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"Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European
folk tales Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...
. The two best known versions were written by
Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...
and the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
. The story has been changed considerably in various retellings and subjected to numerous modern adaptations and readings. Other names for the story are: "Little Red Cap" or simply "Red Riding Hood". It is number 333 in the Aarne–Thompson classification system for folktales.


Tale

The story revolves around a girl called Little Red Riding Hood. In Perrault's versions of the tale, she is named after her red hooded
cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...
/
cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and ...
that she wears. The girl walks through the woods to deliver food to her sickly grandmother (wine and cake depending on the translation). In the Grimms' version, her mother had ordered her to stay strictly on the path. A stalking wolf wants to eat the girl and the food in the basket. He asks her where she is going. She tells him. He suggests that she pick some flowers as a present for her grandmother, which she does. In the meantime, he goes to the grandmother's house and gains entry by pretending to be Riding Hood. He swallows the grandmother whole (in some stories, he locks her in the closet) and waits for the girl, disguised as the grandmother. When the girl arrives, she notices that her grandmother looks very strange. She says, "What a deep voice you have!" ("The better to greet you with", responds the wolf), "Goodness, what big eyes you have!" ("The better to see you with", responds the wolf), "And what big hands you have!" ("The better to embrace you with", responds the wolf), and lastly, "What a big mouth you have" ("The better to eat you with!", responds the wolf), at which point the wolf jumps out of the bed and eats her, too. Then he falls asleep. In Charles Perrault's version of the story (the first version to be published), the tale ends here. In later and better-known versions, the story continues. A woodcutter in the French version, or a
hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...
in the Brothers Grimm and traditional German versions, comes to the rescue with an axe, and cuts open the sleeping wolf. Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerge shaken, but unharmed. Then they fill the wolf's body with heavy stones. The wolf awakens and attempts to flee, but the stones cause him to collapse and die. In the Grimms' version, the wolf leaves the house and tries to drink out of a well, but the stones in his stomach cause him to fall in and drown (similarly to the story of " The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids"). Sanitized versions of the story have the grandmother locked in the closet instead of being eaten and some have Little Red Riding Hood saved by the lumberjack as the wolf advances on her rather than after she is eaten, where the woodcutter kills the wolf with his axe.


History


Relationship to other tales

The story displays many similarities to stories from classical Greece and Rome. Scholar Graham Anderson has compared the story to a local legend recounted by Pausanias in which, each year, a virgin girl was offered to a malevolent spirit dressed in the skin of a wolf, who raped the girl. Then, one year, the boxer Euthymos came along, slew the spirit, and married the girl who had been offered as a sacrifice. There are also a number of different stories recounted by Greek authors involving a woman named Pyrrha (literally "fire") and a man with some name meaning "wolf". The Roman poet
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ...
alludes to a tale in which a male child is rescued alive from the belly of
Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
, an
ogre An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...
ss in classical mythology. The dialogue between the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood has analogies to the Norse '' Þrymskviða'' from the '' Elder Edda''; the giant Þrymr had stolen
Mjölnir Mjölnir (from Old Norse Mjǫllnir) is the hammer of the thunder god Thor in Norse mythology, used both as a devastating weapon and as a divine instrument to provide blessings. The hammer is attested in numerous sources, including the 11th cen ...
,
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...
's hammer, and demanded
Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja ( Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a char ...
as his bride for its return. Instead, the gods dressed Thor as a bride and sent him. When the giants note Thor's unladylike eyes, eating, and drinking,
Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...
explains them as Freyja's not having slept, eaten, or drunk, out of longing for the wedding. A parallel to another Norse myth, the chase and eventual murder of the sun goddess by the wolf Sköll, has also been drawn. A similar story also belongs to the North African tradition, namely in
Kabylia Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of ...
, where a number of versions are attested. The theme of the little girl who visits her (grand)dad in his cabin and is recognized by the sound of her bracelets constitutes the refrain of a well-known song by the modern singer Idir, "
A Vava Inouva ''A Vava Inouva'' is the successful 1991 album by Idir, a Kabyle singer. It contains a big international hit in the title track, which was also his debut single. It also contains other very important hits by him such as "Azwaw", "Zwit Rwit" (the ...
": The theme of the ravening wolf and of the creature released unharmed from its belly is also reflected in the Russian tale ''
Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...
'' and another Grimm tale '' The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids'', but its general theme of restoration is at least as old as the biblical story, '' Jonah and the Whale''. The theme also appears in the story of the life of Saint Margaret, wherein the saint emerges unharmed from the belly of a dragon, and in the epic "The Red Path" by Jim C. Hines. A Taiwanese story from the 16th century, known as ''Grandaunt Tiger'' bears several striking similarities. In this story there are two girls who are sisters. When the girls' mother goes out, the tigress comes to the girls' house and pretends to be their aunt, asking to come in. One girl says that the aunt's voice does not sound right, so the tigress attempts to disguise her voice. Then, the girl says that the aunt's hands feel too coarse, so the tigress attempts to make her paws smoother. When finally the tigress gains entry, she eats the girl's sister's hand. The girl comes up with a ruse to go outside and fetch some food for her aunt. Grandaunt Tiger, suspicious of the girl, ties a rope to her leg. The girl ties a bucket to the rope to fool her, but Grandaunt Tiger realises this and chases after her, whereupon she climbs into a tree. The girl tells the tigress that she will let her eat her, but first she would like to feed her some fruit from the tree. The tigress comes closer to eat the fruit, whereupon the girl pours boiling hot oil down her throat, killing her. According to
Paul Delarue Paul Alfred Delarue, born 20 April 1889 in Saint-Didier, Nièvre, died 25 July 1956 in Autun, Saône-et-Loire, was a French folklorist. A world-renowned specialist in the field of folklore, his crowning achievement was his , a catalog of folk ...
, a similar narrative is found in East Asian stories, namely, in China, Korea and Japan, with the title "The Tiger and the Children".


