Back in the mid 2000s when the fairy tale genre had been turned upside down by the mainstream blockbuster Shrek, there was another animated feature that happened to do so as well, only from an independent point of view. Hoodwinked, a low budget CG animated film from Cory & Todd Edwards, Tony Leech and Kanbar Entertainment, was released by the Weinstein Company to polarizing reviews and huge box office receipts, making it a surprise hit for such a small production. So now that it's been well over 15 years since its release, let's see how this low scaled feature managed to age.
The film retells the classic red riding hood fairy tale as a police investigation, using backstories to show the famous titular character, wolf, woodsman and grandma their own points of view. What's interesting about the feature is that the first half is more of a Rashomon styled structure to showcase altering perspectives on every single character that ended up in granny's house. Little does one know that red riding hood, or in this case Red Puckett, would be a forest delivery girl giving goodies to others for business and her grandmother would come from a long line of prestigious bakers. Meanwhile, the wolf is an investigative reporter in search of someone snatching up recipes to put the Pucketts out of business and the woodsman is not all that he appears to be and was only brought into the scene by accident. Later on, the second half devolves into taking down the culprit behind the recipe snatches. While the first half is more interesting from a structural perspective, the whole film still keeps the mystery growing from start to finish in regards to just what led all of these characters together.
However, in terms of the film's humor, that's where the real entertainment value comes in. While there are some nuanced pop culture references here and there, a lot of the film's comedy relies on subversion and snappy one liners, making it feel surprisingly sophisticated for the kind of satirization it's going for. In addition, given that this was made with very little resources, one can see the fingerprints of the filmmakers all throughout, especially with the musical numbers. They all feel incredibly inspired and actually serve the plot fairly well, given a wide variety of styles like pop, country, rock & roll and even low-fi Broadway. Speaking of little resources, it's been said that a lot of the voices were initially provided by close friends of the filmmakers, except for Tara Strong, Patrick Warburton, David Ogden Stiers and Andy Dick. By the time the Weinsteins got it distributed, most of them had actually been recast, although some managed to remain in the final cut. While that factor may be unfortunate, at no point do any of the actors come off as too distracting, especially when they all provide enough captivating performances to provide the laughs.
That being said, the one make or break deal with the movie would have to be the visuals. No surprise that the film's budget was so small that the filmmakers had to outsource the animation to the Philippines, and the technical shortcomings are all over the film. However, while the rendering, character motion and backgrounds leave much to be desired, the more cartoony and exaggerated design work all around actually give the film a charming style. Given that the filmmakers were inspired by stop motion films to create the look of the film, the janky character animation and weak rendering feel surprisingly authentic for the kind of movie made to only tell so little. In some ways, the technical limitations keep the feature restrained to go so far, and yet it never really needs to do so. By visually presenting the story the best they can, the filmmakers found just the right balance in utilizing their resources up to a certain degree. Like co-director Cory Edwards once said, "Look at what the story and the charming characters did; they were able to surpass the bad animation and the technical problem."
In the end, while Hoodwinked might not be the strongest feature all around, even for its time, the low budget filmmaking allows its creativity to shine through the best it can possibly go, and for that, its charm lies in its imperfections. If you're yet to see this film or you want to see a completely different lampoon on the fairy tale genre other than the famous green ogre, this one is definitely up your alley. It doesn't have a whole lot to offer, but what it does showcase should be just enough to warrant a curious watch at the very least. One can at least view it as the indie underdog below the fairy tale satires.
The film retells the classic red riding hood fairy tale as a police investigation, using backstories to show the famous titular character, wolf, woodsman and grandma their own points of view. What's interesting about the feature is that the first half is more of a Rashomon styled structure to showcase altering perspectives on every single character that ended up in granny's house. Little does one know that red riding hood, or in this case Red Puckett, would be a forest delivery girl giving goodies to others for business and her grandmother would come from a long line of prestigious bakers. Meanwhile, the wolf is an investigative reporter in search of someone snatching up recipes to put the Pucketts out of business and the woodsman is not all that he appears to be and was only brought into the scene by accident. Later on, the second half devolves into taking down the culprit behind the recipe snatches. While the first half is more interesting from a structural perspective, the whole film still keeps the mystery growing from start to finish in regards to just what led all of these characters together.
However, in terms of the film's humor, that's where the real entertainment value comes in. While there are some nuanced pop culture references here and there, a lot of the film's comedy relies on subversion and snappy one liners, making it feel surprisingly sophisticated for the kind of satirization it's going for. In addition, given that this was made with very little resources, one can see the fingerprints of the filmmakers all throughout, especially with the musical numbers. They all feel incredibly inspired and actually serve the plot fairly well, given a wide variety of styles like pop, country, rock & roll and even low-fi Broadway. Speaking of little resources, it's been said that a lot of the voices were initially provided by close friends of the filmmakers, except for Tara Strong, Patrick Warburton, David Ogden Stiers and Andy Dick. By the time the Weinsteins got it distributed, most of them had actually been recast, although some managed to remain in the final cut. While that factor may be unfortunate, at no point do any of the actors come off as too distracting, especially when they all provide enough captivating performances to provide the laughs.
That being said, the one make or break deal with the movie would have to be the visuals. No surprise that the film's budget was so small that the filmmakers had to outsource the animation to the Philippines, and the technical shortcomings are all over the film. However, while the rendering, character motion and backgrounds leave much to be desired, the more cartoony and exaggerated design work all around actually give the film a charming style. Given that the filmmakers were inspired by stop motion films to create the look of the film, the janky character animation and weak rendering feel surprisingly authentic for the kind of movie made to only tell so little. In some ways, the technical limitations keep the feature restrained to go so far, and yet it never really needs to do so. By visually presenting the story the best they can, the filmmakers found just the right balance in utilizing their resources up to a certain degree. Like co-director Cory Edwards once said, "Look at what the story and the charming characters did; they were able to surpass the bad animation and the technical problem."
In the end, while Hoodwinked might not be the strongest feature all around, even for its time, the low budget filmmaking allows its creativity to shine through the best it can possibly go, and for that, its charm lies in its imperfections. If you're yet to see this film or you want to see a completely different lampoon on the fairy tale genre other than the famous green ogre, this one is definitely up your alley. It doesn't have a whole lot to offer, but what it does showcase should be just enough to warrant a curious watch at the very least. One can at least view it as the indie underdog below the fairy tale satires.