‘What’s Opera, Doc?’: Bugs Bunny in drag
Recently, the Republican Party introduced new bills in at least 14 states to target drag shows and eliminate them from the public sphere. Many conservative talking heads in the US have routinely engaged in homophobic rhetoric concerning drag, callously labelling the art form as a “tool for indoctrinating children”. To the misinformed conservatives who insist that drag is a symptom of “modern liberalism”, did you know that Bugs Bunny did it in 1957?
Regularly cited by historians as the greatest animated work Warner Bros ever produced, What’s Opera, Doc? is a seminal short by Chuck Jones that was made as a part of the Merrie Melodies. Although it featured a typical feud between the beloved anthropomorphic rabbit and his sworn enemy Elmer Fudd, What’s Opera, Doc? represents something greater. It uses cartoons – a form that was dismissed by many intellectuals as low art – to engage in a conversation about opera – the highest of the arts, according to many.
A hilarious parody of Richard Wagner’s epics, What’s Opera, Doc? stars Elmer Fudd as the legendary hero Siegfried who embarks on a hunt for “wabbits”. To the instantly recognisable tune of Ride of the Valkyries, Elmer sings, “Kill the wabbit!” while thrusting his spear into a rabbit hole. Despite being frenzied by the possibility of tasting “wabbit” blood, Elmer calms down when he sees Bugs Bunny dressed in drag as Brünnhilde. What’s Opera, Doc? is a simply timeless masterpiece that has gained artistic relevance with each passing year.
Art historian Steve Watt described modern audiences’ reaction to What’s Opera, Doc? in an article for the Toronto Star. Watt recalled: “A few years ago, when I staged a tribute to Chuck and his incredible body of work, showing 15 of his greatest cartoons on the big screen as they were originally meant to be seen, it wasn’t What’s Opera, Doc? that got the biggest reaction, initially. The nearly 500 people in attendance gave their most enthusiastic reaction to the opening credits of One Froggy Evening featuring Michigan J. Frog, and Rabbit of Seville, the famous Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd barbershop ditty.”
Elaborating on the impact of the short, Watt continued: “Both great cartoons, to be sure, and both on any animation historian’s top 10. The interesting thing was that for weeks afterwards, people told me how moved they were by What’s Opera, Doc? Some had never seen it before. Others had seen it on TV, but absent the big screen and big sound, they had failed to fall under its spell. Seeing it that day, the way audiences first saw it in 1957, they were enthralled.”
The first cartoon to be preserved by the Library of Congress, What’s Opera, Doc? is a devilishly funny attack on the snobbery of art criticism as well as the rigid boundaries of conservative social norms. Over the years, Bugs Bunny has dressed in drag countless times, but this 1957 masterpiece might just have been his finest outing.
Watch the film here.
