Category: Fairy Tale Retellings

Fairy tales were a popular subject for Warner Bros cartoons. Here’s where you’ll find every one they ever did.

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Pigs in a Polka

“I’m the smart little pig. I build my house of bricks.”

How about another “Fantasia” parody? (Can’t ever have too many!) Set to Brahms “Hungarian Dances”, we see the familiar tale of the big, bad wolf, andthethreelittlepigs. The first pig has the most adorable voice. (Thank you, Sara Berner) He stretches out a wire frame and piles straw on it. Done. The second pig is less adorable and builds his house of matchsticks. It collapses. The third pig is not cute. (Sorry, Blanc) But he is worthy of the intelligence pigs possess. He works hard while his (siblings? friends? love interests?) play. Cue dancing wolf. To get closer without them running, he dons a gypsy disguise. The pigs follow. They fell for it.

PSYCHE! They take his costume and do the dance themselves. Now the chase is on. They run to the straw house. The wolf sets it on fire. They run to the still demolished (match) stick house, and rebuild it as fast as they can. The wolf adds one more and it crumbles. Brick house it is! The wolf tries to blow it down, and is only offered mouthwash for his troubles. He goes to run into the door to knock it down, but the pigs open it up and let him run through the house into the back door.

Later the pigs are happily dancing. (Except for the third one. Spoilsport. He needs a name. They all do. So in order… Crunchy, Pancake and Mel) The wolf is outside dressed as a homeless woman in a snowstorm. (A talcum powder dispenser hanging over his head.) Crunchy and Pancake ignore Mel’s warnings and let “her” in. Mel finds out that the wolf has a record in the dress to make it SOUND like he is playing a sad violin song. Flipping it over gets a new song that the wolf dances his disguise off to.

The pigs run up the stairs to the suddenly existing 2nd floor. They take the elevator back down. The wolf does the same, but instead of another lift, he travels down the shaft (passing by ten stories somehow) and lands hardly. (Mel’s full name is Mel C. Escher)

Personal Rating: 4

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The Three Little Bops

“I wish my brother, George, was here.”

Now then, once upon a time,

(Just like the short, this post’s in rhyme.)

Their first tale may have ended, but the three pigs aren’t done,

as now they play awesome music for everyone.

At first, everything seemed like it would be all right,

then the wolf came into the club that night.

But he doesn’t want to eat them, he just shakes their hands.

And poof! Nothing to it! He’s a part their band.

But his music just isn’t to the crowds liking,

so the pigs throw him out, as fast as lightning.

The wolf is mad and blows the place down.

(Does everyone build places of straw in this town?)

The pigs next play in a building made of sticks,

but the wolf comes back for more horn tricks.

He’s cast out again, and again destroys the club,

and the pigs are fed up with the hubbub.

They go to play at a place that is wisely built of bricks,

(which, incidentally was built in 1776)

No wolves are allowed in this here joint,

but the wolf sneaks in at a later point.

His disguises hide his body, but his music still is crap,

so he opts to pull out a TNT trap.

He lights the thing, and starts to run, but it blows him up, and well,

he’s gone and gotten himself stuck down in hell.

But to play cool music, you got to get hot,

and that was one thing the wolf was not.

So via the afterlife he gets to play with the pigs until they’re done,

we end (no “That’s all folks!”) with the new and improved Three little Bops plus one.

Personal Rating: 4

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Little Red Riding Rabbit

“Hey grandma! That’s an awfully big nose for you… ta have!”

Just like the original story, we open with Red going to her grandma’s house. She is an annoying, loud, bobbysoxer, who is obsessed with getting the story right. She is going to give her grandma a rabbit and as to be expected, a wolf makes it there first. (Grandma is not home.)

When Red arrives, the wolf kicks her out because all he wants is the rabbit. He chases Bugs through a great gag involving lots of doors. After this, Bugs decides to be helpful and show where he is hiding. Throughout this whole cartoon, Red keeps coming in to say her lines only for the wolf to throw her out again.

In the climax, the wolf is dangling over a pan of hot coals, and just as Bugs is about to make him fall, Red comes in again. Fed up, Bugs switches her with the wolf. Now the two are pals. It looks like a beginning to a beautiful friendship.

Personal Rating: 4

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Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears

“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed, and here he is, still been sleeping in my bed.”

Once upon a time there were 3 bears and… whoa deja-vu. I swear I said this stuff before. Better stop just to be on the safe side.

We find our ursine family being hungry when Henry gets an idea. They’ll lure Goldilocks home so they can fest on her flesh. (Well, they ARE bears.) But from the moment that Ma says they have no porridge and only carrots with which to make carrot soup, the title makes perfect sense. Bugs proceeds to carry out the story but can’t fool Ma who is ready to clobber him. He romances her and she falls for him, and now he can’t get rid of her. He also has to worry about Henry and Jr. who are still intent on having rabbit for dinner. Warner bros. did good work spoofing fairy tales. This, of course, is one of their better ones. The humor even continues after the iris out. (Briefly)

Personal Rating: 4