What's Opera, Doc?: Difference between revisions

'''"What's Opera, Doc?"''' is a [[The Golden Age of Animation|1957]] [[Looney Tunes (Animation)|Looney Tunes]] short famously described by director [[Chuck Jones]] as "[[The Abridged Series|our attempt to squish the entire Ring Cycle down to six minutes]]." The incredible part is that they ''succeeded''.

Specifically, the short is an ambitious parody of the operas of [[Richard Wagner]], particularly ''[[The Ring of the Nibelung (Theatre)|Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' (especially ''Die Walküre''), and (musically) ''Der fliegende Holländer'' and ''[[Tannhaeuser]]''. It was written by Michael Maltese, who twelve years earlier had warmed up for the task with Friz Freleng's similar ''[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1759515648312728369# Herr Meets Hare]'', with [[Nazi Germany|Hermann Göring]] (!) in the Elmer Fudd part.

Naturally, as this is an opera, almost all of the dialogue is sung ("O mighty warrior of great fighting stock, / Might I inquire to ask, 'Ehh, what's up Doc?'" to the tune of Siegfried's "Horn Call"). Most famous is Elmer's continual refrain of "Kill da wabbit!" to the tune of the "[[Ride of the Valkyries (Music)|Ride of the Valkyries]]". The brief ballet sequence between Siegfried and "Brünnhilde" was painstakingly choreographed by animators who studied film of actual dancers. There's even a duet, "Return, My Love", with original words by Maltese, to the tune of the "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coLxM2hq_gA Pilgrims' Chorus]" from ''[[Tannhaeuser]]''.

Having taken roughly six times as much time and money to produce as most contemporary [[Looney Tunes (Animation)|Looney Tunes]] shorts<ref>Chuck Jones wrote that, since ''Road Runner'' cartoons were faster and cheaper to make, the animators were able to complete all of them within the studio's time and budget constraints</ref>, this is possibly the most beloved and critically-acclaimed animated short of all time, topping numerous lists compiled by film critics and professional animators. In 1992, it became the first cartoon short to be deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and thus was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Moreover, it was chosen by a number of animation industry insiders for '''''the''''' Number One spot on the list of ''[[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]]''. It has also earned a position on ''[[The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes]]''.