Earliest versions

The origins of the Little Red Riding Hood story can be traced to several likely pre-17th century versions from various European countries. Some of these are significantly different from the currently known, Grimms-inspired version. It was told by French peasants in the 10th century and recorded by the cathedral schoolmaster
Egbert of Liège Egbert of Liège, in , was an 11th-century educator and author, working at the cathedral school in Liège (in what is now Belgium). His main work, produced around 1023, is an educational collection entitled ''Fecunda Ratis'' ("The Richly Laden Shi ...
. In Italy, Little Red Riding Hood was told by peasants in the fourteenth century, where a number of versions exist, including ''La finta nonna'' (The False Grandmother), written among others by
Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the '' Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmicomi ...
in the '' Italian Folktales'' collection. It has also been called "The Story of Grandmother". It is also possible that this early tale has roots in very similar East Asian tales (e.g. "Grandaunt Tiger"). These early variations of the tale, do differ from the currently known version in several ways. The antagonist is not always a wolf, but sometimes a 'bzou' (
werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposel ...
), making these tales relevant to the werewolf trials (similar to witch trials) of the time (e.g. the trial of Peter Stumpp). The wolf usually leaves the grandmother's blood and flesh for the girl to eat, who then unwittingly cannibalizes her own grandmother. Furthermore, the wolf was also known to ask her to remove her clothing and toss it into the fire. In some versions, the wolf eats the girl after she gets into bed with him, and the story ends there. In others, she sees through his disguise and tries to escape, complaining to her "grandmother" that she needs to defecate and would not wish to do so in the bed. The wolf reluctantly lets her go, tied to a piece of string so she does not get away. The girl slips the string over something else and runs off. In these stories she escapes with no help from any male or older female figure, instead using her own cunning, or in some versions the help of a younger boy who she happens to run into. Sometimes, though more rarely, the red hood is even non-existent. In other tellings of the story, the wolf chases after Little Red Riding Hood. She escapes with the help of some laundresses, who spread a sheet taut over a river so she may escape. When the wolf follows Red over the bridge of cloth, the sheet is released and the wolf drowns in the river. And in another version the wolf is pushed into the fire, while he is preparing the flesh of the grandmother to be eaten by the girl.


Charles Perrault

The earliest known printed version was known as ''Le Petit Chaperon Rouge'' and may have had its origins in 17th-century French
folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...
. It was included in the collection '' Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals. Tales of Mother Goose'' (''Histoires et contes du temps passé, avec des moralités. Contes de ma mère l'Oye''), in 1697, by
Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...
. As the title implies, this version is both more sinister and more overtly moralized than the later ones. The redness of the hood, which has been given symbolic significance in many interpretations of the tale, was a detail introduced by Perrault. The story had as its subject an "attractive, well-bred young lady", a village girl of the country being deceived into giving a wolf she encountered the information he needed to find her grandmother's house successfully and eat the old woman while at the same time avoiding being noticed by woodcutters working in the nearby forest. Then he proceeded to lay a trap for Red Riding Hood. Little Red Riding Hood ends up being asked to climb into the bed before being eaten by the wolf, where the story ends. The wolf emerges the victor of the encounter and there is no happy ending. Charles Perrault explained the 'moral' at the end of the tale so that no doubt is left to his intended meaning: This, the presumed original version of the tale was written for the late seventeenth-century French court of
King Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...
. This audience, whom the King entertained with extravagant parties, presumably would take from the story's intended meaning.


