Rothäschen und der böse Wolf

Friz Freleng's 'Little Red Riding Rabbit' is a much admired gem of a cartoon and another strong retort to those who accuse Freleng of being a dull director. Taking liberties with the original Red Riding Hood story, 'Little Red Riding Rabbit' deletes Grandma from the story entirely and features a wolf who is actually more interested in the contents of Red's picnic basket than the girl herself. These contents turn out to be Bugs Bunny, who sets about having enormous fun with the dumb wolf in a series of beautifully orchestrated routines including a truly inspired vocal sparring match in which Bugs repeats everything the wolf says and slyly switches places so that he controls the dialogue. As great as the battle between Bugs and the wolf is, however, the cartoon is completely stolen by the loud-mouthed Red who persistently bursts in on the action to try and get the traditional version of the story back on track. By the end even Bugs has had enough of her and teams up with the wolf to deal with the little annoyance. In 'Little Red Riding Rabbit', Bugs is neither the good-hearted moral crusader or the aggressively anarchic lunatic, he's simply a mischievous manipulator having a great time with the latest dupes he's been presented with. This lends 'Little Red Riding Rabbit' an enjoyable sense of ethical ambiguity which makes the cruel finale seem entirely appropriate. It's a perfectly paced, beautifully written and hilariously executed classic.

Warner Brothers' made some of the greatest cartoons of all time and this is one of them. Absolutely hilarious and the quotes are classic like "HEY GRANDMA!..." or "...I'll do it. But I'll probably hate myself in the morning." Or the scene where Bugs gets the wolf singing "Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet". God, it's great stuff!!! Anyone who knows this cartoon doesn't need any explanation of the above. Another great one from this era is "Hold The Lion".

The 'big, bad wolf' (apparently on sabbatical from Disney Studios) plans trick innocent Red Riding Hood into surrendering her basket, which is full of delicious rabbit. Mayhem ensues. The cartoon opens with Red belting out an obnoxiously loud rendition of 'Five O'clock Whistle' as she bops her way over to Grandma's (who's off Rosie-riveting at Lockheed). The wolf, now in old-lady drag, tricks the credulous bobby-soxer into leaving the basket only to end up the target of Bugs' usual semi-sadistic shenanigans. Despite being dismissed from the tale early, Red feels obligated to carry out her usual role of questioning Grandma's big eyes, big ears, big teeth etc., much to the irritation of the wolf, and eventually, the rabbit. Bea Benedict (of Petticoat Junction (1963) fame) is fabulous voicing the irritatingly loud and brassy granddaughter. A funny cartoon war-time cartoon with a great score from a time when the wabbit was as much a bastawd as he was a wascal. (#41 in the '50 Greatest Cartoons'),

Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Classic Merrie Melodies short is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story except here we have Bugs Bunny being what the wolf is wanting. A lot of people seem to be rather hit and miss on this short but I've always found it to be quite funny from start to finish. Some put down the granddaughter as being too annoying but I think that's the entire point and it does pay off well in the ending where things get mixed up a little. The action between the wolf and Bugs is pure classic with a number of great scenes including the wonderful one where Bugs puts a hot coal inside the wolf's pants. The animation is extremely well done and there's enough action for two movies.

This cartoon is one of my favorites for a lot of reasons, one of them being that it's a showcase for the sound F/X that were created by Robert Clampett and used throughout in the WB cartoons, even the ones that he didn't direct, such as this one. There is the "bee-whup," the singular "boit," and the most famous one, the "yada-yada-yada." There may even be a couple more I can't think of, but those three are instantly recognizable to long-time Bugs Watchers as Clampett's own.