Red Hot Riding Hood

The inclusion of Red Hot Riding Hood in Tex Avery's animated short film, along with her earlier appearance in Little Rural Riding Hood, has truly impressed me with this bold and alluring cartoon character. One of Avery's finest creations and a significant breakthrough in animation, it is celebrated as his legendary masterpiece in the world of animation.

The story begins with a standard Little Red Riding Hood story, but the characters rebel against the standard staging and demand a fresh approach. Now set in a contemporary urban setting, Red is a sexy adult nightclub entertainer, while Wolf is a debonair skirt chaser in love with Red. Red escapes Wolf, but his oversexed grandmother locks him in her apartment, chasing after him at every door.

Unlike my beloved cartoon character, Betty Boop, who embodied a charmingly innocent demeanor, Red personified pure sensuality, primarily serving the purpose of arousing the wolf (symbolizing males in general) into an intense state of desire. Red briefly introduced herself as a seductive distraction for the Wolf character, who had already appeared in the WWII cartoon "Blitz Wolf" and was obsessed with getting some action. She drove the sex-crazed wolf to do all the things that were to become trademarks of Avery's cartoons: the eye-popping, the jaw-dropping, and the gravity-deifying pratfalls. She gained such widespread popularity that she appeared in three more animated series. Her cartoons were originally entertaining to American soldiers during wartime but remained off television for a long time due to their explicit nature.

Once upon a time, little red riding hood... The characters are fed up with the same old story. The narrator agrees to tell it in a new way. It's a Tex Avery animated short. It's good alternative fun with some adult leanings.

I second the comments about this influential cartoon and its effect on the course of animation. But there's one question unanswered, and that's: Did this formula begun with this cartoon and continuing (with Avery, at least) to the end of the 1940's play a role, however indirectly, in the future development of Benny Hill's show after, say, 1980? If one sees the early Hill's Angels numbers, especially the juxtaposition of dancers gyrating and men's various reactions, one can see many similarities; alas, there was none of the relative subtlety and wit for which Avery was most famous. And interesting that both Avery and Hill have been targeted in later years for supposedly being "politically incorrect." Think about it . . .

I feel Tex has not been given the full credit he deserves for his innovative cartoon work. While 'Bugs' and 'Mickey' continue running, Tex's creations rarely appear on commercial television. I wonder if Tex's work may be viewed as either risque of politically incorrect!

Got to be the funniest and fastest Avery cartoon there is, the best "modern" slant on the red riding hood story, with the wolf lusting after Red Hot at every opportunity. Note the reference to the wartime car tyre shortage with the line...."I can even get you a set of white wall tyres!" I,ve seen the 'toon loads of times and it always never fails to make me laugh long and loud. Working as a projectionist in the cinema I have also shown the toon, and on examining the print it is really noticeable that many frames have been cut out when "Red" makes an appearance. Enjoy the toon!