Rabbit of Seville Rabbit of Seville Rabbit of Seville is a Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" theatrical cartoon short released in 1950. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The cartoon, in a plotline reminiscent of "Stage Door Cartoon", features Bugs Bunny being chased by Elmer Fudd into the stage door of the Hollywood Bowl, whereupon Bugs tricks Elmer into going onstage, and participating in a break-neck operatic production of their chase punctuated with gags and accompanied by musical arrangements by Carl Stalling, focusing on Rossini's overture to "The Barber of Seville". Stalling's arrangement is notable in that the overture's
The Barber of Seville (1944 film) is lifted from Woody's first starring appearance in the 1941 cartoon "Woody Woodpecker", in which Woody was voiced by Mel Blanc. Ben Hardaway, also the co-storyman on "Barber of Seville", provides Woody's voice for the first time (replacing Kent Rogers, who was killed in a World War II plane crash three months after this short's release), and Lee Sweetland performs as Woody's singing voice. Hardaway would become Woody's sole speaking voice for the remainder of the decade. Finally, "The Barber of Seville" was the first Woody cartoon directed by veteran animator James "Shamus" Culhane, who had been working on Lantz's