What's Opera, Doc?
| 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 |
| Music composed by | Milt Franklyn |
| Story by | Mike Maltese |
| Director(s) | Chuck Jones |
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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.
Elmer and Bugs do their usual chase scene in an epic parody of Richard Wagner's operas.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Elmer: Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!
Bugs: Kill da 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
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
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Locations
Objects
- Elmer's spear
- Elmer's magic helmet
Vehicles
Production
Development
Filming
Music
The music was composed by Milt Franklyn and is based on pieces from classical composer Richard Wagner. It consists of arrangements of Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), and Tannhäuser.
It also contains the following pieces:
- 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 - Bug Bunny's introduction
- The overture from Tannhäuser, Act I - Bugs' entrance as the Valkyrie Brunhilde 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
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: July 6, 1957 in theatres
Behind the scenes
- The title is a play on Bugs' catchphrase "What's Up Doc?"
- This is the last cartoon directed by Chuck Jones to star Elmer Fudd.
Errors
Legacy
- This cartoon would be used as a segment in The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, Bugs Bunny's Overtures to Disaster and Bugs Bunny at the Symphony.
- 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.
- Elmer Fudd's Siegfried persona was later used in the video game Bugs Bunny and Taz: Time Busters.
- The personas of Siegfried Elmer and Valkyrie Bugs would be used as playable characters in Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem.
- One of the alternate costumes for Bugs in MultiVersus is his disguise as Brunhilde.
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 Drawn Together episode "A Very Special Drawn Together After School Special," Spanky returns home from the opera singing "Kill the wabbit!"
- 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 other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
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Home availability
- In the United States:
