The first thing I think of when I watch this, is how similar the premise is to Tex Avery's 'Magical Maestro'. In both cases someone wanders (or is chased) into an opera theatre, and proceeds to turn the tables on his antagonist. So what are the diferences?

Well Chuck Jonnes' effort is far more sophisticated, literate, and clever. There is excellant synching of music with vocals and gags (even if the music isn't all from the same opera). Technically it's impressive. But to be blunt, Avery's is just bloody funnier.

Plus, to me, the gags in this short just seem to get more repetitive and unfunny as it goes on, whereas Avery's were just lunatic and never made any sense in the first place.

I'm sorry to to be the one to dissent here, but I don't think this is a four star short, or a top 10 animated short (whatever Jerry Beck thinks). I had a tough time deciding between 3.5 and 3.0. What decided me is that I'd already given 3.5 to 'Magical Maestro', which I prefer.

BTW this is one of the most Freudian WB cartoons I've ever seen. There are more phallic symbols than you can..... shake a stick at.

The Rabbit of Seville doen't have quite the panoramic scope and vision of 'What's Opera Doc,' but the rewritten words of the operatic music are endlessly hilarious. And it's quite fun watching the opera classic turn into a Bugs-n-Elmer soundtrack

This is easily one of the greatest cartoons ever made."Rabbit of Seville" is brillant because the cartoon is a perfect combination of the opera occuring and a cartoon.Instead of reducing the humor of the cartoon to fit the opera,or reducing the quality of the opera to fit the cartoon,Chuck Jones basically kept both on par.You get insanely well timed sight gags and a beautiful musical score to accompany them.Overall,this short is nothing less then a piece cinematic brillance.

If Warner Bros. would have ever done a serious contender to rival Disney’s Fantasia using Looney Tunes; I think this would’ve been one of the shorts used, another: What’s Opera Doc?. The music and action are synchronized with such precision that it becomes amazing to view. Bugs’ singing is superb and the replaced words he sings are completely hilarious. True Elmer’s role is even less substantial than usual, as through most of the short he’s sitting down, completely at the mercy of Bugs. However that’s part of the concept of this short and it's not as if it's as much of a change from the normal running of the Bugs Vs Elmer shorts anyway.