Red Hot Riding Hood
Encyclopedia
Red Hot Riding Hood is an animated cartoon
short subject
, directed by Tex Avery
and released on May 8, 1943 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
. In 1994 it was voted #7 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons
of all time by members of the animation field. It is one of Avery's most popular cartoons, inspiring several of his own "sequel" shorts as well as influencing other cartoons and feature films for years afterward.
(with the wolf from Dumb-Hounded
, the cartoon which saw the debut of Avery's Droopy) until the characters suddenly rebel at this done-to-death staging and demand a fresh approach.
The annoyed narrator accedes to their demands and starts the story again in a dramatically different arrangement. Now the story is set in a contemporary urban setting, where Red is a sexy adult nightclub
entertainer. The Wolf is a debonair skirt chaser who is in love with Red but she wants nothing to do with him. Red escapes the Wolf, saying she's going to her Grandma's house, but when the Wolf arrives Red is nowhere to be found. Grandma is an oversexed man-chaser who falls head over heels for the Wolf. Upon seeing him she whistles and says, "At last a wolf! Yahoo!" The Wolf tries to escape but Grandma blocks the exit and asks him, "What's your hurry hairy?" She locks the door, drops the key down the front of her evening gown, and poses provocatively for him. Soon after Grandma puts on a bright red shade of lipstick and tries to kiss the Wolf several times during his stay. He tries to escape but the lovelorn granny chases after him. Every door the Wolf opens Grandma is there waiting with puckered lips. He finally makes his escape by jumping out a window, severely injuring himself in the process. As this is a Tex Avery cartoon he immediately recovers, and makes his way back to the nightclub. There, the Wolf says, "I'm fed up with women. They're nothing but trouble. If I catch myself looking at another babe, I'll kill myself." Immediately after this, Red takes the stage and begins another performance. He pulls out two guns and commits suicide
, but his ghost rises from his dead body and howls and whistles at her like he did earlier.
s at the time, Betty Grable
. She is considered an amalgamation of the then popular Hollywood stars. Her singing voice in this particular short was reminiscent of Lena Horne
's, while her speaking voice emulated that of Katharine Hepburn
.
s at the time demanded cuts in this scene and others.
The film's original conclusion had Grandma marrying the wolf at a shotgun wedding (with a caricature of Tex Avery
as the Justice of the Peace who marries them), and having the unhappy couple and their half-human half-wolf children attend Red's show. This ending, deleted for reasons of implied bestiality and how it made light of marriage (something that was considered taboo back in the days of the Hays Office Code), was replaced with one (that, ironically, has also been edited, but only on television) where The Wolf is back at the nightclub and tells the audience that he's through with chasing women and if he ever sees a woman again, he's going to kill himself. When Red soon appears onstage to perform again, the Wolf takes out two pistols and blasts himself in the head. The Wolf then drops dead, but his soul appears and begins to howl and whistle at Red.
Prints with the original ending (where the Wolf is forced to marry the lusty Grandma) and the Wolf's racier reactions to Red are rumored to have been shown to military audiences overseas during World War II, though it is not known if this print still exists.
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
short subject
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, directed by Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
and released on May 8, 1943 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. In 1994 it was voted #7 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons
The 50 Greatest Cartoons
The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, consisting of articles about, and rankings of fifty highly-regarded animated short films made in North America, as well as many other notable cartoons. It generated a significant...
of all time by members of the animation field. It is one of Avery's most popular cartoons, inspiring several of his own "sequel" shorts as well as influencing other cartoons and feature films for years afterward.
Plot
The story begins with the standard version of Little Red Riding HoodLittle Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
(with the wolf from Dumb-Hounded
Dumb-Hounded
Dumb-Hounded is an American animation short from 1943. It's notable for being the first cartoon to star Droopy.-Plot:The wolf escapes from prison. Several police dogs are freed to search him, but one one them, Droopy, remains behind and informs the audience that he is the hero of the story. He...
, the cartoon which saw the debut of Avery's Droopy) until the characters suddenly rebel at this done-to-death staging and demand a fresh approach.
