What's Opera, Doc?

I must confess that I have never seen a full-length animated film that I did not find tedious and claustrophobic but I do enjoy Looney Tunes --each of which is about six minutes -- with my four-year-old daughter. One of her favorites -- and mine -- is What's Opera, Doc?, directed by Chuck Jones at Warner Brothers in 1957.  Jones collaborated on this cartoon with designer Maurice Noble and voice artist Mel Blanc.  And he used, quite intelligently, music from six different Wagner operas, even some lovely dance music to which Elmer Fudd (as Siegfried) and Bugs Bunny (as Brunhilde) do a pas de deux.  Jones is able to parody and pay tribute (the best parodies come from admiration) to opera, ballet, and Wagner quite efficiently and effectively in a mere six minutes!  The Wagnerian universe of the film is beautifully designed (including a lovely plump horse on which Brunhilde rides) and directed, with the only contemporary reference (which Jones generally avoids) being when Siegfried calls down not only earthquakes and hurricanes, but also smog.  Jones always had an operatic streak in him and this is not his first cartoon with an unhappy ending.

I did want to briefly mention Preston Sturges's brilliant dark comedy, Unfaithfully Yours (1948), which, like What's Opera, Doc?, uses the overture from Wagner's Tannhauser for emotional effect; I'll be writing about that film later. Both Sturges's film and Jones's cartoon were little appreciated or understood in their time.  What's Opera, Doc? is available on YouTube.