"What's Opera Doc 50th Anniversary"
"What's Opera, Doc" -- it's a musical, it's an action-adventure piece, it's a love story, it's got cross-dressing, it's got a well-fed midget horse. Everything "License To Wed" should have had.
"It is the antithesis of the routine cartoon. In place of snappy one-liners we see Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny singing their parts with complete sincerity and commitment. The backgrounds are beautifully textured paintings. The score is powerful and moving. Bugs cuts a striking figure in a metallic brassiere before Madonna was even born. It's audacious and decadent and beautiful and bold and everything the vast majority of cartoons would never dare to be."
i actually owned one of the cells from this cartoon. unfortunately lost in a fire along with my old comics. never quite recovered from that...but yeah this was one of my favorites growing up. i prefered warner bros over disney as they didn't treat you like you were retarded.it's too bad they still don't do this kind of stuff anymore.
ReplyDeleteThis was my all time favorite Bugs cartoon! I was tickled to death when they played it at intermission a few years ago at the local Drive-in theater!
ReplyDeleteMan, I miss good cartoons. Oh, and drive-ins. I wasn't old enough to go and make out before they all closed down :(
Most Patient Wife and I were talking about this cartoon the day before the 50th anniversary of it. As we tried to explain it to my daughter (17 year-old Mercurial Girl), we kept busting up so much that the kid got confused and now vows to never watch it.
ReplyDeleteI know it's on DVD somewhere, and I'll FORCE the brat to watch it! Bwah hah hah!
This is just about my favorite cartoon ever -- right up there with "The Rabbit Of Seville" and the first Daffy Duck short.
Years ago, in college, they showed this, on a BIG screen just before one of those forgettable movies they always run for College Movie Nights.
ReplyDeleteThe cartoon got a standing ovation, and people who saw it talked about it all the next day.
"Did you get to see 'What's Opera, Doc?'"
"Oh my god, wasn't that incredible!"
I'd always loved cartoons before, but this really kicked it into overdrive for me.
Ohh, also, if you haven't read Chuck Jones' autobiography "Chuck Amuck," you should try to find it. It's really excellent and funny.