''What's Opera, Doc?'' is a 1957 American

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'' cartoon 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 Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director ...

. The short was released on July 6, 1957, and stars

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 story features Elmer chasing Bugs through a

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of 19th-century classical composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s, particularly ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...

'' (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), '' Der Fliegende Holländer'' (''The Flying Dutchman''), and '' Tannhäuser''. It borrows heavily from the second opera in the "Ring Cycle" ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

'', woven around the typical Bugs–Elmer feud. Most of the dialogue is performed in

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...

. The short marks the final appearance of Elmer Fudd in a Chuck Jones cartoon. It has been widely praised in the animation industry as the greatest animated cartoon that Warner Bros. ever released, and it has been ranked as such in the top 50 animated cartoons of all time. In 1992, the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

deemed it "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

Plot

Dressed as the

demigod A demigod is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). An immortality, immor ...

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

(and cutting a less than impressive figure as such), Elmer Fudd is pursuing Bugs Bunny when he finds rabbit tracks and arrives at Bugs' hole. Elmer jams his spear into the hole while singing "Kill the wabbit!" repeatedly to the tune of '' Ride of the Valkyries''. Bugs sticks his head out of another rabbit hole and converses with Elmer about his spear and magic helmet. This prompts a display of Elmer-as-Siegfried's magic powers. Bugs flees in fear, and Elmer pursues. Elmer stops in his tracks at the sight of the beautiful

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

Brünnhilde (Bugs in drag). "Siegfried" and "Brünnhilde" exchange endearments and perform a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

(based on the Venusberg ballet in ''Tannhäuser''). Bugs' true identity is exposed when his headdress falls off, enraging Elmer. Bugs discards his disguise and runs. Elmer's wrath causes a storm to brew, tearing apart the mountains where Bugs has fled. Upon seeing Bugs' lifeless body, Elmer regrets his wrath and tearfully carries Bugs off to Valhalla in keeping with the Wagnerian theme per Act III of the Valkyries. Bugs breaks the fourth wall and raises his head to address the audience, "Well, what did you expect in an opera? A ''happy'' ending?" before going back to playing dead again.

Voice cast

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

(as Brünnhilde),

(yelling "

SMOG Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odour. The word was then inte ...

!") * Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd (as

) (uncredited)

Production

Originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. on July 6, 1957, ''What's Opera, Doc?'' features the speaking and singing voices of

and Arthur Q. Bryan as Bugs and Elmer, respectively. This is the third of the three Warner Bros. shorts (the others being '' Hare Brush'' and '' Rabbit Rampage'') in which Elmer defeats Bugs (though here the former shows regret for defeating the latter), as well as the last Elmer Fudd cartoon directed by Jones.Ihnat, Gwen (2017)
"Read This: The mistake Chuck Jones couldn't get over in “What's Opera, Doc?"
The A.V. Club entertainment website, subsidiary of

G/O Media G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that owns and operates the digital media outlets '' Kotaku'' and '' The Root''. It was formed in 2019 after the private equity firm Great Hill Partners purchased two digital portfolios from ...

(New York, N.Y.), originally published August 15, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2023. ''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.Vilas-Boas, Eric (2017)
"Here's How Chuck Jones Really Felt About 'What's Opera, Doc?'"
August 10, 2017, online American animation journal ''The Dot and Line'' (which ceased regular online publication in May 2020). Cited article last retrieved August 21, 2023. Jones admitted as much, having described a surreptitious re-allocation of production time to complete the short. During the six minutes of ''What's Opera, Doc?'', Jones lampoons

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's '' Fantasia'', the contemporary style of ballet, Wagner's perceived ponderous operatic style, and even the by-then clichéd Bugs-and-Elmer formula.

Story development and layout

wrote the parody's storyline and, in collaboration with Chuck Jones, the comedic lyrics set to Wagner's music, including the

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

"Return My Love".Schneider, Steve
''That's all folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation''
Henry Holt & Company, 1988, p. 114. Retrieved via Internet Archive, September 6, 2023.Goldmark, Daniel
"The Prehistory of ''What's Opera, Doc.''"
''Tunes for 'Toons Music and the Hollywood Cartoon''. Berkeley, California:

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 2005, pp. 143-145. Retrieved via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

(San Francisco, California), January 28, 2023. . Some elements of the cartoon drew upon previous animated works at Warner Bros. Maltese himself had originated the concept of depicting Bugs in Valkyrie-styled drag and mounted on a fat horse. Twelve years before the production of ''What's Opera, Doc?'', he had devised a very similar sequence for the cartoon '' Herr Meets Hare'' directed by

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

.A full digital copy o
''Herr Meets Hare''
is available for viewing online on the video-sharing service

Dailymotion Dailymotion is a French online video platform, online video sharing platform owned by Canal+ S.A., Canal+. Prior to 2024, the company was owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg, and Hears ...

