Little Red Riding Hood Cartoon: Click
This particular Little Red Riding Hood Cartoon appeared on the show "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends" on their segment called "Fractured Fairy Tales." I'm not sure exactly when this episode aired, but the show ran from 1959 to 1964.
In this version Red is a grown women (as opposed to a little girl) who sells riding hoods in Hollywood, CA. She receives a request from a wealthy women for a riding hood made of wolf skin. The problem? Red does not have any to sell her and if she wants to complete the sale, she must obtain one by three o'clock the next day. Meanwhile, there is a young wolf named Walter who is being sent to his grandmother's house on a errand by his mother. To get to his grandmother's house, he must go through "The Holly Woods" (or Hollywood), where he is intercepted by Red who tries to get him to sell her his skin. Of course, Walter is completely opposed to the idea and is evades all of her attempts to trick him into it and makes his way safely to grandmother's house. Red, however, has gone on to his grandmother's house where she dresses herself in a bear skin rug she finds on the floor. On the way to his grandmother's, Walter has been considering just how much he could make by selling a wolf skin to the wealthy women. He's not inclined to sell his own fur, but someone else's? He suddenly considers the fact of selling his grandmother's fur. There is a brief scene between the wolf and Red (with the roles reversed) with the classic, "Oh grandmother! What big ... you have!" But it's quickly cut off when Walter scoops up "grandmother" and carries her off. In the end, Walter sells the bear skin (with Red inside) and passes it off as a wolf's skin, selling it to the women. He takes over Red's shop and sets up a shop for himself, making plans at the very end to obtain a few more valuable wolves' skins.
This particular Little Red Riding Hood Cartoon appeared on the show "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends" on their segment called "Fractured Fairy Tales." I'm not sure exactly when this episode aired, but the show ran from 1959 to 1964.
In this version Red is a grown women (as opposed to a little girl) who sells riding hoods in Hollywood, CA. She receives a request from a wealthy women for a riding hood made of wolf skin. The problem? Red does not have any to sell her and if she wants to complete the sale, she must obtain one by three o'clock the next day. Meanwhile, there is a young wolf named Walter who is being sent to his grandmother's house on a errand by his mother. To get to his grandmother's house, he must go through "The Holly Woods" (or Hollywood), where he is intercepted by Red who tries to get him to sell her his skin. Of course, Walter is completely opposed to the idea and is evades all of her attempts to trick him into it and makes his way safely to grandmother's house. Red, however, has gone on to his grandmother's house where she dresses herself in a bear skin rug she finds on the floor. On the way to his grandmother's, Walter has been considering just how much he could make by selling a wolf skin to the wealthy women. He's not inclined to sell his own fur, but someone else's? He suddenly considers the fact of selling his grandmother's fur. There is a brief scene between the wolf and Red (with the roles reversed) with the classic, "Oh grandmother! What big ... you have!" But it's quickly cut off when Walter scoops up "grandmother" and carries her off. In the end, Walter sells the bear skin (with Red inside) and passes it off as a wolf's skin, selling it to the women. He takes over Red's shop and sets up a shop for himself, making plans at the very end to obtain a few more valuable wolves' skins.
I enjoyed this rendition because it was first, a relatively modern retelling and with the roles reversed (Red as the "hunter" and the wolf as the "hunted), it's sure to stand out in my mind. This aired in our country fifteen to twenty (depending) years after the WWII had ended and women were, relatively speaking, new fixtures to the work place. It portrays Red as a well to do business owner who is willing to do anything in the name of her sale -- including hunting down and skinning a wolf (even going so far as to impersonate his grandmother in order to achieve her ends).
Although Red is the antagonist of the story, Walter the wolf is hardly a clear cut hero as we often see in fairy tales. Driven by the same motives as Red was (money), he was willing to sell out his own grandmother, which just may be even worse than Red's plot to kill him, and the end of the story shows him eager to continue this trend and trick what is suggested to be more friends and family so he can further his own business.
No comments:
Post a Comment