Everybody knows how the story of Little Red Riding Hood should go. The titular character should be an innocent, precocious and trusting little girl, and her ultimate adversary, the Wolf, should be a ugly and contemptible villain – but all this is forgotten when Bugs Bunny comes around! 'Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944),' directed by Friz Freleng and released on January 4, 1944, is a pretty average Merrie Melody for the most part, but the ending is one of the most audacious and satisfying conclusions to a Warner Bros. cartoon that I've ever seen; I was almost tempted to rise from my chair and offer a standing ovation. Mel Blanc, in his first credited voice role, provides the voice for the rascally Bugs, Billy Bletcher plays the gruff Wolf, and Bea Benaderet – whom I can't decide whether to praise or chastise – offers a voice to one of the most annoying cartoon characters ever conceived.
Fortunately, though this isn't always the case, the filmmakers here were quite aware that the character of Little Red Riding Hood was immediately irritating, and they make this known from the very beginning, provoking the audience with a grating rendition of "The Five O'Clock Whistle." Little Red is strutting through the forest, basket-in-hand, when a familiar head pops itself out of the basket and politely asks where she is heading: "Ta bring a little bunny rabbit to my grandma's. Ta HAVE, see?" Meanwhile, the irritable Wolf cunningly switches the "short cut" sign, leading Red onto a lengthy path over the mountains instead of three steps to Grandma's doorstep, and uses the additional time to disguise himself in the old lady's bed. When Little Red finally gets to Grandma's house, and begins to notice curious peculiarities about her elderly relative, the Wolf surprises everybody by kicking the annoying little girl out of the house and going for her rabbit instead.
From here, Bugs goes about getting the best of the Wolf, and there's a dynamite sequence of running in and out of random doorways (vaguely reminiscent of the sinister shenanigans in George Méliès' 'The Cook in Trouble (1904)'). It's all a nice bit of fun, but hardly groundbreaking, and Little Red returns on occasion to continue the version of the story with which she's most familiar. The cartoon's ending is the moment that ranks among Merrie Melodies' finest hours, and it achieves the impossible by making the preceding appearances of Little Red Riding Hood tolerable, and even enjoyable. Bugs' decision to roast the irksome little girl over the hot ashes may lead him to hate himself in the morning, but, for his audience, it provides yet another explanation for why he's one of cinema's most beloved cartoon characters.
Fortunately, though this isn't always the case, the filmmakers here were quite aware that the character of Little Red Riding Hood was immediately irritating, and they make this known from the very beginning, provoking the audience with a grating rendition of "The Five O'Clock Whistle." Little Red is strutting through the forest, basket-in-hand, when a familiar head pops itself out of the basket and politely asks where she is heading: "Ta bring a little bunny rabbit to my grandma's. Ta HAVE, see?" Meanwhile, the irritable Wolf cunningly switches the "short cut" sign, leading Red onto a lengthy path over the mountains instead of three steps to Grandma's doorstep, and uses the additional time to disguise himself in the old lady's bed. When Little Red finally gets to Grandma's house, and begins to notice curious peculiarities about her elderly relative, the Wolf surprises everybody by kicking the annoying little girl out of the house and going for her rabbit instead.
From here, Bugs goes about getting the best of the Wolf, and there's a dynamite sequence of running in and out of random doorways (vaguely reminiscent of the sinister shenanigans in George Méliès' 'The Cook in Trouble (1904)'). It's all a nice bit of fun, but hardly groundbreaking, and Little Red returns on occasion to continue the version of the story with which she's most familiar. The cartoon's ending is the moment that ranks among Merrie Melodies' finest hours, and it achieves the impossible by making the preceding appearances of Little Red Riding Hood tolerable, and even enjoyable. Bugs' decision to roast the irksome little girl over the hot ashes may lead him to hate himself in the morning, but, for his audience, it provides yet another explanation for why he's one of cinema's most beloved cartoon characters.