One End to the Other

The city wolf spends a good portion of Little Rural Riding Hood trying, with absolutely no success, to get his country cousin wolf to stop reacting to Red’s nightclub stage performance.

In one gag, the country wolf (Pinto Colvig) gets a look at Red’s butt and begins whistling. The city wolf (Daws Butler) casually puts his fingers in the country wolf’s mouth to stop it, but the whistling simply gets transferred from one mouth to another. So much for the city wolf’s reserve.



The city wolf reacts to the viewing audience. Tex Avery holds the drawing for five frames.



Colvig has my favourite line in this short when he turns to the audience and observes “Kissed a cow” after we see him kissing a startled cow.

Grant Simmons, Walt Clinton, Mike Lah and Bobe Cannon are the credited animators (though Preston Blair did Red), with Rich Hogan and Jack Cosgriff sharing the story credit.

The cartoon was released on September 17, 1949, though we’ve found it was playing at Loew’s State in Memphis on Sept. 8th. It was re-released by MGM in 1956 and 1966.

Big City Red Riding Hood

A highlight of any of the Red cartoons Tex Avery made at MGM are the reaction takes. Here’s an example from Little Rural Riding Hood.

The country wolf gets a telegram (and photo) from his city cousin.



The scene isn’t just a big-eye take. The wolf ties his body in a knot (in mid air), then clicks his heels as his body flies apart. It’s difficult to see in still frames, but Avery adds to the movement by having the torso and the legs rise on the background.



The wolf pulls himself together, then the eye take. These three frames are consecutive.



Avery doesn’t simply hold the take. The big eyes move slighty toward and away from the picture. The wolf’s whole body is animated on ones. Then the eyes retract and move in on the photo for a closer look.



The wolf bounds up and down, then side to side.



Next, he stomps on his own head. His body moves slightly downward; it’s not static. The action is also animated on ones.



Finally, the wolf’s tongue rolls onto the floor as his head bobs up and down.



From the wolf’s first reaction until Rural Red leans back into the scene, Avery takes a little over six seconds (149 frames). The cartoon zips along when it needs to.

Bobe Cannon, Grant Simmons, Mike Lah and Walt Clinton animate the short, with Scott Bradley (perhaps under duress) scoring “Frankie and Johnny” under the scene (the tune under the held shot of the telegram is the even-more-ancient “Reuben and Rachel”).

The cartoon was released on September 17, 1949. Perhaps Avery felt there wasn’t much more he could do with Red as she was retired, though this short was re-released by MGM in 1956 and 1966.

And Kiss Her And Hug Her And...

“Duh, folks, uh, I’m not the real Grandma. I’m the wolf. See?” The bumpkin wolf pulls up the grandma nightcap to reveal wolf ears.



Naturally, we know how the story is supposed to go; the wolf is supposed to eat Red Riding Hood. We also know from the opening credits that Little Rural Riding Hood is a Tex Avery cartoon so we can forget the story. “But I ain’t-a goin’ ta do it,” says the wolf, wagging his finger.



“All I’m gonna do is chase her and catch her and kiss her and hug her and love her...” The wolf gets so aroused, he snuggles with his bedsheet. Some random poses.



Pinto Colvig is the wolf. The credited animators are Grant Simmons, Walt Clinton, Mike Lah and Bobe Cannon. Johnny Johnsen supplied the backgrounds.

The Eyes Have It

The city wolf keeps covering the country wolf’s eyes to stop him from viewing Red and getting all excited. It’s a failure.



This is from Red’s farewell in Little Rural Riding Hood, animated by Grant Simmons, Walt Clinton, Bob Cannon and Mike Lah (the Red dance is reused Preston Blair animation).

Red, Wolf, Doors

There’s an eight-second scene in Little Rural Riding Hood where the country wolf is chasing after country Red creating a series of doors in a room in the process. Director Tex Avery had done multiple-door chases before, but not this quick and elaborate.

Here are some of the frames to show you the order of the instant doorways. Scott Bradley plays a hasty version (with a key change) of “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” during this scene. The horn players probably wanted to kill him afterward.



Grant Simmons, Walt Clinton, Mike Lah and Bobe Cannon are the credited animators, with Rich Hogan and Jack Cosgriff sharing the story credit.