What's Opera, Doc?

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What's Opera, Doc?

Lobby card.
Production company Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date July 6, 1957
Run time 7:03
Starring Mel Blanc
Producer(s) Edward Selzer
Music composition Milt Franklyn
Story Mike Maltese
Animation Ken Harris
Richard Thompson
Abe Levitow
Director(s) Chuck Jones
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Title card

What's Opera, Doc? is the four-hundredth and twenty-sixth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on February 28, 1957. It was written by Michael Maltese, and directed by Chuck Jones.

In an parody of Richard Wagner's operas, Elmer is tasked to "kill the wabbit" and Bugs engages the chase through a mythic scenery. Things escalate as their quarrel elevates to dramatic highs, with Bugs dressing up as Brünnhilde in a dance number.

Detailed summary

A silhouette of a mighty figure arises as he conjurers lighting bolts with his hand motions. This is revealed to be Elmer Fudd, dressed as the demigod Siegfried, and cutting a less than impressive stature from his own shadow. Elmer, singing his own motive of "hunting wabbits", pursues on finding Bugs Bunny when he discovers rabbit tracks and arrives at Bugs' hole. Elmer fruitlessly jams his spear into the hole and sings, "Kill the wabbit!", repeatedly to the tune of Ride of the Valkyries. While initially appalled, Bugs sticks his head out from another hole and asks Elmer about his magic spear and helmet. The rabbit's question prompts Elmer-as-Siegfried to display his mighty powers. Bugs flees in fear and the chase begins.

Elmer immediately stops at the sight of the beautiful Valkrye Brünnhilde (Bugs in drag), who descends from a hill with a heavyset horse. "Siegfried" and "Brünnhilde" exchange their love to each other and perform a ballet, set to music from Tannhäuser. However, Elmer spots Bugs' ruse when his headdress falls off, enraging Elmer in the process. As Bugs leaves, Elmer wrathfully commands a fierce lightning to strike on the rabbit, causing mountains to tear apart where Bugs had fled. Elmer's emotions subside when he sees Bugs' lifeless body, and regretfully carries Bugs off to Valhalla, again in tune to Tannhäuser. Bugs breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience, "Well, what did you expect from an opera? A happy ending?"

Memorable quotes

Elmer: Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!
Bugs: Kill the wabbit?


Bugs: Oh, might warrior of great fighting stock... Might I inquire to ask, "Eh... What's up doc?"


Elmer: I'll kill the WABBIT! Awise, storm! Nowth winds, blow! South winds, blow! Typhoons... Huwwicanes... Earthquakes... SMOOOOOOOOG!!! Stwike, wightning! Stwike the WABBIT!!!


Bugs: Well, what did you expect from an opera? A happy ending?

Characters

Legend
Character debut Speaking debut Ep. debut No lines Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character Actor
Elmer Fudd Arthur Q. Bryan
Mel Blanc (one line only)
Bugs Bunny Mel Blanc


Locations

Objects

  • Elmer's spear
  • Elmer's magic helmet

Vehicles

  • N/A

Production

Second Lobby Card
Second lobby card.

Development

What's Opera, Doc? required about six times as much work and expense as any of the other cartoons Chuck Jones' production unit was turning out at the time.[1] Jones admitted as much, having described a secretive reallocation of production time to complete the cartoon. Usually, five weeks were mandated by producer Edward Selzer for the time spent on each cartoon, but to cover up for the extra time spent, Jones had his entire unit falsify their time cards to make it appear as if they working on Zoom and Bored (1957) for two weeks before production of that cartoon actually started. It took seven weeks for Jones' unit to produce What's Opera, Doc?.

Filming

The short was copyrighted in 1957 (MCMLVII).

