Little Rural Riding Hood

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. It must have been daunting constructing a cartoon following up from one of his greatest cartoons 'Red Hot Riding Hood', but 'Little Rural Riding Hood', ingeniously parodying two well known stories ('Little Red Riding Hood' and 'The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse') in a way only Avery could, manages to be just as good if not quite as amazingly ahead of its time like 'Red Hot Riding Hood' was/is.

Can't fault the characters, both wolves are splendidly characterised with the country wolf being especially hilarious and both Reds are uniquely sexy and beautiful.

Nor Avery's direction. He does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.

Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild, deliciously deranged, violent but imaginatively so, shockingly racy, red hot sexy and hilarious throughout from start to finish. The sight gags throughout are an absolute joy and are immaculate in timing.

It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the action.

'Little Rural Riding Hood' sees both Daws Butler and particularly Pinto Colvig on top form.

Overall, brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox

In this one, Tex Avery pkes continued fun at his old friends, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, but adds a slight twist-he parodies the tale of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse and of course, in true Avery fashion, stands everything on its ear. Tex also proves an old adage-beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All the old Tex Avery signatures are here-eye bulges, double-takes and sight gags galore. Bring the spouse, the kiddies, old Uncle Erasmus, Grampa and the hermit under the floor boards. Great fun will be had by all! Recommended.

The Country Wolf is pursuing the Country Red Riding Hood. When his cousin -- who talks like Ronald Colman -- sends him a picture of our friend Red Hot Riding Hood, it's off to the bg city.

I suppose you could call this the third in Tex Avery's Rding Hood trilogy, but it's all about the Wolfs' reaction, the outsized eye-bugging and klaxon sound effects. Avery seems to have had an itch to make fun of the fairy tale, which he began scratching in 1937 with LITTLE RED WALKING HOOD.

This is a sort of city mouse/country mouse kind of thing. The country wolf is under the spell of a buck toothed female (of course, country people have bad teeth). He actually pursues her and she him and the results are unsatisfactory. As he practically gets himself killed, a note comes from the city wolf. Attached is a picture of Red Riding Hood, a lounge singer. She is shapely and desirable. The country wolf takes off for the city. Once there, he becomes a sex maniac. The city wolf can barely control him. Every Tex Avery wolf, eye popping routine is used. Slobbering, thumping, howling, on and on. He becomes an utter embarrassment to his city counterpart. Every method that is possible is used to restrain the lupine hick. It's pretty funny with a nice little conclusion.

Included as an extra on Warner's DVD of BATTLEGROUND (1949), this delightful MGM cartoon from the legendary Tex Avery is very typical of his irreverent output; actually, it's the last of a trio of shorts with virtually the same plot (the others being RED HOT RIDING HOOD [1943] and SWING SHIFT Cinderella [1945]). Despite the title, this deliberately unappealing character is not really the 'star': in fact, at the invitation of his slick cousin, the wolf goes to the city where he meets a sultry chanteuse - but he goes into the usual hilariously exaggerated reaction soon after, thus forcing the cousin to take him back home, where Little Red Riding Hood is waiting... This was voted the 23rd greatest cartoon ever in a 1994 poll!

Some of these side-splitting classics have cropped us as DVD bonus features (for instance, AIN'T WE GOT FUN [1937] on Warners' edition of THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA [1937], WHO KILLED WHO? [1943] on PRESENTING LILY MARS [1943], SLAP HAPPY LION [1947] amidst "The Thin Man Collection"[!], the sublimely surreal BAD LUCK BLACKIE [1949] on KITTY FOYLE [1940], THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW [1949] on MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE [1948], etc.) but, for the life of me, I can't understand what's holding Warners from releasing them properly i.e. in the form of a veritable (and most deserving) "Tex Avery Collection" Box Set...