The Brothers Grimm

In the 19th century two separate German versions were retold to Jacob Grimm and his younger brother
Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, i ...
, known as the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
, the first by Jeanette Hassenpflug (1791–1860) and the second by Marie Hassenpflug (1788–1856). The brothers turned the first version to the main body of the story and the second into a sequel of it. The story as ''Rotkäppchen'' was included in the first edition of their collection '' Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' (Children's and Household Tales (1812) – KHM 26). The earlier parts of the tale agree so closely with Perrault's variant that it is almost certainly the source of the tale. This version ends with the girl and her grandmother saved by a huntsman who was after the wolf's skin; this ending mirrors that in the tale " The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids", which appears to be the source. The second part featured the girl and her grandmother trapping and killing another wolf, this time anticipating his moves based on their experience with the previous one. The girl did not leave the path when the wolf spoke to her, her grandmother locked the door to keep it out, and when the wolf lurked, the grandmother had Little Red Riding Hood put a trough under the chimney and fill it with water that sausages had been cooked in; the smell lured the wolf down, and it drowned. The Brothers further revised the story in later editions and it reached the above-mentioned final and better-known version in the 1857 edition of their work. It is notably tamer than the older stories which contained darker themes.


Later versions

Numerous authors have rewritten or adapted this tale. Charles Marelle in his version of the fairy tale called "The True History of Little Goldenhood" (1888) gives the girl a real name – Blanchette.
Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...
included a variant called "The True History of Little Goldenhood" in '' The Red Fairy Book'' (1890). He derived it from the works of Charles Marelles, in ''Contes of Charles Marelles''. This version explicitly states that the story had been mistold earlier. The girl is saved, but not by the huntsman; when the wolf tries to eat her, its mouth is burned by the golden hood she wears, which is enchanted. James N. Barker wrote a variation of Little Red Riding Hood in 1827 as an approximately 1000-word story. It was later reprinted in 1858 in a book of collected stories edited by William E Burton, called the ''Cyclopedia of Wit and Humor''. The reprint also features a wood engraving of a clothed wolf on a bended knee holding Little Red Riding Hood's hand. In the 20th century, the popularity of the tale appeared to snowball, with many new versions being written and produced, especially in the wake of Freudian analysis,
deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essence ...
and feminist critical theory. (See adaptations below.) This trend has also led to a number of academic texts being written that focus on Little Red Riding Hood, including works by
Alan Dundes Alan Dundes (September 8, 1934 – March 30, 2005) was an American folklorist. He spent much of his career as a professional academic at the University of California, Berkeley and published his ideas in a wide range of books and articles. H ...
and
Jack Zipes Jack David Zipes (born June 7, 1937) is a professor emeritus of German, comparative literature, and cultural studies, who has published and lectured on German literature, critical theory, German Jewish culture, children's literature, and folklore. ...
.


Interpretations

Apart from the overt warning about talking to strangers, there are many interpretations of the classic fairy tale, many of them sexual. Some are listed below.


Natural cycles

Folklorists Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
and
cultural anthropologists Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.T ...
, such as
P. Saintyves P. is an abbreviation or acronym that may refer to: * Page (paper), where the abbreviation comes from Latin ''pagina'' * Paris Herbarium, at the ''Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'' * ''Pani'' (Polish), translating as Mrs. * The ''Pacific Repo ...
and
Edward Burnett Tylor Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 18322 January 1917) was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology. Tylor's ideas typify 19th-century cultural evolutionism. In his works '' Primitive Culture'' (1871) and ''Anthropology'' ...
, saw "Little Red Riding Hood" in terms of solar myths and other naturally occurring cycles. Her red hood could represent the bright sun which is ultimately swallowed by the terrible night (the wolf), and the variations in which she is cut out of the wolf's belly represent the dawn. In this interpretation, there is a connection between the wolf of this tale and Sköll, the wolf in Norse mythology that will swallow the personified Sun at
Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (; non, Ragnarǫk) is a series of events, including a great battle, foretelling the death of numerous great figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), natural disasters, and the submers ...
, or Fenrir. Alternatively, the tale could be about the season of spring or the month of May, escaping the winter.


Rite

The tale has been interpreted as a
puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a b ...
rite, stemming from a prehistoric origin (sometimes an origin stemming from a previous matriarchal era). The girl, leaving home, enters a
liminal Liminal is an English adjective meaning "on the threshold", from Latin ''līmen'', plural ''limina''. Liminal or Liminality may refer to: Anthropology and religion * Liminality, the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle ...
state and by going through the acts of the tale, is transformed into an adult woman by the act of coming out of the wolf's stomach.


Rebirth

Bruno Bettelheim Bruno Bettelheim (August 28, 1903 – March 13, 1990) was an Austrian-born psychologist, scholar, public intellectual and writer who spent most of his academic and clinical career in the United States. An early writer on autism, Bettelheim's wo ...
, in '' The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales'' (1976), recast the Little Red Riding Hood motif in terms of classic
Freudian Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
analysis, that shows how fairy tales educate, support, and liberate children's emotions. The motif of the huntsman cutting open the wolf he interpreted as a "rebirth"; the girl who foolishly listened to the wolf has been reborn as a new person.


