Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by djprobed (R) on December 18, 2003 at 13:21:05

In Reply to: Favorite short cartoons posted by Rico on December 10, 2003 at 13:55:26:

I always chime in here, so here goes:

Although it's tempting to say this cartoon is a distillation of Wagner's Ring into 7.5 minutes, it is really a visual and musical hodgepodge of Wagnerian stereotypes that doesn't relate directly to the plot of any of his operas (any more than RABBIT OF SEVILLE has to do with the plot of Rossini's opera).

What's more, while all of the music in WHAT'S OPERA DOC is derived from Wagner, most of it doesn't come from the Ring. The opening section is from THE FLYING DUTCHMAN and most of the rest is from TANNHAEUSER (including the ballet sequence and the bogus duet "Return my Love," based on the melody of the Pilgrim's Chorus). Only the "Kill the wabbit" motif (from the Ride of the Valkyries) and the section "O mighty hunter of great fighting stock..." (based on Siegfried's horn call) are from the Ring.

An interesting bit of trivia: when it was released, this was the most expensive animated short ever made (according to my book BUGS BUNNY: 50 YEARS AND ONLY ONE GRAY HARE).

djprobed