Los Tres Cochinitos

Academy Award-winning Disney short that brings to life the timeless fairy tale of the three little pigs who, as we all know, live in houses made of straw, sticks, and brick. The Big Bad Wolf comes by and does his thing, huffing and puffing. You know what happens next but it's still very entertaining to watch it unfold. It's a wonderful cartoon that was very popular with the Depression-era audience that first saw it and still holds up quite well today. Who doesn't love the classic song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" It's a beautiful-looking cartoon with rich colors and fluid animation. The voice work is terrific and the music score is delightful. It's the premier version of the three little pigs tale, which has been told in countless cartoons over the years. It's a fun short that everybody should see at least once, preferably when they're still young enough to truly appreciate its simple charms.

We've all seen this a hundred times. The lazy pigs build houses of straw and sticks and fool around, singing that song. Meanwhile, the practical third one is putting up a brick building. The wolf is lurking and has pork chops on his mind. After accosting the first two pigs, he must make it past the door of the third little pig. The animation is wonderful. This is Disney and it is pristine, far superior to other efforts at that time. There is a great deal of humor, particularly related to the arrogant bragging of the first two pigs. The wolf is a sight to behold. He is obviously born of poverty, but more of a symbol of the threat that faced those who had little in 1933. Disney was just getting his chops in the animation business and the rest is history.

Three Little Pigs is a cheerful, fun and lovable little classic that I have loved ever since I was a child. While the pacing is a tad too quick in places it is still hugely enjoyable for a number of reasons.

When I was little, I marvelled at how good the animation was for its time. From a 17 year old perspective it is still very very good, with colourful backgrounds and beautiful colours.

I also remembered singing along to the song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? That song has to be one of the most memorable songs ever in a Silly Symphony, it is ever so catchy and easy to sing along to.

The dialogue is great. The Big Bad Wolf has some classic lines, but I think the best of them come from Fifer and Fiddler. There is one funny part when the Wolf dresses up in the sheepskin, the dialogue Fifer and Fiddler say cracks me up every time.

The Wolf, like the Three Little Pigs, is a truly memorable character. Sinister and rapacious, he did scare me when I was little, not so much now but the animation and voice work is wonderfully impressive even by today's standards. I do think the Wolf from Peter and the Wolf is scarier, me and sister haven't got over how scared we used to be of him.

The voice work is excellent. Billy Bletcher is perfect as the Big Bad Wolf and Walt Disney I recognised immediately from his voicing of Mickey in cartoons like Boat Builders and Mickey's Good Deed. Pinto Colvig, the original voice of Goofy, also does a stellar job.

Overall, hugely enjoyable childhood favourite. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

Well, to start with, what do you say about a cartoon that somehow got its way into The Shining? Well, it's that damn iconic, simply put. I first saw this short many years back, so long ago it was when the Disney channel played, from time to time, 1930s and 40s Disney cartoons at certain times of the morning or day (when kids were at school so, you know, on sick days and such). It stuck with me for the simple reason that, hey, it's the 3 Little Pigs, what kid doesn't know the basic gist of it? The Big Bad Wolf will come to the door, you got to know how to defend against him from getting in.

"Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin," being one of those lines. But what's so much fun about the short, why I can remember it (and them, there was more than one short I think) was that it kept the song catchy throughout, the animated characters had strong, direct personalities, and I actually felt some danger for those little animated pigs from the Wolf. It's colorful, it's funny, it's a little terrifying in the strange way that a 30s cartoon can get in little moments, and it has persevered due to its message for young and old alike of facing against the odds and the "Big Other" that might try to come down. It's great to find out that the term 'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf' was used as a line of optimism in the Depression too.

I've seen the second version with the Wolf dressing as a fairy but it is in Japanese and was a gift from my in-laws (my wife is Japanese) to my daughter. It's weird in that it combines the stories of the three little pigs with Little Red Riding Hood with the practical Pig coming to Riding Hood's rescue. This version doesn't have the Jewish Peddler sequence in it. I recently rented another video version which sounds like the one most viewers are commenting on as it does not have the Red Riding Hood sequence. The animation, colour, are excellent and the Wolf is terrifying even as an adult. Something about how Disney drew predators in these early films is extremely effective even today.