Norse myth

The poem " Þrymskviða" from the ''
Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the '' Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...
'' mirrors some elements of Red Riding Hood.
Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...
's explanations for the strange behavior of "
Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja ( Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a char ...
" (actually
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...
disguised as Freyja) mirror the wolf's explanations for his strange appearance. The red hood has often been given great importance in many interpretations, with a significance from the dawn to blood.


Erotic, romantic, or rape connotations

A sexual analysis of the tale may also include negative connotations in terms of rape or abduction. In ''Against Our Will'', Susan Brownmiller describes the fairy tale as a description of rape. Many revisionist retellings focus on empowerment and depict Little Red Riding Hood or the grandmother successfully defending herself against the wolf. Such tellings bear some similarity to the "animal bridegroom" tales, such as ''
Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...
'' or '' The Frog Prince'', but where the heroines of those tales revert the hero to a prince, these tellings of ''Little Red Riding Hood'' reveal to the heroine that she has a wild nature like the hero's. These interpretations refuse to characterize Little Red Riding Hood as a victim; these are tales of female empowerment. The gender role varies according to the professional level and gender of the artist that illustrates these characters. In general, professional artists do not imply sexual intent between the characters, and produce family-friendly illustrations.


In popular culture


Animation and film

* In
Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) 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 mo ...
's short animated cartoon, " Red Hot Riding Hood" (1943), the story is recast in an adult-oriented urban setting, with the suave, sharp-dressed Wolf howling after the
nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance ma ...
Red. Avery used the same cast and themes in a subsequent series of cartoons. Similar modern takes also feature in " Swing Shift Cinderella" (1945) and " Little Rural Riding Hood" (1949). *
Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, ''Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academy ...
directed a film version of ''
The Company of Wolves ''The Company of Wolves'' is a 1984 British gothic fantasy horror film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Micha Bergese and Sarah Patterson in her film debut. The screenplay was written by Jordan and Angela C ...
'' (1984) based on the short story by
Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and pic ...
. The wolf in this version of the tale is in fact a werewolf, which comes to the newly-menstruating Red Riding Hood in the forest, in the form of a charming hunter. The hunter turns into a wolf and kills her grandmother, and is about to claim Rosaleen (Red Riding Hood) as well; but she is equally seductive and ends up lying with the wolf man and dominating him right back. In the end, she becomes a werewolf and the huntsman's mate before the two run off into the forest to join his pack. This version may be interpreted as a young girl's journey into womanhood, both with regard to menstruation and sexual awakening. * is a 1937 adaptation of the story by the German state which had a deep interest in the stories of the Brothers Grimm and saw them as useful for teaching ideology. This version has been suppressed but has been seen by academics. * ''Krasnaya Shapochka'' (1937) is a Soviet black-and-white animated film by the Brumberg sisters (the so-called "grandmothers of the Russian animation"). Its plot differs slightly from the original fairy tale. It was issued on videotapes in various collections in the 1980s, via the SECAM system, and in the 1990s, via the PAL system, in collections of animated films of a video studio "Soyuz" (since 1994 and 1995 respectively). * ''
The Big Bad Wolf The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales that include 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 an ...
'' is an animated short released on 13 April 1934 by
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...
, produced by
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
and directed by
Burt Gillett Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 – December 28, 1971) was a director of animated films. He is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Disney, particularly the 1932 short film ''Flowers and Trees'' and the 1933 short film ''Three Little Pigs' ...
as part of the ''
Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally inte ...
'' series. In the film, the Big Bad Wolf from 1933's '' Three Little Pigs'' is the adversary of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. * In the Soviet Russian animated film ''Petya and Little Red Riding Hood'' (1958), directed by Boris Stepantsev and Evgeny Raykovsky, the main character (a boy named Petya Ivanov) witnesses the Grey Wolf deceiving a trusting girl and risks his life to rescue her and her grandmother. The animated movie is considered a cult film, with many of its lines having become catch-phrases in popular culture. In 1959 and 1960, the film received awards at festivals in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Ukraine and
Ansi, Estonia Ansi is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County, on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) Before the administrative reform in 2017, the village was in Lääne-Saare Parish Lääne-Saare Parish ( et, Lääne-Saare va ...
. * The 1996 movie ''
Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
'' is a crime drama loosely adapted from the Riding Hood story, with Riding Hood (
Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...
) recast as an abused, illiterate teenager and the wolf ( Kiefer Sutherland) portrayed as a serial killer named Bob Wolverton. The film had one straight-to-video sequel. * Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999) is a Japanese action political thriller anime film uses the story of Little Red Riding Hood to show the triumph of the "wolfs". * '' Hoodwinked!'' (2005) is a retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" as a police investigation. * The film '' Red Riding Hood'' (2006) is a musical based upon the tale. * The film '' Red Riding Hood'' (2011) is loosely based upon the tale. * The wolf appears in the ''
Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jen ...
'' franchise of films. He is wearing the grandmother's clothing as in the fairy tale, though the films imply that the gown is merely a personal style choice and that the wolf is not dangerous. * Red Riding Hood briefly appears in the film ''
Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book ''Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The sequel to ''Shrek'' (2001) and the se ...
'' (2004), wherein she is frightened by Shrek and Fiona and runs off. * Red Riding Hood is one of the main characters in the 2014 film adaptation of the 1987 musical ''Into the Woods'', and is portrayed by Lilla Crawford. * Little Red Riding Hood is parodied in the Warner Bros. cartoons '' Little Red Riding Rabbit'' (1944,
Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...
) and '' The Windblown Hare'' (1949,
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...
), with
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Mer ...
, and '' Red Riding Hoodwinked'' (1955, Looney Tunes) with
Tweety Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia fo ...
and
Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...
. * Little Red Riding Hood is parodied in '' The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' episode, "Little Red Riding Princess" with Princess Toadstool in the role of Red Riding Hood and King Koopa as the wolf. * ''Children at Play'' (2010) is a short film written and directed by Lexan Rosser, starring Bryan Dechart. The film can be interpreted as a reimagining of the classic fairy tale due to its number of overt/subtle parallels and references. *The character Ruby Rose in the popular internet series ''
RWBY ''RWBY'' (pronounced "Ruby") is an American anime-influenced computer-animated web series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. It is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors (called "Huntsmen" and " ...
'' is based on "Little Red Riding Hood".


