The year is 1857 & we have one of the more modern German Romantic composers, Richard Wagner, finishing up his Ring Cycle. A century later, the visual style of Warner Brothers' cartoons has moved into serious Mid-Century Modern. What would happen if we put the two of them together? This undeniably silly cartoon lampooning Wagnerian opera has always, without fail, made me laugh ~ once actually resulting in my embarrassing re-creation of the timeless "spit-take". (My only excuse for this ~ & it's not a good one ~ is that I was young & very, very drunk…) I can tell you what I find so funny here, but not exactly why. There is a specific moment ~ Bugs' grand entrance as Brunhilda. (Or should we say Bwoonhiwdah?) However, it's not Bugs in Valkyrie drag that slays me but, in fact, the Teutonic, blue-eyed, flower bedecked, extraordinarily fat, diva horse he rides in on.
Pay attention; it's all in the details.
Pay attention; it's all in the details.
3 comments:
O, Brunhiiiwda, you're so wuuuv-we.
Yes I knooow it, I can't helllp it.
(Thanks for reminding me of this...although now I'll be singing that all day.)
Bingo!
That was the exact moment of my spit-take glory.
I'm absolutely nuts for Wagner, listening to the whole Ring Cycle at least twice a year, and STILL when the Valkyries appear and that music comes on, a little voice inside my head sings, "I shot the wab-bit, I shot the wab-bit, I shot the WAB-bit!"
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