Little Rural Riding Hood | |
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Directed by | Tex Avery |
Story by | Rich Hogan Jack Cosgriff |
Produced by | Fred Quimby |
Starring | Colleen Collins Pinto Colvig Imogene Lynn Daws Butler (all uncredited) |
Music by | Scott Bradley |
Animation by | Grant Simmons Walter Clinton Bob Cannon Michael Lah Preston Blair (reused animation, uncredited) |
Backgrounds by | John Didrik Johnsen |
Color process | Technicolor Perspecta (reissue) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 6:00 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Little Rural Riding Hood is a 1949 MGM animated cartoon short subject directed by Tex Avery, conceived as a follow-up to his 1943 cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood . [1]
In 1994, the cartoon was ranked in 23rd place of The 50 Greatest Cartoons. [2] It is essentially a retelling of the Aesop fable, "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse".
The film opens with a stereotypical hillbilly version of Little Red Riding Hood (voiced by Colleen Collins), telling the audience that she is taking "nourishment" (as she holds up a cliché moonshine bottle) to her grandma, who lives on a country farm. At the farmhouse, a wolf (voiced by Pinto Colvig) reveals himself to the audience, but confesses that he doesn't want to eat Red. He is actually in love with her and wishes to kiss her.
After a comical chase around the farmhouse, the wolf catches Red, and both prepare to kiss each other when a telegram arrives for the wolf from his city cousin (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating George Sanders [3] ), inviting him to meet the city's equivalent of his Red (the same version seen in Red Hot Riding Hood ). Upon seeing her photograph, the country wolf immediately falls in love with her and departs for the city.
Unlike his rural cousin, the city wolf is rich, suave, and sophisticated. The city wolf takes his cousin to a local nightclub where the city's Red performs her seductive song-and-dance routine, a rendition of "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!" called "Oh Wolfie" (elements of this scene were recycled from Avery's 1945 cartoon Swing Shift Cinderella ). The country wolf whistles and leers throughout the performance, becoming completely aroused by Red. However, before he can rush onto the stage to join her, his city cousin stops him (by grabbing his suspenders, placing a hammer in it, then letting go so it would snap back and knock him out), and takes him back to the country, feeling that city life is too much for him.
Upon their arrival at the farmhouse, they find the country's Red waiting for them. Upon seeing country-Red, the city wolf, surprisingly, becomes wildly attracted to her, and runs to her, but is stopped by his country cousin the same way the city cousin had stopped him earlier. Seeing an opportunity to see the city's Red again, the country wolf promptly decides to take his city cousin back home, claiming that he feels the country life is too much for him, and drives off back to the city.
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.
The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales, including some of Grimms' Fairy Tales. Versions of this character have appeared in numerous works, and it has become a generic archetype of a menacing predatory antagonist.
Charles Dawson Butler, professionally known as Daws Butler, was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera characters, including: Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Augie Doggie, Loopy De Loop, Wally Gator, Snooper and Blabber, Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Lippy the Lion, Elroy Jetson, Lambsy, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom and Hair Bear. While at Walter Lantz, he did the voices of: Chilly Willy, Smedley, Maxie the Polar Bear, Gooney and Sam in the Maggie and Sam series.
Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. Essentially the polar opposite of Avery's other MGM character, the loud and wacky Screwy Squirrel, Droopy moves slowly and lethargically, speaks in a jowly monotone voice, and—though hardly an imposing character—is shrewd enough to outwit his enemies. When finally roused to anger, often by a bad guy laughing heartily at him, Droopy is capable of beating adversaries many times his size with a comical thrashing.
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr., known professionally as Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Colvig was the original performer of the Disney characters Goofy and Pluto, as well as Bozo the Clown and Bluto in Popeye. In 1993, he was posthumously made a Disney Legend for his contributions to Walt Disney Films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fun and Fancy Free.
Red Hot Riding Hood, also known as Red and Miss Vavoom in the 1990s, is an American animated character, created by Tex Avery, who appears in several MGM short films and Tom and Jerry films. She is a fictional nightclub singer and dancer who usually makes all men in the room crazy, especially a Wolf character who—in vain—tries to seduce and chase her. Red debuted in MGM's Red Hot Riding Hood, a modern-day variant of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood".
Screwy Squirrel is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Red Hot Riding Hood is an animated cartoon short subject, directed by Tex Avery and released with the movie Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case on May 8, 1943, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1994, it was voted number 7 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field, making it the highest ranked MGM cartoon on the list. 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.
The Tex Avery Show is an American animated showcase series of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. cartoon shorts prominently by animator Tex Avery. In between the shorts, Don Kennedy gives short facts about the cartoons. The showcase premiered on the Cartoon Network in 1996, and was taken off the air in 2002, while reruns continued to be shown on Cartoon Network until April 11, 2004. It was soon re-broadcast on Boomerang. Some cartoons, like 1947's Uncle Tom's Cabaña, were omitted from the package as they were deemed offensive to some audiences.
Little Red Riding Rabbit is a 1944 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny. It is a sendup of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story, and is the first time in which Mel Blanc receives a voice credit.
Swing Shift Cinderella is a 1945 MGM animated cartoon short subject directed by Tex Avery. The plot involves the Big Bad Wolf and Cinderella. Frank Graham voiced the wolf, and Sara Berner voiced both Cinderella and The Fairy Grandmother, with Imogene Lynn providing the former's singing voice.
Little Red Walking Hood is a 1937 Merrie Melodies cartoon supervised by Fred Avery. The short was released on November 6, 1937, and features the first appearance of an early character who later became Elmer Fudd.
Blitz Wolf is a 1942 American animated propaganda short film produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. A parody of the Three Little Pigs told via a World War II perspective, the short was directed by Tex Avery and produced by Fred Quimby. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons but lost to Der Fuehrer's Face, another anti-Nazi World War II parody featuring Donald Duck.
The Big Bad Wolf is an animated short released on April 13, 1934, by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Burt Gillett as part of the Silly Symphony series. Acting partly as a sequel to the wildly successful adaptation of The Three Little Pigs of the previous year, this film also acts as an adaptation of the fairy-tale Little Red Riding Hood, with the Big Bad Wolf from 1933's Three Little Pigs acting as the adversary to Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother.
The Shooting of Dan McGoo is a cartoon directed by Tex Avery and starring Frank Graham as the Wolf. Both Bill Thompson and Avery himself voiced the lead character Droopy. Sara Berner did the speaking voice of Lou, while her singing was provided by Imogene Lynn. The cartoon was edited for a 1951 re-release. It is a loose remake of Avery's 1939 cartoon for Warner Bros., Dangerous Dan McFoo.
Wild and Woolfy is a 1945 animated cartoon short, one of six cartoons in which Droopy was paired with a wolf as his acting partner. It is one of a very few cartoons in the series where Bill Thompson did not voice Droopy, instead Tex Avery himself provided the voice.
Northwest Hounded Police is a 1946 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery, produced by Fred Quimby, and featuring Droopy and Avery's wolf character. A remake of Droopy's first cartoon Dumb-Hounded, the short revolves around the wolf on the run from Droopy, who is trailing the wolf in order to capture him. The title is a play on words on the film North West Mounted Police (1940).
Jerky Turkey is a 1945 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon directed by Tex Avery. Jerky Turkey is one of three MGM cartoons in the public domain in the United States as its copyright was not renewed.
The Screwy Truant is a 1945 Screwy Squirrel cartoon directed by Tex Avery and released by MGM.
The Bear's Tale is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon short, directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on April 13, 1940, and stars the Three Bears.