Television

* In the pilot episode "Wolf Moon" of the MTV hit series '' Teen Wolf'' the protagonist Scott McCall wears a red hoody, when he gets attacked by an alpha werewolf in the woods in the night of a full moon. * The pilot episode of
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
's TV series '' Grimm'' reveals that the Red Riding Hood stories were inspired by the fabled attacks of Blutbaden, lycanthropic beings who have a deeply ingrained bloodlust and a weakness for victims wearing red. * In Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus, Red is portrayed by
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
as a huge, thuggish strongman in a
dirndl A dirndl () is a feminine dress which originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps. It is traditionally worn by women and girls in Bavaria (south-eastern Germany), Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Alpine regions of Italy. A dirndl ...
and hood, while the wolf is an inoffensive longhaired Dachshund wearing an unconvincing costume, who is shot by security guards when he reaches
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
headquarters, which he has mistaken for Granny's house. * Red Riding Hood is a character in ABC's ''
Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in ...
'' (2011) TV series. In this version of the tale, Red (portrayed by Meghan Ory) is a werewolf, and her cape is the only thing that can prevent her from metamorphosing during a full moon when there is magic present. In the Enchanted Forest, she accidentally devoured her boyfriend Peter (portrayed by
Jesse Hutch Jesse Hutch (born February 12, 1981) is a Canadian-born American film and television actor. He spends his time travelling between the USA and Canada. He worked on the television show '' American Dreams'' as Jimmy Riley, romantic interest of main ...
) and ran off with Snow White (portrayed by Ginnifer Goodwin). Her Storybrooke persona is Ruby Lucas, a waitress. * The story was retold as part of the episode "
Grimm Job "Grimm Job" is the tenth episode of the twelfth season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy'' and the 220th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States and Canada on January 12, 2014, and was directed by Joe Vaux and wri ...
" of the American animated TV series ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...
'' (season 12, episode 10), with Stewie playing Little Red Riding Hood and Brian the Big Bad Wolf. Additionally, both Red Hiding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf appeared briefly in a clip in the season one episode '' The Son Also Draws''. * In the TV series '' Goldie & Bear'' Red is a little girl who delivers muffins to her granny and likes to keep her hood clean and tidy. * In the Disney Junior series '' Little Einsteins'' episode, "Little Red Rockethood" the format follows the story but in the episode Rocket is taking a stew-pot with his favorite "Rocket Soup" for his grandma who has a bad cold with help from the little Einsteins. His archenemy, Big Jet (playing the big bad wolf) steals the soup and flies off with it so the Einsteins chase after him before catching the soup. Upon arriving at Grandma Rocket's home Big Jet tricks them again only to then crash into a mud puddle before Rocket cures his grandma with the soup.


