Three Little Pigs

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.

You know the basic story, the practical hardworking pig builds his house with bricks and mortar; one lazy buddy uses sticks and the other uses straw. Then when the time comes to keep out the Big Bad Wolf everyone heads to the brick house. It's an old fable and Disney wisely altered the original story where the wolf eats the two lazy pigs and is eaten by the remaining pig after falling into boiling water.

"The Three Little Pigs" was the 36th cartoon in Disney's "Silly Symphony" series and came just a year after "Flowers and Trees" forever changed the animation industry by introducing the first Technicolor cartoon. Technicolor was a process where three separate negatives (each a primary color) were combined to produce a color print. It took a while to perfect it for live action so it was first utilized for animation.

"The Three Little Pigs" was the most popular cartoon in history, on many theater marquees it was billed above the feature film. Disney had a two year exclusive on the use of the Technicolor process and had one animator work on giving each pig a distinct personality while another animator created the wolf. Frank Churchill wrote the "Big Bad Wolf" song, which unexpectedly became a monster hit-Disney's first published song. The wolf at the door was considered the symbol of the Depression and the song became a national rallying cry.

Disney would follow it up with three other attempts: "The Big Bad Wolf", "Three Little Wolves", and "The Practical Pig". None were nearly as successful as the original and Walt is said to have repeatedly stated: "You can't top pigs with pigs."

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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 (1933)

**** (out of 4)

Disney's adaptation of the Grimm fairly tale is certainly one of the highlights of their early animated films. The story is pretty simple as three pigs are building a house. The two who builds it out of straw and sticks are free to play around more but the one building with brick has to work even harder. The two lazy pigs think it's quite funny until a wolf shows up and their lack of work comes back to haunt them.

THREE LITTLE PIGS is certainly one of the best animated shorts from this era of Disney and it's amazing when you think of the fact that when people think of the story, their ideas come from this short and not the Grimm tale. That says quite a bit because the story itself was quite popular before this short but ever since it was released people think of this short when the idea of three little pigs come along. The animation is as great as you'd expect and there's no question that there's a certain flow in the story that just makes it irresistible. Fans of Disney and animation will certainly love and remember this one.