What's Opera, Doc? (1957)

Very well executed

Perfectly adorable

Good concept, poorly executed.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I honestly think this deserved an Academy Award win but however, Birds Anonymous, one of my favorites, deserved its Oscar win. This short is very good in multiple ways. In six minutes, it manages to cover a plot, an opera parody and much more. As Warner Bros. Cartoons was entering its last few years as the original studio, this short was made. Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese, Abe Levitow and Maurice Noble's working of the short allows this film to receive a 10 in my book.

Well let's get the obvious out of the way first: "What's Opera, Doc?" is a Looney Tunes classic, it's Chuck Jones' masterpiece, and it's easily one of the top animated shorts ever made. Elmer is once again trying to "kill the wabbit," this time as a Viking in an opera setting with Wagner thundering away as Bugs, dressed like a Valkyrie, plays (and sings) along. Jones' longtime collaborator Michael Maltese provides the story, as well as some funny lyrics to go along with the Wagner music. Excellent voice work from Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan, both giants in the field of voice acting. The animation is gorgeous and exploding with creativity. This cost more to produce and required much more effort than your average Looney Tunes cartoon of the time and it shows. It's really spectacular to watch. This short is often called the greatest cartoon that Warner Bros. ever released. Artistically it's hard to argue with the brilliance of this cartoon, although I think there are a few that match up and certainly many others that are probably more beloved by fans for entertainment reasons. Sadly this was not even nominated for an Oscar, let alone winning one. But, trust me, that speaks more to the Academy's history of poor judgment than it does to the quality of this flawless short.

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 is my most favorite cartoon of all time. This was the first operatic cartoon I ever seen and I love the whole thing. I sing both parts Every time I see it. As I know it word for word. This cartoon like many other Bugs vs Elmer cartoon contains many things like cross dressing and Elmer falling for it. Now the HUGE WHITE HORSE seen in this cartoon has another appearance in a banned cartoon Herr Hare a 40's NAZI Propaganda cartoon. Same song plays in both. And it has the best punchline of any cartoon: "What did you expect from an Opera, a happy ending?" based on the stereotypical opera where most of them end sad.This is based on Siegfried and Broomhilda (Brünnhilde) love https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_(opera). (If I recall correctly) and that this was the whole premise of the scene. Because of this cartoon every time I hear "The Flight of the Valkyries" By Wagner I sing, "Kill da wabbit, Kill the Wabbit Kill the WABBIT!" and that is because it reminds me of this cartoon.There has not been any cartoon that has come close to the favoring I have for "What's Opera Doc?" Nor will there ever be. If you haven't seen this cartoon I suggest you do it is great.