Chapter Text
During the late 1950s, as Toons on television began to become more prevalent, there had become waning interest in theatrical Toon shorts. During this period, Warner Bros. stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, who initially had a good relationship, slowly came to a point where they barely spoke to each other off set. Elmer was tired of the standard "Bugs vs. Elmer" formula, where he always got beat by the "wascally wabbit", and rarely ever got a win. Meanwhile, Bugs figured Elmer's ideas were crazy talk, figuring Elmer was an "easy mark" to be a foil.
Sensing this problem, legendary Toon director Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese decided to put a more grandiose spin on the formula. Chuck had a deep love for classical music, and wanted to do a loving parody of grand opera for the short.
Before production actually started, Bugs and Elmer were sent to watch performances of Wagner's Ring Cycle operas thoroughly to gain a deeper understanding of the work. Although Bugs would instantly fall in love with it, Elmer would need a little more convincing, seeing as he thought the operas were "too wong".
While this was going on, set designer Maurice Noble would make what is now known as "one of the most beautiful sets ever seen on film", with high cliffs and beautiful set-pieces. He got most of the money to do it from the Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner short Scrambled Aches, which like all other Coyote & Road Runner shorts, were relatively cheaper compared to other Looney Tunes productions.
As the script for the short was being written, Daffy Duck could smell a hit. Despite being a terror on-set since adopting his new "greedy" persona early in the 1950s, Daffy was still very passionate about working for Warner Bros., having worked for them longer than Bugs. It was here Daffy tried to put himself into the picture, even auditioning for Bugs' role using his Bugs costume from last year's A Star is Bored. One of the people who saw the audition was writer Warren Foster, who would write a follow-up to A Star is Bored for Friz Freleng that became Show Biz Bugs.
Due to the Management's standard Toon production expectations at the time, each short had to be done in five weeks. Shooting would take place over the course of 7 weeks, an extra 2 weeks being devoted to have Bugs and Elmer practice ballet and opera-level singing, with production of the short being kept secret. To do this, Jones had Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner punch in instead of Bugs & Elmer, so when the managers came looking, they would think they were shooting the short Zoom and Bored, where another good part of the budget came from.
During those 2 weeks, Elmer proved to be not the most graceful dancer. Due to his wimpy stature, his head would often proved to be too heavy to keep straight when leaning. Those 2 weeks were also pivotal in training Bugs' horse (affectionately named "Wagner"). During one harmful injury in the first week, Elmer was briefly considered to be replaced with Beaky Buzzard, but he would fall ill with acute laryngitis.
When the real production of the short would start, Bugs and Elmer were wowed by the grandiose sets and lighting, which were unlike any other short they had done at the time. With this new look, the two managed to get just as close as their early days working together.
The ACME Corporation would be noted for creating Elmer's spear and magic helmet, along with Bugs' dress. The two continue to wear the original costumes to this day, often for press photos.
During the short's final scenes, as a wrathful Elmer sends a legion of horrific weather upon Bugs, he calls for thunder, lightning and smog. Elmer had ad-libbed "smog" because he wanted to see how threatening he could sound. This would later make it into the final cut.
The beautiful ending scene where Elmer carries a weakened Bugs was actually shot in one take, with Elmer genuinely crying.
Nowadays, this short would be viewed as the classic it rightfully is, reinvigorating the relationship between Bugs and Elmer.