Literature

*
Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...
's poem ''Little Red Riding Hood'' in The Court Journal, 1835 is subtitled ''Lines suggested by the engraving of Landseer's Picture''. It reflects on memories of lost childhood. * Charles Perrault's "Le Petit Chaperon rouge" ("Little Red Riding Hood") is centered on an erotic metaphor. *
Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...
, the Chilean Nobel Prize-winning poet, told the story as a short poem as part of her 1924 book, ''Ternura'' * Little Red Riding Hood appears in
Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and pic ...
's short story "The Company of Wolves", published in '' The Bloody Chamber'' (1979), her collection of "dark, feminist fables" filled with "bestial and ferocious" heroines. Carter's rewriting of the tale—both her 1979 story and its 1984 film adaptation, the screenplay of which Carter co-wrote with director Neil Jordan—examines female lust, which according to author Catherine Orenstein is "healthy, but also challenging and sometimes disturbing, unbridled and feral lust that delivers up contradictions." As Orenstein points out, the film version does this by unravelling the original tale's "underlying sexual currents" and by investing Rosaleen (the Little Red Riding Hood character, played by Sarah Patterson) with "animal instincts" that lead to her transformation. * In her collection, ''The World's Wife'', Carol Ann Duffy published a poem- the first in the collection- called 'Little Red- Cap' in which a more grown up protagonist meets and develops a relationship with the Wolf. * In the manga ''
Tokyo Akazukin is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Benkyo Tamaoki. Its serialization began in the monthly ''Comic BIRZ'' in 2003. The manga is popular for its over-the-top gore and violence, and for the young main character and the different sex ...
'' the protagonist is an 11-year-old girl nicknamed "Red Riding Hood" or "Red Hood". Akazukin means "red hood" in Japanese. * Jerry Pinkney adapted the story for a children's picture book of the same name (2007). * The American writer
James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected i ...
wrote a satirical short story called "The Little Girl and the Wolf," based on Little Red Riding Hood. *
Anne Sexton Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey; November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book '' Live or Die''. Her poetry details h ...
wrote an adaptation as a poem called "Red Riding Hood" in her collection ''Transformations'' (1971), a book in which she re-envisions 16 of the ''Grimm's Fairy tales''. *
James Finn Garner James Finn Garner (born 1961) is an American writer and satirist based in Chicago. He is the author of ''Politically Correct Bedtime Stories'',
wrote an adaptation in his book '' Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life and Times'', a book in which thirteen fairy tales were rewritten. Garner's adaptation of "Little Red Riding Hood" brings up topics like feminism and gender norms. * Michael Buckley's children's series '' The Sisters Grimm'' includes characters drawn from the fairy tale. * ''Dark & Darker Faerie Tales'' by Two Sisters is a collection of dark fairy tales which features Little Red Riding Hood, revealing what happened to her after her encounter with the wolf. * Singaporean artist
Casey Chen Casey may refer to: Places Antarctica *Casey Station *Casey Range Australia * Casey, Australian Capital Territory * City of Casey, Melbourne * Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives Canada * Casey, Ontario * Ca ...
re-wrote the story with a
Singlish Singlish (a portmanteau of ''Singapore'' and '' English'') is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore. Singlish arose out of a situation of prolonged language contact between speakers of many different languages in Singapore, i ...
accent and published it as ''The Red Riding Hood Lah!''. The storyline largely remains the same, but is set in Singapore and comes with visual hints of the country placed subtly in the illustrations throughout the book. The book is written as an expression of Singaporean identity. *''
Scarlet Scarlet may refer to: * Scarlet (cloth), a type of woollen cloth common in medieval England * Scarlet (color), a bright tone of red that is slightly toward orange, named after the cloth * Scarlet (dye), the dye used to give the cloth its color * ...
'' is a 2013 novel written by
Marissa Meyer Marissa Meyer (born February 19, 1984) is an American novelist. Her debut novel, '' Cinder,'' was released on January 3, 2012. It is the first in her series ''The Lunar Chronicles''. Early life and education Meyer was born in Tacoma, Washingt ...
that was loosely based on the fairy tale. In the story, a girl named Scarlet tries to find her missing grandmother with the help of a mysterious street fighter called Wolf. It is the second book of ''
The Lunar Chronicles ''The Lunar Chronicles'' is a series of four young adult science fiction fantasy novels, a novella and a short story collection written by American author Marissa Meyer and published by Feiwel & Friends. Each book entails a science fictional ...
''. *''
The Land of Stories ''The Land of Stories'' is a series of children's fiction, adventure and fantasy books written by American author, actor and singer Chris Colfer. The first book, ''The Wishing Spell'', was released on July 17, 2012. The sixth book was publishe ...
'' is a series written by
Chris Colfer Christopher Paul Colfer (born May 27, 1990) is an American actor, singer, and author. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television musical ''Glee'' (2009–2015). Colfer's portrayal of Kurt received cri ...
. In it, Red Riding Hood is the queen of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom, whose citizens are called "Hoodians". She is one of the main characters and helps her friends fight dangerous intruders. She is narcissistic and self-absorbed, but can be useful at times. It is said that she and
Goldilocks "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
were good friends, but they both had a crush on Jack from
Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Co ...
, and Red, in vain, misled Goldilocks to the Three Bears House, where she became an
outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
. * Nikita Gill's 2018 poetry collection ''Fierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul'' alludes to Little Red Riding Hood in the poem "The Red Wolf." * In Rosamund Hodge's 2015 novel ''
Crimson Bound ''Crimson Bound'' is a fantasy novel inspired by Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The ...
'', a girl named Rachelle is forced to serve the realm after meeting dark forces in the woods. * In
Lois Lowry Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including '' The Giver Quartet,'' ''Number the Stars'', and '' Rabble Starkey.'' She is known for writing ...
's historical novel ''
Number the Stars ''Number the Stars'' is a work of historical fiction by the American author Lois Lowry about the escape of a family of Jews from Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II. The story centers on 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen, who lives with ...
'', the protagonist Annemarie runs through the woods while fleeing Nazis, reciting the story of Little Red Riding Hood to calm herself down. * The Kentucky writer Cordellya Smith wrote the first Native American version of Little Red Riding Hood, called ''Kawoni's Journey Across the Mountain: A Cherokee Little Red Riding Hood''. It introduces some basic Cherokee words and phrases while drawing Cherokee legends into the children's story. * Hannah F. Whitten wrote a retelling inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood" named "For the wolf", where the character named Red is sacrificed to the Wolf as part of tradition. In this retelling the wolf is a man, and later on they form a relationship. * Red Riding Hood is a character in Bill Willingham's
Fables (comics) ''Fables'' is an American comic book series created and written by Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Willingham served as sole writer for its entirety, with Mark Buckingham penciling more than 110 issues. The series fea ...
series beginning with the Homelands arc. * Little Red Riding Hood is frequently parodied in many of the '' Monica and Friends'' comic books, usually with the main character being played by either
Monica Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...
or Maggy or being a separated character. One of the most notable parodies is the story "A Substituta" (published in June 2000 in Magali #288, Globo) that was latter adapted in a animated episode in 2005 for '' Cine Gibi 2'' with the title "Chapeuzinho Vermelho 2". In the story Little Red Riding Hood resigns from her role playing the same character which leads the Wolf and the other characters to use other girl (Maggy) to replace the role.


