Fairy Tales 2010

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Looney Tunes Does It Right



First off, in this version, Little Red Riding Hood is annoying. Like goofy glasses and bad haircut annoying. From the start, I wouldn't mind if she got eaten and that's obviously the intent of the animators. Listen to that singing voice. It's so grating This is no cute angel in need of being protected from a wolf (representing that evil seducer that's come to take her innocence)

The wolf is still a dastardly fellow. Look at him switch that sign! Good thing Grandma isn't home. In this version, she's off working the swing shift instead of being prone in bed.

Then in a hilarious jab at all the different versions of the story, the wolf kicks three (no, wait...four!) other wolves at the bed. Similarly, when Little Red Riding Hood tries to start her "What big eyes, what big nose" speech, the wolf chases her out saying "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He's heard it all before and so have we.

Cue typically Looney Tunes physical comedy, which results in the wolf being unmasked and then being precariously perched above burning embers. However, annoying Little Red Riding Hood comes back one more time and now Bugs is FED UP!

The final shot is him and the wolf, arm in arm, while Little Red Riding Hood finds herself in the wolf's previous position--dangerously hovering above burning coals. We are told to enjoy the wolf's cunning, just as we enjoy Bug's. The annoying girl gets put in her place. Too funny.

2 comments:

  1. If I had to say I'd definitely characterize this as a version portraying Red as stupid and naive (what gave that away, right?). The obvious thing to note here is the complete lack of any sexualization (except that absurdly short skirt on red) or fear of the young girl getting eaten. Sure, the wolf wants to eat the rabbit but that happens in nature all the time so it's fine. Luckily, it also happens to be a cartoon rabbit that the audience knows never comes to any actual harm. Thus, the creators of this version eliminated any of the danger, sexuality and morality from the tale. But we get some slapstick in exchange, so who am I to argue?

    I think the morality of the tale is one of the most crucial aspects (no matter exactly what the moral is, be it listen to your mother or don't talk to strangers) so eliminating that by not putting Red in any harm's way (save for the ending) destroys the foundation of the story. Then again, modern interpretations of old stories are much less meant to teach a lesson than they are to try and capture the dwindling attention span of today's children without possibly offending the precious little snowflakes.

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  2. Another classic parody of a tale we all know, even the wolf. The purpose of this cartoon, besides just to make us laugh, is to introduce some staple jokes of Looney Toons & Bugs Bunny into a fairy tale that we can predict the plot of. The main thing that I took away from this cartoon, other than nostalgia, is that every character is in on this parody of Little Red Riding Hood. The banter between LRRH and the wolf constantly mocks the "script" between the two in the popular American version of the fairy tale. The two (usually LRRH) occasionally bring up what they are supposed to do/say, but merely to push along the story. However, it is Bugs that is the one the wolf is after this time around, yet the two share a victorious carrot after they end up "catching" LRRH

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