U.S. #5494
Issue Date: July 27, 2020
First Day City: Burbank, CA
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 20
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 50,000,000
Some of the most famous Bugs Bunny cartoons are the ones in which Bugs participates in a parody of a well-known story. The animated short titled Rabbit of Seville is one example.
The cartoon opens with Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny toward a crowded ampitheater waiting for a production of The Barber of Seville to begin. (Interestingly, the poster shown in the cartoon features Italianized names of the short's producer, writer, and director.) Bugs hides backstage and tricks his nemesis to follow him before opening the curtain to reveal the audience and orchestra.
As the music plays (an arrangement of Rossini's overture to The Barber of Seville), Bugs joins Elmer Fudd onstage dressed as a barber. As the cartoon plays out, Bugs subjects Elmer to several increasingly over-the-top treatments. He wields a pair of scissors, hedge trimmers, and even snake charms an electric shaver to chase Elmer. By the end of the short, both characters are attacking each other with bigger and bigger weapons before Bugs finally gets the upper hand and dumps Elmer into a giant wedding cake.
Bugs' several disguises throughout the episode make it an especially funny one. In fact, in 1994, animation experts named it number 12 on a list of 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time.