Music

* A.P. Randolph's 1925 "How Could Red Riding Hood (Have Been So Very Good)?" was the first song known to be banned from radio because of its sexual suggestiveness. *
Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs Domingo "Sam" Samudio (born February 28, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, United States), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipme ...
's hit song, " Li'l Red Riding Hood" (1966), take Wolf's point of view, implying that he wants love rather than blood. Here, the Wolf befriends Little Red Riding Hood disguised as a sheep and offers to protect her on her journey through the woods. *
The Kelly Family The Kelly Family is an Irish-American music group consisting of a multi-generational family, usually nine siblings who were joined occasionally on stage in their earlier years by their parents. They play a repertoire of rock, pop, and folk music ...
's " The Wolf" (1994) is inspired by the tale, warning the children that there's a Wolf out there. During the instrumental bridge in live shows, the song's lead singer,
Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...
, does both Little Red Riding Hood's and Wolf's part, where the child asks her grandmother about the big eyes, ears and mouth. * "Little Red Riding Hood" is a rawstyle song by Da Tweekaz, which was later remixed by Ecstatic. * Sunny's concept photo for
Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece e ...
's third studio album ''
The Boys Boys are young male humans. Boys or The Boys may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''The Boys'' (1962 British film), a courtroom drama by Sidney J. Furie * ''The Boys'' (1962 Finnish film), a war drama by Mikko Niskanen * ''Boys'' ( ...
'' was inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood". *
Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, Glamour (presentation), glamour, and melan ...
has an unreleased song called ''Big Bad Wolf'' (leaked in 2012) that was inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood". * The music videos of the songs '' Call Me When You're Sober'' from American rock band
Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their de ...
and ''
The Hunted (The) Hunted may refer to: Film * ''Hunted'' (1952 film), starring Dirk Bogarde *Hunted (2020 film), a Belgian-French-Irish survival thriller film * ''The Hunted'' (1948 film), a film noir featuring Preston Foster * ''The Hunted'' (1995 film), ...
'' from Canadian supergroup Saint Asonia featuring
Sully Erna Salvatore Paul Erna Jr. (born February 7, 1968) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter, best known as the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for rock band Godsmack. He is also a harmonica player, drummer, and percussionist, performing these ...
from American heavy metal band
Godsmack Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna, bassist Robbie Merrill, lead guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its fo ...
were inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood". * Rachmaninoff's Op. 39 No. 6 (Études-Tableaux) is nicknamed 'Little Red Riding Hood' for its dark theme and the wolf-like connotations of the piece. * The Real Tuesday Weld's "Me and Mr. Wolf" (2011), portrays the relationship between the wolf and Red Riding Hood as a toxic relationship.


