Cartoon a Day: What's Opera Doc?

What's Opera Doc?
1957
Directed by Chuck Jones
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2

OK, I admit it, I've been behind on my cartoons this weekend. Between small group, birthday parties, and trying to get in some extra work...it's been busy. So, what better way to get back on track than to look at one of the greatest cartoons ever made, "What's Opera Doc?"



Where do you start? The animation is fantastic! From the opening animation of Elmer Fudd's shadow, a possible jab at Disney's "A Night on Bald Mountain" from "Fantasia," you know you're in for something special. The animation of Bugs and Elmer is wonderful, but it's the animation of the fat horse that is the highlight of this short for me.

Being that this is a "opera" the music is very important and may be the best example of the excellent scoring that was so often present in the Looney Tunes shorts. But the real star of this short is the incredible backgrounds. They create a whole other world, completely unlike anything we've seen in any other cartoon.

I think the backgrounds are what really bring out the emotion of this short. The colors and the angles just intensify everything. When Elmer supposedly kills Bugs, it's sad. I can remember watching this as a kid and hating that part. Bugs is dead, Elmer is crying over what he's done, that's the stuff kids' nightmares are made of. But, of course, Bugs has the final say in things, delivering probably the best closing line of any of his cartoons.

If told I could only watch one cartoon for the rest of my life...well, this would probably be the one I would choose.