''Three Little Wolves'' is a ''

Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...

'' cartoon. Released on April 18, 1936, and directed by Dave Hand. It was the third ''Silly Symphony'' cartoon starring the

Three Little Pigs "The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house t ...

. It is loosely based on ''

The Boy Who Cried Wolf The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 210 in the Perry Index. From it is derived the English idiom "to cry wolf", defined as "to give a false alarm" in e''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' and glossed by the ''Oxford E ...

''. It introduces 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 a ...

's sons, the Three Little Wolves, all of them just as eager for a taste of the pigs as their father.

Plot

While the Big Bad Wolf is describing to his three sons the edible parts of a pig, Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig discover a wolf alarm, which is in the form of a horn. Then they discover their brother Practical Pig building a contraption called a Wolf Pacifier. Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig play around with the wolf alarm to get Practical's attention, and when he discovers that it was just a trick, he warns his brothers that if they get caught by the Wolf and blow the wolf alarm, he will think it is a trick. However, the Big Bad Wolf and his three sons are stalking Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig. The Wolf disguises himself as Little Bo Peep and sadly tells the pigs that he/she lost his/her sheep and doesn't know where to find them. Then the pigs discover the Wolf's three sons disguised as sheep, and they all run home to their cave. Then the Wolf locks the door and swallows the key. In the first place, the pigs embarrassedly think that "Bo Peep" has romantic intentions, but the wolves spring their trap and overwhelm the pigs. They try to blow the wolf alarm, but Practical Pig doesn't come to the rescue. Soon Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig are put in a roasting pan by the wolves and they repeatedly blow the wolf alarm. Still hoping for Practical Pig to come to the rescue, the pigs challenge the wolf cub blowing the wolf alarm to blow it really loudly. He tries to, but he can't, and the pigs tell him by that it was just a "sissy blow". So the Big Bad Wolf blows the wolf alarm to prove what the wolf family is made of. This time, it is so loud that Practical Pig hears it and hurries to the rescue, pulling the Wolf Pacifier along behind him. While the Wolf is about to put the pigs in the oven, he hears a knock at the door. It is Practical Pig disguised as an Italian vegetable peddler. He is giving a free sample on tomatoes, and the Wolf accepts the offer and comes out. He tells him: "Let me have it", but Practical Pig throws a tomato in the Wolf's face instead. The Wolf angrily chases Practical Pig into the Wolf Pacifier. The result is that the Wolf gets assaulted by the contraption's many mechanisms: buzzsawed, smashed the head by rolling pins, kicked by boots, punched by boxing gloves, tarred, feathered, and shot out of a cannon, with his sons following him. Then the pigs emerge from the wolves' den, playing ''Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?'' patriotically, with Fifer Pig playing a flute, Fiddler Pig playing a drum, and Practical Pig holding a white flag, which is the Wolf's pair of Bo Peep bloomers.

Voice cast

Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney' ...

as Zeke Midas Wolf *

Pinto Colvig Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...

as Practical Pig *

Dorothy Compton Dorothy Compton was an American voice actress born in the early 1900s. An early friend of Walt Disney, she made her first acting debut in ''The Three Little Pigs'' (1933) as the voice of Fifer Pig. From 1933 onward she made more appearances in th ...

as Fifer Pig *

Mary Moder Mary Moder (1905 – 1993) was an American voice actress for The Walt Disney Company known for the voice of the Fiddler Pig in the ''Three Little Pigs'' short subjects. She was a member of the vocal trio the Rhythmettes, which also included Bonni ...

as Fiddler Pig *

Bonnie Poe Bonnie Poe (October 15, 1912 – October 16, 1993) was an American actress and voice artist, best known for providing the voice for the Fleischer Studios animated character Betty Boop beginning in 1933, starting with the Popeye the Sailor seri ...

and

Margie Hines Margaret Louise Hines (October 15, 1909 – December 23, 1985), also known as Marjorie Hines or Margie Hines, was an American voice actress. She was known for her work as a voice artist at Fleischer Studios, where she was the original voice of ...

as Little Wolves

Symbolism

While Disney produced the sequels in order to capitalize on the success of the Three Little Pigs as characters, this film in particular was also a symbolic message about the threatening danger of European fascism, and can be seen as an indication of the levels of fear and patriotism it aroused in the American populace. In the opening scene, the Big Bad Wolf is instructing his three rowdy wolf pups in "German", pointing to a chart of pork cuts and saying "Ist das nicht ein Sausage Meat", etc., reinforcing the interpretation that he is a stand-in for

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. While the hapless Fifer and Fiddler have their naval garb, musical instruments, and professed bravado—a possible critique of European military allies who were unable to stop Hitler's advances—their confidence cannot save them from being trussed and on the verge of being deposited in the oven by the time that Practical Pig comes to their rescue. Practical Pig, the industrious "American" brother, in workman's overalls, relies on the "Italian" character for distraction, and while the Wolf is focused on his free sample of tomatoes, he is pulled into an elaborate mechanical contraption, which points to the idea that technological superiority is the secret to winning the impending war. At one point, while receiving the mechanized pummeling from the machine, the Wolf's hair is parted and slicked down the center, producing a brief resemblance to Hitler.

Comic adaptation

The ''

'' Sunday comic strip ran a seven-month-long adaptation of ''Three Little Wolves'' called "The Further Adventures of the Three Little Pigs" from January 19 to August 23, 1936.

Home media

The short was released on December 4, 2001 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics''.

References

External links

*
''Three Little Wolves''
at The Encyclopaedia of Disney Animated Shorts {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Little Wolves, The Silly Symphonies 1930s Disney animated short films 1930s color films 1936 short films 1936 films 1936 animated films Films about pigs Films directed by David Hand Films produced by Walt Disney American sequel films Films based on The Three Little Pigs Films scored by Frank Churchill 1930s American films