maltese and Maurice Noble, a second Commentary track by Daniel Goldmark, as well as a music only track, a voice over only track, and a short featurette. If any cartoon warranted that any extras, this would be the one.

My Grade: A+

Every aspect of this cartoon is outstanding, and that's coming from someone who hates opera! The illustrations in this are fantastic, the direction super and the dialog in this "opera" is hilarious.

Kudos, too, to Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny) and Arthur Q. Bryant (Elmer Fudd) for their outstanding voice-work having those two characters sing and talk in this opera. I appreciated their work in here more than about anything, although the direction by Chuck Jones and that artwork is really tremendous. All of them outshine the story in here.

No, I still don't enjoy the "opera" but I will always enjoy this stunning-looking cartoon, which is part of Volume Two on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.

This short has always been one of my favorites.It combines humor,excelent music and feelings.Seing Mr.Fudd's love, wrath and sadness in what is probably his best performance makes it very memorable.Less silly visual jokes than most Looney Tunes and making comedy out of Elmer's and Bugs' interaction with each other realy makes it even better than the oftenly over-rated "Rabbit of Seville".Nice introduction to Wagner by the way.