The annoyed narrator accedes to their demands and starts the story again in a dramatically different arrangement. Now the story is set in a contemporary urban setting, where Red is a sexy adult nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
entertainer. The Wolf is a debonair skirt chaser who is in love with Red but she wants nothing to do with him. Red escapes the Wolf, saying she's going to her Grandma's house, but when the Wolf arrives Red is nowhere to be found. Grandma is an oversexed man-chaser who falls head over heels for the Wolf. Upon seeing him she whistles and says, "At last a wolf! Yahoo!" The Wolf tries to escape but Grandma blocks the exit and asks him, "What's your hurry hairy?" She locks the door, drops the key down the front of her evening gown, and poses provocatively for him. Soon after Grandma puts on a bright red shade of lipstick and tries to kiss the Wolf several times during his stay. He tries to escape but the lovelorn granny chases after him. Every door the Wolf opens Grandma is there waiting with puckered lips. He finally makes his escape by jumping out a window, severely injuring himself in the process. As this is a Tex Avery cartoon he immediately recovers, and makes his way back to the nightclub. There, the Wolf says, "I'm fed up with women. They're nothing but trouble. If I catch myself looking at another babe, I'll kill myself." Immediately after this, Red takes the stage and begins another performance. He pulls out two guns and commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, but his ghost rises from his dead body and howls and whistles at her like he did earlier.
Characters
The character of Red Hot Riding Hood closely resembled one of the top pin-up girlPin-up girl
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...
s at the time, Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
. She is considered an amalgamation of the then popular Hollywood stars. Her singing voice in this particular short was reminiscent of Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
's, while her speaking voice emulated that of Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
.
Censorship
The most famous element is the musical scene where Red performs and "Wolfie", as she calls him, reacts in highly lustful wild takes. Those reactions were considered so energetic that the censorCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
s at the time demanded cuts in this scene and others.
The film's original conclusion had Grandma marrying the wolf at a shotgun wedding (with a caricature of Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
as the Justice of the Peace who marries them), and having the unhappy couple and their half-human half-wolf children attend Red's show. This ending, deleted for reasons of implied bestiality and how it made light of marriage (something that was considered taboo back in the days of the Hays Office Code), was replaced with one (that, ironically, has also been edited, but only on television) where The Wolf is back at the nightclub and tells the audience that he's through with chasing women and if he ever sees a woman again, he's going to kill himself. When Red soon appears onstage to perform again, the Wolf takes out two pistols and blasts himself in the head. The Wolf then drops dead, but his soul appears and begins to howl and whistle at Red.
Prints with the original ending (where the Wolf is forced to marry the lusty Grandma) and the Wolf's racier reactions to Red are rumored to have been shown to military audiences overseas during World War II, though it is not known if this print still exists.
Follow-ups
- Avery made several non-sequels to the film, including Swing Shift CinderellaSwing Shift CinderellaSwing Shift Cinderella is an animated cartoon short subject. It is in the same vein as Red Hot Riding Hood. Frank Graham voiced the wolf, and Colleen Collins voiced Cinderella.-Plot:...
(1945), The Shooting Of Dan McGooThe Shooting Of Dan McGooThe Shooting of Dan McGoo is a cartoon directed by Tex Avery. It starred Frank Graham as the Wolf. Both Avery and Bill Thompson voiced the lead character Droopy. Bea Benaderet did the speaking voice of Lou, while her singing was provided by Imogene Lynn...
and Wild And WoolfyWild And WoolfyWild and Woolfy is a 1945 animated cartoon short, one of six cartoons in which Droopy was paired with a wolf. It is one of a very few cartoons in the series where Bill Thompson did not voice Droopy in any part of the cartoon.-Plot:...
(both 1945 and both featuring Droopy), Uncle Tom's Cabaña (1947), and Little Rural Riding HoodLittle Rural Riding HoodLittle Rural Riding Hood is a 1949 animated cartoon short subject directed by Tex Avery, conceived as a follow-up to his 1943 cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood...
(1949). Red also has a cameo appearance in The Hick Chick (1946).