, Paris, France. Retrieved via Dailymotion, September 9, 2023. That anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

short was released by Warner Bros. to American theaters in January 1945, just several months before

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's surrender to Allied forces in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Wearing a blonde braided wig under a medieval horned helmet and carrying a shield, Bugs in that earlier film rides across the screen to the tune of "Pilgrim's Chorus", a selection from Wagner's 1845 opera '' Tannhäuser''. The highly stylized backdrops and entire color scheme for ''What's Opera, Doc?'' were done by art director

Maurice Noble Maurice James Noble (May 1, 1911 – May 18, 2001) was an American animation production designer, background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate and right-hand ma ...

and were reportedly so "daring" at the time that the production's overall design "sent the studio into a tizzy". Noble later remarked, "They thought I was

bats Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

when I put that bright red on Elmer with those purple skies". According to him, some employees in Warner's Ink and Paint Department assumed that a variety of color specifications he sent to them were errors. Staff, Noble recalled, would ask questions such as You really mean you want that magenta red on that?' And I said, 'Yes, that's the way.

Chuck Jones' obsession with a missing sound effect

During the final editing of the short, a "tiny sound effect" was omitted from the master footage, an omission that for decades continued to disturb

whenever he viewed the cartoon after its initial release. In August 2017, the online animation journal '' The Dot and Line'' published an interview it conducted with Stephen Fossati, who was Jones' "last

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

" and worked with the legendary cartoonist and director from 1993 until his death in 2002. Fossati in that interview spoke with Eric Vilas-Boas, the co-founder of ''The Dot and Line'', about Jones' "diligence to his craft" and his "relentless perfectionism". With regard to the absent sound effect, Vilas-Boas quoted Fossati's comments about his

mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

's 45-year obsession with that "minuscule" detail in the film:

The legacy of "Kill the Wabbit"

''What's Opera, Doc?'' is sometimes alluded to informally in conversations and in online and printed references as "Kill the Wabbit".Phillips, Michael M. (2016)
"How Bugs Bunny and 'Kill the Wabbit' Inspired a Generation of Opera Stars"
''The Wall Street Journal'' (New York, N.Y.), May 20, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2023. This unofficial, alternative title is derived from the line sung by Elmer to the tune of Wagner's " Ride of the Valkyries", part of the opening passage from Act Three of ''Die Walküre'', which is also the

leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...

of the

s. For his 2016 article about the cartoon, one titled "How Bugs Bunny and 'Kill the Wabbit' Inspired a Generation of Opera Stars", Michael Phillips of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' examined how "a cartoon rabbit and his speech-impaired nemesis" provided many children in 1957 and in the decades thereafter their first, albeit absurd exposure to Wagner's compositions and to the world of opera. Phillips in his article furnishes comments by various operatic performers and stage crews regarding how watching ''What's Opera, Doc?'' affected them personally as children and in some cases contributed to the early development of their theatrical careers.

Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

Elizabeth Bishopa native of

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

and a featured performer at the

Washington National Opera Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performance ...

, the

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

, and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

stated to Phillips, I could sing you the entire cartoon before I knew what opera really was, adding Those of us who didn't freak at the sight of a rabbit in a winged helmet sliding off of the back of a fat horsewe went into opera. Jamie Barton, another notable American

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

, also shared with Phillips her reactions to seeing the short for the first time in the mid-1990s, when she was a middle-schooler growing up in

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

. As she prepared in 2016 for her performance as Waltraute in Wagner's ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'' at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in Washington, D.C., Barton reflected on ''What's Opera, Doc?'' and credited it and Warner Bros.' earlier

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

short '' Rabbit of Seville'' with initially drawing her attention to opera and instilling in her a "love" for classical works, especially the music of 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 ...

. I had never, she remarked to Phillips, been exposed to opera music before Bugs Bunny. Michael Heaston, a former pianist for the

Dallas Opera The Dallas Opera is an American opera company located in Dallas, Texas. The company performs at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, one venue of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. History The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic ...

and in 2016 an adviser to the director of the

, also described to Phillips his memories of seeing ''What's Opera, Doc?'' and other Warner Bros. cartoons as a small child in

West Des Moines, Iowa West Des Moines is a city in Iowa, United States. Most of the city is in Polk County, Iowa, Polk County, some of it is in Dallas County, Iowa, Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren County, Iowa, Warren and Madison County, Iowa, Madi ...

. For Heaston those shorts served as

catalysts Catalysis () is the increase in reaction rate, rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst ...

that ultimately led him to establishing a career in opera. At a very base level, he noted, that's what I got from Looney Tunes at a very early age: I learned how to tell stories through music. In his autobiography ''Chuck Amuck'', Jones singled out ''What's Opera, Doc?'' "for sheer production quality, magnificent music and wonderful animation, this is probably our (unit's) most elaborate and satisfying production".

