''Rabbit of Seville'' is a Warner Bros. ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' theatrical

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

short released on December 16, 1950. It was directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

and written by Michael Maltese, and features

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

and

Elmer Fudd Elmer J. Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. Elmer Fudd's aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring himself and other antag ...

. The nonstop slapstick humor in the short is paced musically around the overture to Italian composer

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

's 1816

opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

''. In 1994, ''Rabbit of Seville'' ranked number 12 in a list of " The 50 Greatest Cartoons" released in North America during the 20th century, a ranking compiled from votes cast by 1,000 artists, producers, directors, voice actors, and other professionals in the field of animation.

Plot

A local amphitheater bustles with spectators to view a rendition of ''

''. Amidst the tranquil setting, Bugs Bunny is chased by hunter Elmer Fudd, traversing from the distant hills to the theater's backstage. Bugs raises the curtain, revealing Elmer to the audience. Exploiting the theatrical milieu to his advantage, Bugs assumes various guises from the opera to outwit Elmer, from a temptress to a snake charmer and, in particular, a barber. As the absurd escapade unfolds, a cacophony of comedic chaos ensues, culminating in a farcical exchange of increasingly outlandish weaponry. From pedicures to peculiar grooming rituals, Bugs subjects Elmer to a series of ludicrous predicaments. In a climactic flourish, Bugs orchestrates a mock wedding ceremony, symbolizing the culmination of their absurd escapade. After the wedding, Bugs carries Elmer high into the rafters, opens the door to a prop house, and drops Elmer into the wedding cake reserved for the opera's second act far below. Bugs then chomps on a carrot and says "Ehhh... next!"

Production

In a plotline reminiscent of '' Stage Door Cartoon'', ''Rabbit of Seville'' features

being chased by

into the stage door of the Hollywood Bowl, whereupon Bugs tricks Elmer into going onstage, and participating in a break-neck operatic production of their chase punctuated with gags and accompanied by musical arrangements by Carl Stalling, focusing on Rossini's overture to the 1816 opera ''

''. In Stalling's arrangement, the overture's basic structure is kept relatively intact; some repeated passages are removed and the overall piece is conducted at a faster tempo to accommodate the cartoon's standard running length. In a short sequence where Bugs' scalp massage follows a piano solo, the character's hands are shown with five fingers, instead of his usual four, so the character can believably follow the tune. In 1994 it was voted No. 12 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. The ''"Barber of Seville"'' poster that appears at the start of the film features three names: Eduardo Selzeri, Michele Maltese, and Carlo Jonzi, which are Italianized versions of the names of the producer ( Edward Selzer), writer ( Michael Maltese), and director (

) of the film.Rabbit Of Seville Production Information
. ''bcdb.com'', March 27, 2010

Reception

Animation historian Greg Ford writes, "Chuck Jones' two most beloved operatic extravaganzas starring Bugs Bunny, '' What's Opera, Doc?'' (1957) and ''Rabbit of Seville'', veer down somewhat different paths stylistically. ''What's Opera, Doc?'' relies on a more removed, high-concept graphic sense and the shock effect of Maurice Noble's splendidly expressionistic set design. The humor of ''Rabbit of Seville'', staged against Robert Gribbroek's straightforward backgrounds, depends more exclusively on the cartoon's intense synchronization whereby every bit of slapstick action, mini-movement by mini-movement, links to the accompanying Rossini score. In ''Seville'', Jones was really harking back to an older Warner Bros. legacy: director Friz Freleng's '' Rhapsody in Rivets'' (1941) and '' Pigs in a Polka'' (1943), perhaps the two most insistently ' Mickey Moused' (perfectly synched) musical cartoons ever made."

Home media

''Rabbit of Seville'' is available, uncut and digitally remastered, on disc 1 of '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1'', on disc 1 of '' The Essential Bugs Bunny'', on disc 1 of '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1'', and on disc 2 of '' Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection''.

References

*Lawrence Van Gelder
With That Wascally Wabbit, That's Not All, Folks
''NY Times'', October 22, 1999 *Richard Freedman
What's Opera, Doc?
''Adante Magazine'', March 2002

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control 1950 films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Looney Tunes shorts Cross-dressing in American films Films based on The Barber of Seville 1950 musical comedy films American musical comedy films Films scored by Carl Stalling Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese 1950s English-language films Animated films set in a theatre English-language comedy short films English-language musical comedy films 1950 animated short films American musical short films