Directed by Tex Avery in 1943, Red Hot Riding Hood began with Little Red Riding Hood skipping through the woods, taking a basket of goodies to her grandma.
But the Big Wolf decided if the story wasn’t going to change, he wanted no part of it. Riding Hood agreed. Grandma made it unanimous. Change was a must. The old story was, well, old.
The new story began on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Wolf was dressed ‘to the nines,’ driving a sparkly convertible, and howling at the ladies. A highly modernized grandma lived in the penthouse of a tall, swanky building.
Likewise, Little Red Riding Hood worked in a nightclub, the wolf ‘hot on her trail.’ Now called Red Hot Riding Hood, the star of the story was introduced to the club audience as the ‘Sweetheart of Swing,’ and a ‘red headed ball of fire.’ Her sexy entrance onto the stage drove Big Wolf absolutely mad, and he acted accordingly.
During a break in her act, Wolf pulled her to his table and asked about a later date. Red Hot Riding Hood declined, saying she had to go visit her grandma. She took off in a cab, closely followed by her discombobulated suitor.
Wolf burst into grandma’s apartment, and GRANDMA went wild. Her physical attraction to him was immediate and evident. Not what he was expecting or desiring, Wolf clamored for the door. Unfortunately, grandma beat him to it and locked it. In typical cartoon slapstick they chased and ducked, ducked and chased. To extricate himself, Wolf jumped out the window, landing where he began, tangled in a streetlamp at Hollywood and Vine.
The cartoon ended with Wolf seated at the club once again, bandaged and swearing off women until death. His ghost began where he ended, making a complete fool of himself as Red Hot Riding Hood once again made her stage entrance.
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