Rothäschen und der böse Wolf

I thought this was hilarious. It is tongue in cheek, so clever, that it works all the way. It begins with a truly obnoxious Little Red Riding Hood whose voice has the same quality as Elmer Fudd. She has Bugs Bunny in her basket and she is taking him to Grandma's house as a food offering. Bugs is along for the ride but isn't going to go quietly. Meanwhile, the obligatory wolf gets into the act. Of course, he heads for Grannie's house. When he gets there, he puts on her nightgown, but when he pulls back the covers, there are already four wolves in the bed. Bugs then goes to work on the wolf, leading to a great conclusion. This is one of the most satisfying of all the Warner Brothers cartoons.

I wish I could say how much I loved this cartoon, as others seem to here. Overall, except for the last minute - which I loved - it wasn't entertaining, just grating. Of course, that "grating" was on purpose and led the final scene which was a pleasant surprise.

Until, then, the first thing that hits you is, "This isn't the 'Little Red Riding Hood' I know! It's some bobby-soxer Judy Garland-with glasses and-an-attitude .....and a voice that makes you wince more than hearing nails on a blackboard. Anyway, with Bugs along for the ride in her lunch basket, the two travel on their way to Granny's. The big bad wolf beats them here, thanks to a false "short cut" signs he plants to fool Red.

The wild stuff starts at Grandma's. beginning with the note Granny leaves on the door. Bugs and the wolf get into a long and silly chase that isn't really funny.

Now that last part, beginning with the wolf trying save his.....umm....well....valuable parts, shall we say, from being burned off is hilarious. The last scene was almost too good to be true, but I loved it. Now there is some JUSTICE!

Little red riding hood is on her to her grandma's house with a little rabbit for her to stew. When she gets there she finds a wolf in her grandma's bed but one who is unwilling to play the usual game and is only interested in getting a bit of rabbit. Bugs is trapped in the house and has to try and outsmart the wolf.

All the Warner Brother cartoon characters have gone through changes throughout the years and Bugs is no different. Here his smart mouthed persona has an element of the sheer wacky about it, in fact all the characters do. This attitude that the characters have feeds through the whole cartoon and infects the humour to good effect. The gags are very knowing - eg the wolf gets into bed as grandma to find that four other wolves have already stolen his racket! This type of mocking humour is really good and it makes the cartoon funny in a wacky way.

It is the characters where it shows through most noticeably. Bugs is as close to a wise-ass New Yorker here as he ever is and it works well for me as I like that side of him. Riding Hood herself is nice and annoying with good voice work for her! The wolf is really funny and he suits the style of humour of the cartoon.

Overall this is a very funny Bugs cartoon if you like him in smartass mode! The humour, animation and characters all feel rough and ready and all totally suit each other and it is very easy to spend the whole short laughing, right up till the typically Bugs ending.

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'),

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".