Games

* In the ''
Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book ''Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The sequel to ''Shrek'' (2001) and the se ...
'' (2004) video game, she is playable and appears as a friend of Shrek's. She joins him, Fiona, and Donkey on their journey to Far Far Away, despite only appearing in the film’s opening scene. * In the computer game ''Dark Parables: The Red Riding Hood Sisters'' (2013), the original Red Riding Hood was orphaned when a wolf killed her grandma. A hunter killed the wolf before it could kill her. He took her in as his own out of pity. The Red Riding Hood of this story convinced the hunter to teach her how to fight. They protected the forest together until the hunter was killed during a wolf attack. The Red Riding Hood continued on protecting the forest and took in other orphaned girls and taught them to fight too. They take up wearing a red riding hood and cape to honor their teacher. Even after the death of the original Red Riding Hood the girls continue doing what she did in life. * In the
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...
'' Darkstalkers 3'' (1997), the character
Baby Bonnie Hood Baby Bonnie Hood (B.B. Hood for short; in Japan) is a fictional character in Capcom's '' Darkstalkers'' series. Modeled after Little Red Riding Hood, she is the only non-magical playable character in the series, and has been positively received ...
(known in the Japanese release as Bulleta) is a parody of Little Red Riding Hood, complete with a childish look, red hood and picnic basket. But instead of food, her basket is full of guns and grenades. Her personality is somewhat psychotic, guerrilla-crazy. During the fights, a small dog named Harry watches the action from the sidelines and reacts to her taking damage in battle. Two rifle-wielding huntsmen named John and Arthur briefly appear alongside her in a special power-up move titled "Beautiful Hunting" that inflicts extra damage on opponents. The character may be based on the James Thurber or Roald Dahl versions of the story, where Red pulls a gun from her basket and shoots the wolf, and the idea behind her character was to show that at their worst, humans are scarier than any imaginary monster. * The psychological horror art game '' The Path'' (2007) features 6 sisters, ages 9–19, who all must face their own 'wolf' in the forest on the way to Grandmother's house. The game is developed by Tale of Tales and was originally released for the Microsoft Windows operating system on 18 March 2009, in English and Dutch, and later ported to Mac OS X by TransGaming Technologies. * In the free-to-play mobile game ''Minimon: Adventure of Minions'' (2016), Luna is a wolflike minion and agent of a secret society with humanlike physical characteristics who wears a red hood when awakened, which references both the wolf and Red Riding Hood. * '' SINoALICE'' (2017) is a mobile
Gacha game A is a video game that implements the (toy vending machine) mechanic. Similar to loot boxes, gacha games entice players to spend in-game currency to receive a random in-game item. Some in-game currency generally can be gained through game ...
which features Red Riding Hood as one of the main player controlled characters and features in her own dark story-line which features her as a brutally violent girl whose main desire is to inflict violence, pain and death upon her enemies as well as the other fairy-tale characters featured in the game.


Musicals

* Little Red Riding Hood is one of the central characters in the Broadway musical ''
Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
'' (1987) by Stephen Sondheim and
James Lapine James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for ''Into the Woods'', '' Falsettos'', and '' Passion''. He ...
. In the song, "I Know Things Now", she speaks of how the wolf made her feel "excited, well, excited ''and'' scared", in a reference to the sexual undertones of their relationship. Red Riding Hood's cape is also one of the musical's four quest items that are emblematic of fairy tales.


See also

* ''Freeway'' (1996 film) * ''Hard Candy'' (film) * Ladle Rat Rotten Hut * "Little Red Cap" (poem) * ''The Path'' (video game), a psychological horror art game


References


External links

* * – a thorough article on the history of Little Red Riding Hood.
The Little Red Riding Hood Collection
at the
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the University ...
at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...
contains hundreds of editions of the story, as well as ephemera, artifacts, and original artworks * Rea
Little Red Riding Hood
by Charles Perrault (sad ending), o
Little Red Cap
by Brothers Grimm (happy ending) * Singlish fairytal
The Riding Riding Hood Lah!
by Singaporean artist Casey Chen
Pretty Salma: A little red riding hood story from Africa by Niki Daly


{{Authority control 1697 short stories 1812 short stories
Grimms' Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publis ...
Works by Charles Perrault Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology Child characters in literature Child characters in fairy tales Child characters in film Child characters in musical theatre Female characters in fairy tales European folklore characters European fairy tales French fairy tales German fairy tales Cross-dressing in literature Big Bad Wolf ATU 300-399