If you thought that 'Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944)' was an offbeat adaptation of the fairy-tale, then you haven't seen nothing yet. Tex Avery's 'Red Hot Riding Hood (1943)' opens in the usual fashion, but, after that, any resemblance to any known fairy-tale character, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The Wolf baulks at having to play the one-dimensional bad guy for the hundredth time, and threatens to quit if the animators can't come up with anything original; Red Riding Hood and her grandma agree with him. So Avery throws together 'Red Hot Riding Hood,' an adult cartoon set in the big city – the Wolf is a sex-crazed womaniser, Red a knockout nightclub dancer, and Grandma a libidinous old lady with her own high-rise penthouse. Yes, I warned you this one was different! Somebody must have forgotten to inform Avery that he was producing cartoons for children, since there's actually little to laugh at for anybody who isn't yet acquainted with the birds and the bees.
However, for those of us who have surpassed that particular checkpoint, 'Red Hot Riding Hood' is very funny. The sheer audacity of a children's cartoon about sex – particularly given the typically innocent and wholesome image of Little Red Riding Hood – is something to be applauded. When Red first appears on stage, tossing aside her outfit to reveal a decidedly immodest red costume, I was genuinely taken aback, and then felt somewhat ashamed of myself. No doubt the animators in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)' used Red as a template for the similarly alluring Jessica Rabbit. Also worth noting is that 'The Mask (1994)' directly referenced 'Red Hot Riding Hood' in the scene where Jim Carrey wolf-whistles (in the full sense of the word) Cameron Diaz during her nightclub performance – I'd never realised this. The interaction between Wolf and Grandma is more conventional than the rest of the film, but still enjoyable. For fans of Tex Avery and MGM cartoons, this one is essential viewing.
However, for those of us who have surpassed that particular checkpoint, 'Red Hot Riding Hood' is very funny. The sheer audacity of a children's cartoon about sex – particularly given the typically innocent and wholesome image of Little Red Riding Hood – is something to be applauded. When Red first appears on stage, tossing aside her outfit to reveal a decidedly immodest red costume, I was genuinely taken aback, and then felt somewhat ashamed of myself. No doubt the animators in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)' used Red as a template for the similarly alluring Jessica Rabbit. Also worth noting is that 'The Mask (1994)' directly referenced 'Red Hot Riding Hood' in the scene where Jim Carrey wolf-whistles (in the full sense of the word) Cameron Diaz during her nightclub performance – I'd never realised this. The interaction between Wolf and Grandma is more conventional than the rest of the film, but still enjoyable. For fans of Tex Avery and MGM cartoons, this one is essential viewing.