Magoo and nothing else, it wasn't a particularly outstanding year for MGM, and (the final indignity) the cartoon that actually WON the award that year was yet another worthless Sylvester and Tweety effort. It IS a pity that it wasn't even nominated for Best Animated Short of 1957, especially in the absence of serious competition: Disney had shut down its short cartoon unit the previous year, UPA was churning out Mr. As it is, wonderful and self-contained as the short is, it's also a bit baffling not funny, but lacking the final ounce of courage required to be truly thrilling or moving, either. It would be better still if it WERE a true parody of Wagner.
The cartoon is not, as is commonly asserted, Wagner's fourteen-hour Ring cycle compressed into seven minutes, since none of the content of the story is taken from Wagner (also, the disappointingly lame "Weturn, My Wuv" lyrics are set to a tune from "Tannhäuser"). Colours, sets, linework, framing all are marvellous. It's the art direction that does it - it's VERY 1950s (some would say it's pinched from UPA, but this is false: look at the previous work of Maurice Noble, and the direction in which background design was tending at Disney and to a lesser extent Warner Brothers before UPA was even formed, and you'll see that UPA was merely the most extreme expression of a zeitgeist which arose for as yet unexplained reasons) - but it fits the roasted twilight setting of Wagner like a glove. This is a classic short cartoon, all right.
The look of the film is rich and well designed and fits the music really well - visually it is impressive, but then so is the whole cartoon. The cartoon is perfectly set to the music and it is intelligent and quite amusing. Overall this is not the funniest of Bugs' shorts but it is easily my favourite. The two of them are adapted perfectly to the music and the cartoon is great with them. Bugs is his usual tricky self but he is down played a little bit as the cartoon seems less concerned about hilarity than about a witty, quality product. Fudd is a good character and here merges his usual meek personae with the epic operatic warrior to good effect. So much care has been put into it that it is difficult not to feel impressed by the look of the whole cartoon. Visually it is imaginative, style and very impressive - it easily matches the epic feel of the music. Look at some of the WB cartoons of the mid-sixties and you'd never believe those same drab animations could come from the same studio as this. My favourite thing about this short is the style with which it is delivered. Bugs does his usual dressing up stuff but the music gives it all an edge it hasn't had before - and it is very interesting. The plot is perfectly set to the music and it is surprisingly emotional for it.
In fact the reason I love this cartoon is part of the reason it isn't funny - simply because it is almost too clever to waste time making me roar with easy laughs. However it is easily one of my favourites of his simply because it is not a basic chase-em-up style comedy that relies on physical gags. In terms of laughs, this is by no means Bugs's funniest cartoon. However, dressing as an opera dame, Bugs attempts to outsmart and avoid Fudd the best he can. In the style of a classic opera, Elmer Fudd, resplendent with magic helmet, seeks to kill the rabbit Bugs Bunny.
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