Trivia / What's Opera, Doc?

• Acclaimed Flop: Despite receiving a gala premiere at the Warner Bros. Theatre, following such a devoted production that the animators cheated their punch cards to buy more time to work on the short, it subsequently wasn't treated as anything special. It was at least submitted for an Academy Award nomination, but ultimately rejected. It took about two decades for What's Opera, Doc? to receive the respect it deserved, and even longer for it to receive acclaims of any kind (though boy, such acclaims - voted #1 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons in 1994.)
• The Cast Showoff: Arthur Q. Bryan began as a singer before turning his focus to voice acting, which is why, obvious issues aside, Elmer is quite impressive with his singing here.
  • The animators brought their A-Game when they were animating this.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: The booklet for the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray refers to What's Opera, Doc? as, "the first-ever animated film to be inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry". While it does mark Warner's first animated film to enter the Registry, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, and Gertie the Dinosaur all made it in first.
• Referenced by...:
  • In an episode of 30 Rock, Liz has "Ride of the Valkyries" as her ringtone and is asked if she's an opera fan. She replies she's an Elmer Fudd fan.
  • In an episode of Drawn Together, Spanky leaves for the evening to attend the opera. When he returns later that night, he's singing "Kill da Wabbit!" to himself.
  • One episode of Bob the Builder's 2015 reboot has the Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title of "What's Opera, Muck?"
• Throw It In!: "SMOOOOOG!" was an ad-lib.
• Two Voices, One Character: Though Arthur Q. Bryan otherwise voiced Elmer in this short, Mel Blanc performed "SMOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGGGGGGGG!" Word of God stated it was because it made it funnier and Bryan couldn't scream as loud as Blanc. Bryan's read of the line can still be heard in the version used for the Bugs Bunny at the Symphony live performances.
• Vindicated by Cable: According to a featurette on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 2, What's Opera, Doc? initially wasn't really any more recognized or popular than any of the other Looney Tunes shorts coming out during that time period. It wasn't until years later via TV airings that people began to realize the sheer genius and masterpiece of a cartoon this is.