The 50th anniversary of "'Kill Da Wabbit'", 2007

The enduring audience appeal of ''What's Opera Doc?'' extends beyond stage professionals and the borders of the United States. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 2007, the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' newspaper featured in its July 8 issue an article by Steve Watt titled "50 glorious years of 'kill da wabbit'".Watt, Steve (2007). "50 glorious years of 'kill da wabbit'; 'What's Opera, Doc?'", article, ''Toronto Star'' (Toronto, Canada), July 8, 2007, p. E5. Retrieved via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...

Historical Newspapers, Ann Arbor, Michigan; subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, January 25, 2023. Watt, a cartoon historian and owner of an animation art gallery in Toronto, discusses in his article the

golden anniversary A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"স� ...

that two days earlier had marked the initial release of the short, and he assesses its continuing popularity. "No one", he writes, "who knows and loves 'What's Opera, Doc?' will ever hear Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' without hearing, in their own minds, 'Kill da wabbit...kill da wabbit.'" Watt continues, "While classical music aficionados may be offended by that fact, I'm okay with it. More than okay with it." He then describes a past event he had organized and held at a Toronto movie theater, where he presented a selection of Chuck Jones' cartoons. He also describes the audience's reaction to seeing the shorts on the "big screen", including ''What's Opera, Doc?'': Such reactions to "the Wagnerian mini epic""Chuck Jones 1912-2002"
biographical profile, website for the charity Chuck Jones Center for Creativity,

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

. Retrieved January 27, 2023. a half century after its release once again attest to the cartoon's unique composition and appeal, qualities that were even recognized as "special" in 1957 by some film-industry publications. For example, the Philadelphia-based journal ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'', which in 1957 had a readership composed largely of theater owners and managers, reviewed the short in August that year and rated it "excellent"."WHAT'S UP, DOC"
review, ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 21, 1957, p. 4369. Retrieved via Internet Archive, January 25, 2023. The ''Exhibitor'' then prophetically observed, "This is far above the usual run of animated cartoons and should find special favor in art houses, believe it or not."

Addition to National Film Registry and the short's historical rankings

In 1992, the United States

deemed ''What's Opera, Doc?'' "'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'""What is the National Film Registry?"
criteria for selection, National Preservation Board, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Retrieved January 27, 2023. and selected it for induction to the

, making it the first short cartoon to receive that honor. Two more Warner Bros. cartoons were later inducted into the registry: '' Duck Amuck'' in 1999 and '' One Froggy Evening'' in 2003. Their inclusion made Chuck Jones the only animator with three shorts thus recognized. ''What's Opera, Doc?'' in 1994 ranked number one on a list of ''

The 50 Greatest Cartoons ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals'' is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, with a foreword written by Chuck Jones. The book features the fifty greatest cartoons of all time, selected by a group ...

'' of all time.Beck, Jerry (ed.)
''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected By 1,000 Animation Professionals''
Atlanta, Georgia: Turner Publishing, 1994, p. 35; hereinafter cited "Beck". Retrieved via Internet Archive, September 6, 2023. The list, compiled by animation historian

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...

, was the result of his surveying and evaluating the opinions of 1,000 professional animators. One of those professionals was Steve Schneider, a longtime employee of Warner Bros. and an authority on the history of animated productions at the studio and an avid collector of cartoon art. In Beck's survey, Schneider provides his own assessment of what makes this short so outstanding:

Home media

* DVD: '' The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie'' * DVD: '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'' * DVD: '' The Essential Bugs Bunny'' * Blu-ray: '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1'' * Blu-ray: '' Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection'' * iTunes: Bugs Bunny, Vol. 1 (paired with '' Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid'') *

Xbox Live Marketplace Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) was a digital distribution platform previously used by Microsoft's Xbox 360 and formerly by the Xbox One. The service allowed users to download or purchase video games (including both Xbox Live Ar ...

: October 23, 2007

References

Bibliography

* Beck, Jerry and Friedwald, Will (1989). ''Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons''. Henry Holt and Company. * Freedman, Richard
What's Opera, Doc?
''Andante Magazine'', March 2002. * Goldmark, Daniel (2005). "''What's Opera, Doc?'' and Cartoon Opera", in ''Tunes for 'Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon'', University of California Press. * Schneider, Steve (1988). ''That's all folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation''. Henry Holt & Company. * Thomas, Todd and Barbara

External links

*''What’s Opera, Doc?'' essa

by Craig Kausen at

*''What’s Opera, Doc?'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 532-53

*
Andante Magazine article on What's Opera, Doc? and Rabbit of Seville

followed b

analyze the cartoon at New Savanna blog. {{Authority control 1950s musical comedy-drama films 1950s parody films American musical comedy-drama films Cross-dressing in American films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Merrie Melodies short films Animated films based on operas United States National Film Registry films Films based on works by Richard Wagner Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films 1957 comedy-drama films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Films scored by Milt Franklyn Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Films produced by Edward Selzer 1950s English-language films Films based on the Nibelungenlied English-language musical comedy-drama films English-language comedy-drama short films 1957 American animated short films American musical short films