What's Opera, Doc?

Chuck Jones' brilliant condensation of all of Wagner into a 7-minute cartoon. A comic tour-de-force with Elmer as Siegfried (Kill the wabbit!!) and Bugs as Brunhilde. The background illustrations were absolute incredible, invoking a true Wagnerian atmosphere. If you only see one cartoon in your life, make it this one.

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+

With my speaw and Magic Hewmut! Magic Hewmut! Kiww the wabbit! Kiww the wabbit!

Immortal lines. Like those other famous lines: "Here's looking at you, kid." "Put your lips together and blow!" "I'm Woodrow Wilson, go to bed!" "How do you split a car in half!"

This little cartoon got me hooked on opera in general and is certainly the best Bugs Bunny around! There are no other!

And, if you never see it, look out for that horse! It takes a lot not to enjoy the sure absurdity of this story! If they ever give a DVD with just this ONE cartoon on, I will probably buy it.

Consider yourself exceptionally lucky if you lay eyes upon this cartoon! It's the crown jewel of classic animation! None of todays sci-fi recycled trash a la Pokemon-Digimon things come near the Wagnerian majesty of WHATS OPERA, DOC?

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.

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.