Everything I know about classical music I learned from Bugs Bunny.

Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, etc embedded within me the themes and motifs of some of the great classical works. It wasn’t until I started actually listening to classical music and opera that I realized how much of it I already knew — buried deep.

It gives me a much greater respect for both the music and the cartoons: the music’s ability to remain universal and the cartoons’ ability to fuse that music onto you at a young age. It is possible to feel nostalgia for a piece of music composed in the 19th century.

I made a playlist on Spotify of classical music that has been featured prominently in great cartoons.

If you don’t know much about classical music or opera, or enjoy it but never took the time to immerse yourself, I think this playlist is a great opportunity to begin. As you listen to it, I think you’ll find the music eerily familiar. And outside of the context of Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny, you’ll gain a new appreciation for this music. You’ll learn where this music comes from and who composed it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Here’s the track list for those of you without Spotify or if you live in some foreign land with strange musical restrictions:

1. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Overture by Rossini
2. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor by Tchaikovsky
3. Ein Morgen, ein Mittag, und ein Abend in Wien: Overture by Suppé
4. Die Fledermaus: Overture by Strauss
5. Il Bargbiere di Siviglia: Largo al Factotum by Rossini
6. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor by Liszt
7. Tales from the Vienna Woods by Strauss
8. The Blue Danube by Strauss
9. Carmen: Overture by Bizet
10. Peer Gynt Suite No. 1: I. Morgenstemning by Grieg
11. Die Walkure: Act III Scene 1: Walkurenritt by Wagner
12. Guillaume Tell: Overture by Rossini