Studio: MGM Cartoons
Distributor: Loew's Inc. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Produced by: Fred Quimby
Short Synopsis
The narrator begins a sweet, traditional Little Red Riding Hood, and the characters rebel. The Wolf, Red and Grandma stop the cartoon and demand a fresh version, they are sick of the same old story. The narrator gives in and starts again. Now Red is a glamorous nightclub singer in Hollywood, "Red Hot Riding Hood", and the Wolf is a lecherous playboy who comes to see her show. When she sings "Daddy", the Wolf goes completely mad: his eyes pop, his jaw drops to the table, he whistles, howls, pounds the table and hammers himself on the head. He tries to win her over, but she isn't interested and leaves for Grandma's. Grandma lives in a penthouse at the top of a skyscraper, and she is a man-chaser who falls instantly for the Wolf. She locks the door and pursues him around the apartment, lips puckered, until he finally escapes by jumping out of a window. Back at the club, bandaged and bruised, the Wolf swears he'll kill himself if he ever looks at another woman. Red comes back on stage, the Wolf shoots himself, and his ghost rises from his body to howl and whistle at her all over again.
Why It Matters
- The Wolf's reactions to Red's performance, with his body exploding into impossible distortions of desire, are among the most famous takes in animation, and Preston Blair's animation of Red brought a new, sexualised realism to cartoon characters. The opening rebellion against the fairy tale is a brilliant piece of self-aware comedy.
- It was voted number 7 in The 50 Greatest Cartoons in 1994, the highest-ranked MGM cartoon on the list, and it inspired several Avery sequels with Red and the Wolf. Censors forced cuts to the most risqué moments, and some versions shown to troops during the war were reportedly more complete than the release prints.
Notes and Trivia
- Its influence reaches as far as Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), whose Jessica Rabbit owes a debt to Red.
- See also: The Bear's Tale (1940), Swing Shift Cinderella (1945).