- Red made a comeback in the Saturday morning cartoonSaturday morning cartoonA Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
series Tom & Jerry Kids and Droopy, Master DetectiveDroopy, Master DetectiveDroopy, Master Detective was an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with Turner Entertainment. The show is a spin-off from Tom & Jerry Kids....
, appearing in the Droopy and Dripple and Calaboose Cal cartoon shorts. Red was given the name "Miss Vavoom" in Droopy and Dripple, and "Mystery Lady" in Calaboose Cal. As in the original MGM cartoons, Red plays the "damsel in distressDamsel in distressThe subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
" while the Wolf (here "McWolf") and Droopy compete for her affections.
- Red was recently seen again in the Direct-to-videoDirect-to-videoDirect-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
film Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock HolmesTom and Jerry Meet Sherlock HolmesTom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes is a 2010 animated direct-to-video film starring Tom and Jerry produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is the first Tom and Jerry direct-to-video film to be produced without any of its original creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera...
; the Wolf also makes a few appearances, first watching Red's cabaret performance and (at the end) as her groom.
Homages
- The gag where Grandma rushes to kiss Wolf, misses and leaves a giant lipstick imprint on the wall was also used in the Woody WoodpeckerWoody WoodpeckerWoody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...
cartoon A Fine Feathered FrenzyA Fine Feathered FrenzyA Fine Feathered Frenzy is the 57th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on October 25, 1954, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal-International.-Plot:...
when Gorgeous Gal tried to kiss Woody. She also shows up behind every door Woody opens ready to make out with him. Unlike Grandma, Gorgeous Gal does manage to kiss Woody several times during the film however. Gorgeous Gal marries Woody Woodpecker as well. - The scene where Grandma chases The Wolf was the inspiration for the scene in Who Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...
where Lena Hyena chases Eddie Valiant. The wolf was also going to appear in the film (in one of the early drafts in the film's script the wolf was supposed to be seen in the Ink and Paint Club during Jessica'sJessica RabbitJessica Rabbit is a fictional character from the Roger Rabbit film-and-novel franchise.Jessica Rabbit may also refer to:* Jessica Rabbit vibrator, a sex toy* Melyssa Ford , Canadian model-See also:...
performance.) another draft of the script had him seen being kicked out with a bra on his face before Eddie went into the club, but these were dropped out later on. - The famous scene of The Wolf reacting lustfully in the club was directly referenced in The MaskThe Mask (film)The Mask is a 1994 American superhero comedy film based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. This film was directed by Chuck Russell, and produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and originally released to movie theatres on July 29, 1994 through New Line...
where Stanley Ipkiss goes to the Coco Bongo club as the Mask. Seated at a similar table, he reacts to his first sight of Cameron DiazCameron DiazCameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
's torch-singer character Tina Carlyle by mimicking many of the same cartoonish "wild takes" (achieved through the use of CGIComputer-generated imageryComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
), and his head even morphs into that of a cartoon wolf when he wolf-whistles and howls before bashing himself on the head with a mallet. There is also an early scene where The Mask's wimpy alter ego, Stanley Ipkiss (played by Jim CarreyJim CarreyJames Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
) pops in a cartoon video, which shows this cartoon (on the part where the Wolf is lustfully reacting to Red singing "Daddy") and is yelled at by his landlady, Mrs. Peenman, after laughing at it. - Both Jessica RabbitJessica RabbitJessica Rabbit is a fictional character from the Roger Rabbit film-and-novel franchise.Jessica Rabbit may also refer to:* Jessica Rabbit vibrator, a sex toy* Melyssa Ford , Canadian model-See also:...
(of Who Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...
) and Tina Carlyle (of The MaskThe Mask (film)The Mask is a 1994 American superhero comedy film based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. This film was directed by Chuck Russell, and produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and originally released to movie theatres on July 29, 1994 through New Line...
) look and act like Red Hot Riding Hood from this cartoon, and they are both nightclubNightclubA nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
performers.
External links
- Hot Riding Hood at Keyframe - the Animation Resource
- Tribute to Tex Avery's Red