What's always been a bit surprising to me is that the conductor Leopold Stokowski had enough 'cultural cachet' that there was some expectation that people watching the cartoon would recognize the reference to him ("Leopold!"):

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Stokowski#Hollywood_Bo...

Not sure that the general public would have any kind of awareness for conductors or anyone in the classical music world today: perhaps Yo-Yo Ma, and some years ago 'The Three Tenors' were a thing.

I could not tell reading the article if Jones et. al. initial inspiration was a "love of opera" or whether it was just an interesting new challenge/storyboard. It sorta read as the latter, but my hope is that the former was the starting point. This story is very on point today as Mamdani is providing tens of thousands the opportunity to go to the Met -- hopefully each and every one would not have had this opp without M. That is going to be interesting.

Interesting anecdotes to follow if you want to continue...

When I worked in Portland late 80s Coffee People was just one store in the NWest district. Went there every morning for a coffee. They played lots of non-opera, non-classical Muzak. I suggested that perhaps they might consider adding an Opera highlights CD (no streaming then) into the mix. Surprisingly one day I go in and Opera was playing. A few weeks later Opera was playing again, and the barristas were silently singing along with the lyrics when a climactic passage was playing. Made me laugh. Then late 90's I again go every morning to an independent coffee shop this time in Corvallis. Told the owner who was the barrista that I would gift her a CD if she would play it occasionally. She agreed, and I gifted her Cecilia Bartoli singing Rossini's Heroines (a favorite). A while later the owner told me she was going to move to Australia. Asked her if the Rossini was going to be left in the shop, and she said it was going with her.

Edit: Just re-watched the original. I literally remember watching this on TV when it debuted. Anyway... did not know then, but do know now that Mel Blanc did all the voices. In this one Mel's singing. What a unique talent. Studios have tried to replace him, but all efforts fall short. A once-in-a-lifetime talent who most folks enjoy, but know nothing about.

I can't hear "Ride of the Valkyries" without hearing "Kill the Wabbit" in my head. Also "Spear and magic helmet" :-)

Oh, what a great cartoon that is!

In my college daze, Chuck Jones dropped by to give a talk to a packed auditorium. Of course, what he showed was What's Opera Doc. We all loved it, and Chuck enjoyed our enthusiasm.

> “What’s Opera, Doc? is one many Europeans adore,” Chuck Jones said in the ‘70s. “They call that my ‘masterpiece,’ which it may or may not be

This farm-raised American kid thought it was, too.

It's one of the core experiences that made me interested in art, and eventually become an artist.

Not to mention its dramatic and comedic elements are so spot on adults and children alike realized their appropriateness. Even for a set of phenomena (opera) I barely understood at the age of 5.