NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

utgard14 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.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . to under seven minutes in WHAT'S OPERA, DOC? That's right, when the Warner people took ALL of Dick's screeching marathons and extracted to Anti-Semitism, they were left with 6 minutes, 53 seconds of material that was suitable for American audiences. Yet these seven minutes match the quality of the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment from Disney's original FANTASIA feature cartoon, and surpass the rest of FANTASIA's padding. WHAT'S OPERA, DOC? resonates particularly with my family, since we had an adult relative who wove his own "Wild Weasel" Mythos around the "Ride of the Valkyries" song. Instead of Elmer Fudd singing, "Kill the Wabbit, kill the Wabbit, kill the Wabbit," as he chases Bugs Bunny here, our relative would sing, "Chase the toddlers, chase the toddlers, chase the toddlers, Weasels attack!" as our young ones ran for their lives under a sun setting across Sunday Lake. I don't recall much lightning striking then, as in WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?'s tragic finale, and certainly there were not any earthquakes--or, Heaven forbid!--"Smog!" which Elmer uses to effect the "Wabbit's" demise.

Mario679 Now, I know people may disagree with me, but this cartoon just isn't funny in my opinion! It is well designed, however. I would recommend this cartoon for opera lovers and classic cartoon buffs, but it just doesn't suit my tastes. The only thing that made me chuckle was when Bugs said "Bye!", but that wasn't enough to make it funny for me. Overall, it was a disappointment......... .......... ................................

MisterWhiplash One of those indisputable classics from the Looney Tunes stock-pile in the 50s, this is pretty close to being a mini-opera of epic proportions: Elmer Fudd being fooled, once again, by Bugs Bunny in drag (this time in viking garb!) and then the dramatic confrontation of Elmer Fudd's God-like (that's right, God-like) powers to actually kill the rabbit. It may be one of the only times, if not the only time, that Fudd actually does do it in at the end. And it's all really beautiful and hilarious and things I shouldn't have to let you know. There's a few really quotable lines ("You're spear and magic helmet?" "MAGIC HELMET!") and the kind of animation that works as perfect spoof and as something kind of, almost, touching on its own terms. Indeed there's a lot done in these seven minutes that shows, without much argument, Chuck Jones' genius in matters of blending comedy and action and "romance" all into some wonderful animation. If you have to watch just a handful of Looney Tunes shorts, if not all that you can get your hands on, this is one of them.