{"id":50101,"date":"2025-10-15T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=50101"},"modified":"2025-10-15T06:39:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T10:39:24","slug":"every-bugs-bunny-ever-whats-opera-doc-1957","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/15\/every-bugs-bunny-ever-whats-opera-doc-1957\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Bugs Bunny Ever: What’s Opera, Doc? (1957)"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s Opera, Doc? <\/strong>(1957)
\nDirected by Chuck Jones
\nStory by Michael Maltese
\nAnimation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Abe Levitow
\nMusic by Richard Wagner, arranged by Milt Franklyn<\/p>\n

There are many people who believe \u201cWhat\u2019s Opera, Doc?\u201d is the greatest cartoon of all time. I am not one of them. That\u2019s not say I hate the film \u2013 I don\u2019t. But at the same time, I don\u2019t share the opinion that this represents the apex of animation. In fact, I wouldn\u2019t even list it in the top 20 of all Bugs Bunny cartoons.
\n<\/p>\n

Yes, \u201cWhat\u2019s Opera, Doc?\u201d is creative in telescoping Wagnerian opera into a Merrie Melodies short running less than seven minutes. But, at the same time, all the other Warner Bros. cartoons that incorporate classical musical and opera with low comedy are also creative. And, yes, the short is artistically ambitious, more than any other production from this studio \u2013 director Chuck Jones put more time, energy and money into this work compared to the rest of his output.<\/p>\n

But the film also accidentally exposed many of Jones\u2019 vices that became more pronounced in his late Warner Bros. shorts and even more annoying when he helmed the Tom and Jerry series at MGM. For starters, \u201cWhat\u2019s Opera, Doc?\u201d is cutesy when it should be funny, with far too much breaking of the fourth wall to remind the viewer the film is supposed to make them laugh. <\/p>\n

The short\u2019s pacing is also more sluggish than the previous classical music-inspired Warner Bros. cartoons \u2013 granted, it is supposed to be a riff on Wagnerian opera, which is not known for speed. But the segment with Elmer Fudd\/Siegfried wooing Bugs-in-drag\/Br\u00fcnnhilde \u2013 complete with an entrance on a grossly-drawn fat horse, followed by silly ballet and a love song duet with new lyrics set to the \u201cTannh\u00e4user\u201d overture \u2013 feels like a long slog to reach a not-special gag of Bugs losing his wig and horned helmet. Indeed, Bugs was a snappier Br\u00fcnnhilde in the 1945 \u201cHerr Meets Hare,\u201d making an entrance on a sturdier horse and dancing in a much more amusing ballet spoof featuring a cartoon version of Hermann G\u00f6ring dressed as Siegfried. <\/p>\n

To its credit, the film is the rare offering where Elmer is much funnier than Bugs, especially with to \u201cKill the wabbit!\u201d chant to the tune of “Ride of the Valkyries.” Arthur Q. Bryan does a fine uncredited job as a singing Elmer Fudd, although the character’s voice obviously changes to Mel Blanc for a decibel-shattering cry of \u201cSmog!\u201d And Milt Franklyn\u2019s music arrangement perfectly truncates Wagner for this purpose, especially when the film takes a drastically dramatic turn at its conclusion. But at the end credits, the film left me with a shrug rather than a smile. Perhaps that’s a statement about me instead of the film, but that’s my experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s Opera, Doc?\u201d was submitted for Academy Award consideration as Best Animated Short Film, but it was not nominated. Two other Warner Bros. cartoons were nominated \u2013 the Friz Freleng \u201cBirds Anonymous,\u201d which won the award, and Robert McKimson\u2019s \u201cTabasco Road.\u201d It is easy to sneer at those films getting noticed by the Academy voters instead of \u201cWhat\u2019s Opera, Doc?\u201d, but I get it \u2013 those two shorts represented pure and jolly entertainment instead of artistic pretension.<\/p>\n

Acclaim for \u201cWhat\u2019s Opera, Doc?\u201d came decades later, first in 1992 as the inaugural cartoon added to the National Film Registry and then in 1994 as the number one ranked title in the book \u201cThe 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019ll mix my Bugs and classical compositions via \u201cA Corny Concerto,\u201d \u201cRhapsody Rabbit,\u201d \u201cLong-Haired Hare\u201d or \u201cThe Rabbit of Seville,\u201d which is my pick for the best Warner Bros. cartoons. Sorry if I offend, and hopefully I won\u2019t get censored for having a contrary opinion.<\/p>\n