Fairy Tale Friday--Hoodwinked (2005)

Hello and welcome to Fairy Tale Friday. Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then I'll begin.

For the last few weeks we have looked at short animated film versions of Little Red Riding Hood. We have had comically sex crazed wolves (and Grandmothers) as well as a sensual cat and mouse game of kiss chase between our heroine and the wolf. This week we look at a clever full length animated film. 

 

Hoodwinked was produced independently by Blue Yonder films and the story of Little Red Riding Hood is retold as a police investigation using flashbacks to show multiple character's point of view. It was inspired by non-linear crime dramas such as Pulp Fiction. 

It begins in the traditional way that this tale is often told: Little Red discovers the wolf disguised as her grandmother. Her grandmother jumps out of the closet all tied up just as a woodsman bursts through the window startling everyone.  The police quickly arrive and are Red, the Wolf, Grandma and the Woodcutter are all questioned by Detective Nicky Flippers.

Here's where things get interesting. According to Wikipedia:

Red explains that she was delivering goodies for her grandmother when she discovered a threat from the mysterious Goody Bandit. Hoping to save her Granny's recipes, she embarked upon a journey to take them to the top of a nearby mountain where her Granny lives. On her way, she encountered the Wolf, who asked her a series of suspicious questions. She managed to escape and eventually reached her Granny's house; however, she found the Wolf already waiting in ambush.

What at first seems to be an open-and-shut case becomes confused though, once it is learned that the Wolf is an investigative reporter. He reveals that he was searching for a lead on the identity of the Goody Bandit and had reason to believe that Red and Granny were the culprits. Locating Red, he questioned her, hoping to get to the bottom of the mystery. When Red escaped, he headed for her Granny's house and arriving first, went undercover, hoping to trick her into giving him the evidence he needed.

When questioned, the Woodsman, Kirk, reveals that he is in fact an aspiring actor who was only trying out for the part of a woodsman in a commercial. After his schnitzel truck was robbed by the Goody Bandit, he went out into the woods to get in character for his role and spent the rest of the day chopping trees. A large tree rolled after him and pushed him through the window of Granny's home. The investigation then turns to Granny, who reveals that, unbeknownst to her family, she is an extreme sports enthusiast. During a ski race earlier that day, she was attacked by the opposing team, but got away safely after learning that they were hired by the Goody Bandit.

Here is how some of those scenes play out. It is very interesting to see how the same actions look different from another’s point of view. Oh, and if you want to to know the identity of the Goody Bandit you'll have to watch the film.

 Red meets the Wolf.

The Wolf meets Red. (and by the way...Twitchy the squirrel is totally me on caffeine. So please don't ever offer me coffee.) 

Granny's secret passion (extreme sports and snickerdoodles)

Our method acting Woodsman.

That's all for this week. Stay tuned next week for a more potty mouthed heroine.