But it’s such a famous cartoon, I can’t really skip it. I’ll just post a few poses (and probably some in-betweens) showing Bugs gesticulating as he sings to Elmer Fudd, accompanied by a solo French horn.
O, Mighty Hunter, ‘twill be quite a task.
How will you do it, might I enquire to osk?
(The broad ‘a’ in “ask” satirises the pretentiousness of opera).
Since Bugs is singing on stage, he takes a deep breath before his next line.
It would not be a Chuck Jones cartoon without a coy side-glance in profile.
Bugs finishes his line and balls up his hands. I don’t get the weird deformed foot Bugs develops.
People watching the cartoon probably didn’t notice, but in the previous two lines of the song, Bugs is standing in front of a completely different background.
To give you an idea how long the cartoon was in the system, here are the other Jones shorts around this time.
Bugs’ Bonnets, Production 1387, released Jan. 14, 1956.
Animators: Abe Levitow, Dick Thompson, Ken Harris, Ben Washam. Layout: Bob Gribbroek.
Barbary-Coast Bunny, Production 1389, released July 21, 1956.
Animators: Abe Levitow, Dick Thompson, Ken Harris. Layout: Bob Gribbroek.
Rocket-Bye Baby, Production 1395, released August 4, 1956.
Animators: Abe Levitow, Dick Thompson, Ken Harris. Layout: Ernie Nordli.
What’s Opera, Doc?, Production 1397, released July 6, 1957.
Animators: Abe Levitow, Dick Thompson, Ken Harris. Layout: Maurice Noble.
Gee Whiz-z-z-z, Production 1399, released May 5, 1956.
Animators: Abe Levitow, Dick Thompson, Ken Harris, Ben Washam. Layout: Ernie Nordli.
Maurice Noble’s name falls between two cartoons with Ernie Nordli. Nordli had drawn layouts for What’s Opera, Doc? but when Noble returned to the studio, he chucked them all and started afresh. (Get it? “Chucked.” As in “Jones?” Okay, so I need a new writer).
The cartoon was also made during one of Ben Washam’s absences; at least, he wasn’t credited on the short.
The short benefits from the Warner Bros. studio orchestra. Can you imagine what it would sound like a few years later with a chintzy, dissonant score that Bill Lava wrote for the cartoons (to be fair to Lava, he was a capable composer but his cartoon work reeks of low budget). Certainly, Milt Franklyn’s ability to snip from Wagner to come up with this effective score is an admirable achievement (30 years earlier, Franklyn was fronting a regional dance band).
Yes, the cartoon has probably been over-seen and over-analysed to the point that some may not want to watch it any more. There are a number of Bugs Bunny cartoons I like far, far better than this, but I’ll take it over Bugs’ Bonnets any day.
Errol
ReplyDeleteI agree Yowp, Bill Lava was very capable with live action shows and film, " F-Troop ", did some ghost writing for cues used in Universal's second cycle of horror films in the 1940s. The Warner Brother sorchestra knocked the ball out of the park on this short.
DeleteLava's work on the Joe Mcdoakes shorts have always been my favorite.
ReplyDeleteHa! BUGS BONNETS. Well, yeah. I can imagine the storyboard might have seemed hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI truly dislike it. Bugs et al aren't characters. The hats are characters. The short is one gag "Look how out of character that hat makes him!" Seven minutes of that? I'll pass.
DeleteI appreciate your assessment. This one always struck me as weird.
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DeleteOn the other hand ROCKET-BYE BABY is one of my all time favorites. Lots of little grace notes in the animation and design.
DeleteThese were my least favorite BB cartoons. Jones had receded his influence in favor of Nobleism.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly debatable whether "What's Opera, Doc?" has had its due or is just overrated. Both self-parody and self-congratulatory, its brilliance is offset by its archness. The 1950s Bugs had lost a lot of the charm of his earlier self anyway because he'd ceased to be a rabbit and become a tall, overconfident man in a rabbit suit: Smug Bunny.
ReplyDeleteIt's as if Jones decided to parody the stereotypical conventions of high-brow musicality and that became the comedy that drove this short.
DeleteLikely comparisons have been made elsewhere between this and Jones' "Long Haired Hare," which goes for conventional Warners comedy and is, to me, a far more satisfying cartoon. This short makes fun of the pretentions of opera by being pretentious, and somewhat reverently so.
Did Mike Maltese ever weigh in on this cartoon? I'd be interested in what he had to say about it.
You guys are a bunch of curmudgeons.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reasoned rebuttal.
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