Red is an American animated character, created 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 ...

, who appears in several MGM short films and ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

'' films. She is a fictional

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 may ...

and dancer who is usually making all men in the room crazy, especially a Wolf character who — in vain — tries to seduce and chase her. Red debuted in

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

's ''

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 Cartoo ...

'' (May 8, 1943), a modern-day variant of the fairy tale "

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 Brot ...

".Red
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on December 21, 2016. She appeared in seven animated shorts in the Golden age of American animation, and was revived to appear in many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series from the 1990s on.

History

According to Avery, the character originated at the army, where he helped the sergeant plan training films for the animators at MGM. When the film was finished, Avery got down to the projection room, where he always "ran the picture for the producer and the whole group". When the sergeant spotted the picture, much like the wolf, he roared. Word soon spread about the picture among the army. The version he showed was the uncensored version, which had a scene that the grandma marries the wolf and has children with him, and the Hays Office found that the scene strongly suggested bestiality. The scene was ultimately cut for the theatrical release. The character was designed by Claude Smith and animated by

Preston Blair Preston Erwin Blair (October 24, 1908 – April 19, 1995) was an American character animator, best remembered for his work at Walt Disney Productions and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. A native of Redlands, California, Blair began his a ...

, who said that the picture originally was just planned around the wolf and the grandmother (which her design was inspired by the caricatures of

Peter Arno Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. (January 8, 1904 – February 22, 1968), known professionally as Peter Arno, was an American cartoonist. He contributed cartoons and 101 covers to ''The New Yorker'' from 1925, the magazine's first year, until 1968, the ...

), but they soon focused mainly on Red. In fact, the character was not

rotoscoped Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced o ...

, but in fact was drawn from his own imagination. The first cartoon, garnering 15,000 bookings, was so successful that it garnered various sequels, the first being ''The Shooting of Dan McGoo''.

Appearances

Theatrical shorts

Television

* ''

Tom & Jerry Kids ''Tom & Jerry Kids'' (formerly known as ''Tom & Jerry Kids Show'' in the first season) is an American animated comedy television series co-produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Entertainment Co., and starring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry a ...

'' (1990) as Miss Vavoom * ''

Droopy, Master Detective ''Droopy, Master Detective'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in association with Turner Entertainment, and a spin-off of '' Tom & Jerry Kids''. It debuted on Fox's Saturday morning block Fox Kids and ...

'' (1993) as Miss Vavoom

Films

* ''

Quest for Camelot ''Quest for Camelot'' (released internationally as ''The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot'') is a 1998 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Frederik Du Chau and very loosely based on t ...

'' (1998) (Cameo) * ''

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes This is a list of feature length films of the ''Tom and Jerry'' franchise. Theatrical films Direct-to-video films All direct-to-video films are produced by Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. ''Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring' ...

'' (2010) * '' Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse'' (as

Maid Marian Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...

) (2012) * ''

Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure ''Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure'' is a 2013 animated fantasy comedy direct-to-video film starring Tom and Jerry, produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Tom and Jerry are the faithful servants of Jack, son of the founder of a struggling storybook a ...

'' (2013)

Video games

* '' Droopy's Tennis Open'' (2002) as Bubbles Vavoom

Comics

* ''Wolf & Red'' (1995) (

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

) * ''Droopy'' (1995) (Dark Horse Comics) * ''Comics and Stories'' (1996) (Dark Horse Comics)

Known voices

Red is voiced by the following characters *

Sara Berner Sara Berner (born Lillian Ann Herdan; January 12, 1912 – December 19, 1969) was an American actress. Known for her expertise in dialect and characterization, she began her career as a performer in vaudeville before becoming a voice actress for r ...

(Debut, 1943–1945) Speaking Voice * Connie Russell (Debut, 1943) Singing Voice * Colleen Collins (1945) Speaking Voice *

Imogene Lynn Imogene Lynn (1922 – 2003) was a 20th-century American jazz and pop singer. Biography Lynn was born September 9, 1922 in Trenton, Missouri. She began singing professionally in 1940, singing with Emerson Gill and other bands on a national tou ...

(1945) Singing Voice * Ann Pickard (1945) Singing Voice *

Teresa Ganzel Teresa Ganzel is an American actress and comedian. Career Ganzel was a recurring cast member of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' as the Matinee Lady in the "Tea Time Movie" skits. She has often played stereotypical ditzy blonde bimb ...

(1990–1994) ... Miss Vavoom *

Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress, comedian and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On Sept ...

(1996, 2010–2013)

References

Animated film series MGM cartoon characters Film characters introduced in 1943 Film series introduced in 1943 Animated human characters Comedy film characters Fictional singers Fictional dancers Droopy Tex Avery Female characters in animation Works based on Little Red Riding Hood Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio film series {{animation-char-stub