by Grant Mckenzie

Created on: February 14, 2009

Music is fun, so learning to appreciate classical music should also be fun. That's why so many people have come to love classical music without ever realizing it. They were too engrossed in the antics of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd that they never payed attention to the music which was being echoed on the screen by the slapstick action. Warner Brothers, through the interactions of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd made classical music a fun and exciting adventure and proved you didn't need a starched shirt and black tie to understand and enjoy it.

If you want to develop an appreciation for classical music, go to your video rental store and find collections of old Bugs Bunny shows. After you watch them, find out the source of the music and go listen to the original. You will be able to take so much more enjoyment that you will want to find more music that is similar in style. Soon you will become a classical music junkie.

Two episodes that really stand out because of their use of classical music are "What's Opera, Doc?" and "The Rabbit of Seville." Both are based on operas and are performed as slapstick renditions.

"What's Opera, Doc?" is set to the music of "The Valkyrie" by Wagner. With lines like "Kill the wabbit, Kill the wabbit!" Elmer Fudd tries to bring destruction upon Bugs Bunny while Bugs sings and dances his way out of every trap. In the end, Elmer Fudd, who is dressed in a Viking hat with golden braids, commands all the elements, including smog, to rain down and kill Bugs. As Elmer is carrying Bugs' body away, Bugs looks back in to the camera and explains that this is an opera and doesn't have a happy ending. He then resumes his "death." After seeing this episode, opera will never sound the same again.

If "What's Opera, Doc?" is too intense for you, then you should see the light-hearted "Rabbit of Seville," based on Rossini's "Barber of Seville." This is another episode where the chase between the bumbling Elmer Fudd and the wisecracking Bugs Bunny is performed to classical music. The comparison between these two episodes shows the broad range of musical style and emotion that can be found in opera, just one genre within the classical realm.

Other episodes have featured classical music, though not necessarily so prominently. Another Wagner piece, "Lohengrin," plays a major role in "Long-Haired Hare," where an opera singer gets on Bugs' bad side right before a concert. In episodes featuring Ralph and Sam, a wolf and a sheepdog, "Morning Mood" form "Peer Gynt" by Grieg helps them greet the day. Near the end of "What's Opera, Doc?" an interlude featuring Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" from "A Midsummer's Night Dream" is performed.

Music is fun and interesting. Classical music should be no different. Study classical music with Professor Bugs Bunny and you will see it and hear it in a whole new way. Once you gain the appreciation for it, you will begin to hear it interwoven into everything around you. Television commercials, theme songs and even modern rock and hip hop music have their roots in the classics.

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