Le petit chaperon rural

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...