Music

The score was composed by Milt Franklyn, while the main title theme is an arrangement of "Merrily We Roll Along." The score itself is based on pieces from classical composer Richard Wagner and consists of arrangements of Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), and Tannhäuser. Michael Maltese wrote the lyrics for the short in tune to these pieces, including the duet "Return My Love."[2]

The following music pieces are used as follows:

  • The overture from Der Ring des Nibelungen, Act I - Elmer's leitmotif as Siegfried; opening and closing scenes
  • Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre, Act III, of Der Ring des Nibelungen - the "Kill the wabbit!" scene
  • Siegfried's Horn Call from Siegfried, Act II, scene 2 of Der Ring des Nibelungen - Bugs Bunny's introduction
  • The overture from Tannhäuser, Act I - Bugs' entrance as the Valkyrie Brünnhilde and duet with Elmer
  • The bacchanale from Tannhäuser, Act I - Bugs and Elmer's ballet scene
  • The Pilgrims' Chorus from Tannhäuser, Act III, scene 1 - closing scene

Crew credits

Release

Dates are in order of release:

  • United States: July 6, 1957

Behind the scenes

  • The title is a play on Bugs' catchphrase, "What's up Doc?", and the word "opera." Additionally, this is the second Bugs Bunny cartoon to use a variation of his catchphrase, after What's Cookin' Doc? (1944).
  • The MPAA certificate number is 17374.
  • This is the last cartoon directed by Chuck Jones to star Elmer Fudd.

Errors

  • Bug's right arm flashes white for a frame when he inquires Elmer to ask.

Connections

In popular culture

  • In the March 20, 1993 (Miranda Richardson/Soul Asylum) episode of Saturday Night Live, Rob Schneider appears in the Weekend Update sketch defending cartoons after the FFC ruled out that they should not be considered educational. Schneider counters that kids learned "Ride of the Valkyries" from this short, although he then says that Elmer Fudd wrote it, instead of Richard Wagner. He then sings "Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!" to the march of "Ride of the Valkyrie."
  • In the Boy Meets World episode "This Little Piggy," Eric gets bored at the opera until he recognizes "Ride of the Valkyries" and sings along with it because "It's Bugs Bunny." Mr. Feeny tries to be more educational by saying it's Wagner, but Eric feels he has the upper hand having watched cartoons.
  • In the Drawn Together episode "A Very Special Drawn Together After School Special," Spanky returns home from the opera singing "Kill the wabbit!"
  • In the 30 Rock episode "Cleveland," Lemon's ringtone is revealed to be "Rise of the Valkyries," which Phoebe thinks is because she is a fan of Wagner, but it's because this is what Elmer Fudd sang, which promotes Jenna and Lemon to both sing the words, "Kill da wabbit," to the tune.
  • In the Family Guy episode "Movin' In," while watching opera, Stewie tells Brian, "Bugs Bunny is about to make this tenor hold a note far longer than anyone should. Ain't he a stinker?"

Critical reception

In 1992, the United States Library of Congress deemed the short "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and made it first animated short to be inducted to the National Film Registry.

In Jerry Beck's book The 50 Greatest Cartoons, the short was ranked number one by a survey of 1,000 animation professionals. In Beck's survey, Steve Schneider (a longtime employee of Warner Bros. and an authority of animation production history) provides his own assessment of what makes this short outstanding:

From its first images, that of the would-be awesome Fantasia-like figures devolving into the shadow of puny lisping Elmer Fudd, the film piles up pretensions only in order to mow them down. Gloriously overbaked, the film reveals that ultimately, it was only cooking up fodder for satire. By reducing Wagner's Ring into a subtext for an archetypal Bugs and Elmer chase, What's Opera, Doc? pulls off a dazzling mingling of reverence and ridicule.[3]

In other languages

Language Name Meaning

Home availability

References

  1. ↑ "Read This: The mistake Chuck Jones couldn’t get over in “What’s Opera, Doc?”". A.V. Club; Ihnat, Gwen (2017).
  2. ↑ Schneider, Steve. That's All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation] p. 114. Henry Holt & Company, 1988.
  3. ↑ Beck, Jerry (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected By 1,000 Animation Professionals, p. 35. Turner Publishing.
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