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What's Opera, Doc?
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Wikipedia article
'What's Opera, Doc?' is a 1957 American Warner Bros. 'Merrie Melodies' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on July 6, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.
The story features Elmer chasing Bugs through a parody of 19th-century classical composer Richard Wagner's operas, particularly 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' ('The Ring of the Nibelung'), 'Der Fliegende Hollnder' ('The Flying Dutchman'), and 'Tannhuser'. It borrows heavily from the second opera in the "Ring Cycle" 'Die Walkre', woven around the typical BugsElmer feud. The short marks the final appearance of Elmer Fudd in a Chuck Jones cartoon.
It has been widely praised by many in the animation industry as the greatest animated cartoon that Warner Bros. ever released, and has been ranked as such in the top 50 animated cartoons of all time. In 1992, the Library of Congress deemed it "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, the first cartoon short to receive such honors.
Plot
Dressed as the demigod Siegfried, Elmer Fudd sings "Be vewy qwiet, I'm hunting wabbits" in recitative, before he finds rabbit tracks and arrives at Bugs Bunny's hole. Elmer jams his spear into Bugs' hole while singing "Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!" to the tune of 'Ride of the Valkyries'. Bugs sticks his head out of another rabbit hole and taunts Elmer about his spear and magic helmet. This prompts a display of Elmer-as-Siegfried's "mighty powers", which scares Bugs. Bugs flees and the chase begins.
Elmer stops in his tracks at the sight of the beautiful Valkyrie Brnnhilde (Bugs in disguise). "Siegfried" and "Brnnhilde" exchange endearments and perform a short ballet (based on the Venusberg ballet in 'Tannhuser'). Bugs' true identity is exposed when his headdress falls off, enraging Elmer. Bugs discards his disguise and the chase begins anew. Elmer's rage causes a storm to brew, tearing apart the mountains where Bugs has fled. Upon seeing Bugs' intact yet seemingly lifeless body as a drop of rain from a flower lands on the rabbit, Elmer regrets his wrath and tearfully carries the rabbit off. Bugs breaks the fourth wall and raises his head to face the audience while remarking, "Well, what did you expect in an opera? A 'happy' ending?"
Voice cast
*Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny (as Brnnhilde), Elmer Fudd (yelling "SMOG")
*Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd (as Siegfried) (uncredited)
Production
Originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. on July 6, 1957, 'What's Opera, Doc?' features the speaking and singing voices of Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan as Bugs and Elmer, respectively. The short is also sometimes informally referred to as 'Kill the Wabbit' after the line sung by Elmer to the tune of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", the opening passage from Act Three of 'Die Walkre' (which is also the leitmotif of the Valkyries).
This is the third of the three Warner Bros. shorts (the others being 'Hare Brush' and 'Rabbit Rampage') in which Elmer defeats Bugs (though here the former shows regret for defeating the latter), as well as the last Elmer Fudd cartoon directed by Jones.
'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 admitted as much, having described a surreptitious re-allocation of production time to complete the short.Cartoons were scheduled for a five-week production, according to producer Eddie Selzer. Jones did this cartoon in seven weeks instead. To cover up for the extra time spent, he had his entire unit doctor their time cards to make it appear as if they working on the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner short 'Zoom and Bored' (1957) for two weeks before production of that cartoon actually started. During the six minutes of 'What's Opera, Doc?', Jones lampoons Disney's 'Fantasia', the contemporary style of ballet, Wagner's perceived ponderous operatic style, and even the by-then clichd Bugs-and-Elmer formula.
Michael Maltese devised the story for the cartoon, and also wrote lyrics to Wagner's music to create the duet "Return My Love". Art director Maurice Noble devised the stylized backdrops. The cartoon drew upon previous Warner studio work: Maltese originated the concept of Bugs in Valkyrie drag riding a fat horse to the Tannhuser Pilgrim's Chorus in the suppressed 1945 wartime cartoon 'Herr Meets Hare', directed by Friz Freleng.
Legacy
In 1994, 'What's Opera, Doc?' ranked No. 1 in a list of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time. The list was conducted via survey by a thousand animators.
In 1992, the United States Library of Congress deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, making it the first short cartoon to receive such honors. 'Duck Amuck' and 'One Froggy Evening' were later inducted into the registry, making Chuck Jones the only animator with three shorts thus recognized.
The short has an 8.4 rating on IMDb, making it the second-highest rated cartoon on said platform, only being beaten by 'Duck Amuck'.
Home media
* DVD: 'The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie'
* DVD: 'Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'
* DVD: 'The Essential Bugs Bunny'
* Blu-ray: 'Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1'
*Blu-ray: 'Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection'
* iTunes: Bugs Bunny, Vol. 1 (paired with 'Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid')
* Xbox Live Marketplace: October 23, 2007
* Streaming: HBO Max
See also
* List of American films of 1957
* The 50 Greatest Cartoons
* 'Rabbit of Seville'
References
Bibliography
* Beck, Jerry and Friedwald, Will (1989): 'Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons'. Henry Holt and Company.* Richard Freedman, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155442/http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=16374 What's Opera, Doc?], 'Andante Magazine', March 2002
* Goldmark, Daniel (2005): "'What's Opera, Doc?' and Cartoon Opera", in 'Tunes for 'Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon', University of California Press.
* Thomas, Todd and Barbara, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050825093322/http://www.thomasvillecentral.com/operadoc.htm 'WHAT'S OPERA, DOC? An analysis of the various Richard Wagner operas used throughout the cartoon']
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