Red Hot Riding Hood
Made for MGM in 1943, this cartoon is the first of several Tex Avery directed variants on the Little Red Riding Hood fable. (Here's another.) These were, rather obviously, not cartoons produced to entertain children. Avery told interviewer Joe Adamson that, despite his crew having the Army in mind as an audience when they made the cartoon, the studio censor had ordered several cuts made. But a sergeant who was stationed at MGM to plan training films saw an uncensored version. And, subsequently, studio chief Louis B. Mayer got a telegram from the Army requesting the uncut version for personnel overseas. The depth and breadth of Tex Avery's comedic genius is on full display in this cartoon, which won a spot near the top on the list of The 50 Greatest Cartoons, As Selected by 1000 Animation Professionals. Preston Blair designed and animated the "new" Red, and she was such an instantaneously popular character that studio employees managed to acquire finished animation cels before they were even shot.
Directed by Tex Avery
Animation by Irv Spence, Ed Love, and Preston Blair
Please consider supporting our work.
I hope you found this article important. Before you leave, I want to ask you to consider supporting our work with a donation. In These Times needs readers like you to help sustain our mission. We don’t depend on—or want—corporate advertising or deep-pocketed billionaires to fund our journalism. We’re supported by you, the reader, so we can focus on covering the issues that matter most to the progressive movement without fear or compromise.
Our work isn’t hidden behind a paywall because of people like you who support our journalism. We want to keep it that way. If you value the work we do and the movements we cover, please consider donating to In These Times.