![]() ![]() 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 clichéd Bugs-and-Elmer formula. Jones admitted as much, having described a surreptitious re-allocation of production time to complete the short. 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. 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. This is the third of the three Warner Bros. on July 6, 1957, What's Opera, Doc? features the speaking and singing voices of Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. Bryan as Elmer Fudd (as Siegfried) (uncredited) Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny (as Brünnhilde), Elmer Fudd (yelling "SMOG!").The Merrie Melodies end title card appears just before music ends. Bugs briefly 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?" before going back to playing dead. ![]() 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 to Valhalla in keeping the Wagnerian theme per Act III of the Valkyries. Elmer's tewwib… er, terrible wrath causes a storm to brew, tearing apart the mountains where Bugs has fled. Bugs discards his disguise and the chase begins anew. Bugs' true identity is exposed when his headdress falls off, enraging Elmer. "Siegfried" and "Brünnhilde" exchange endearments and perform a short ballet (based on the Venusberg ballet in Tannhäuser). ![]() Bugs flees and the chase begins.Įlmer stops in his tracks at the sight of the beautiful Valkyrie Brünnhilde (Bugs in drag). This prompts a display of Elmer-as-Siegfried's "mighty powers", which scares Bugs. Bugs sticks his head out of another rabbit hole and taunts Elmer about his spear and magic helmet. 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. 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 film to receive such honors.ĭressed 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. ever released, and has been ranked as such in the top 50 animated cartoons of all time. It has been widely praised by many in the animation industry as the greatest animated cartoon that Warner Bros. The short marks the final appearance of Elmer Fudd in a Chuck Jones cartoon. It borrows heavily from the second opera in the "Ring Cycle" Die Walküre, woven around the typical Bugs–Elmer feud. 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 Holländer ( The Flying Dutchman), and Tannhäuser. The short was released on July 6, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. What's Opera, Doc? is a 1957 American Warner Bros. ![]()
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