''Little Rural Riding Hood'' is a 1949 MGM

animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. 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 ...

directed by

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 ...

, conceived as a follow-up to his 1943 cartoon ''

Red Hot Riding Hood ''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 ...

''. In 1994, the cartoon was ranked in 23rd place of The 50 Greatest Cartoons. It is essentially a retelling of the

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales c ...

fable, " The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse".

Plot

The film opens with a

stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas we ...

version of

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 two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Bro ...

(voiced by Colleen Collins), telling the audience that she is taking "nourishment" (as she holds up a

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal s ...

) to her grandma, who lives on a country farm. At the

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate chapters (formerly colonies) in the United State ...

, 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 Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...

impersonating

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Cinema of the United States, ...

), inviting him to meet the city's equivalent of his Red (the same version seen in ''

''). 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 A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

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 ''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 ...

''). 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 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.

Crew

*Directed by: Tex Avery *Story: Rich Hogan, Jack Cosgriff *Animation: Walter Clinton, Bob Cannon, Grant Simmons, Michael Lah *Backgrounds: John Didrik Johnsen *Music: Scott Bradley *Co-Producer: William Hanna *Produced by: Fred Quimby

References

External links

* * 1949 animated films 1949 short films 1949 films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films Films directed by Tex Avery Films based on Little Red Riding Hood American parody films Fairy tale parody films American sex comedy films Erotic fantasy films Animated films about wolves 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films 1949 comedy films Self-reflexive films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Scott Bradley Tex Avery's Big Bad Wolf films American comedy films Films produced by Fred Quimby Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films Red (animated character) films Films about hillbillies Films set on farms Films set in nightclubs {{short-animation-film-stub