Little Red Riding Hood

This rendition of Little Red Riding Hood is certainly a modern one, censored to an extreme degree in order to appease parents in not scaring their young children. One can immediately determine that the story has been modified in learning that the basket that Little Red Riding Hood brings to her grandmother is full of breads and cakes; no wine is to be found, ridding of any ideas of intoxication as well as any later references to bloodshed (or Little Red Riding Hood’s drinking of her grandmother’s blood). When the wolf appears for the first time, he is wearing human clothes, in order to demonstrate to modern children viewing the video why he may be attractive and deceptive. It is suggested that merely his hat and scarf disguise the wolf sufficiently.
During their first encounter in the woods, each time the wolf is shown in the same frame as Little Red Riding Hood, facing her and with his back to the viewer, he is a silhouette; entirely black, he is immediately portrayed as evil through this dark representation. But this is a gentle implication; despite the title the “wicked wolf,” this animal still has a gentle face.
Although the following scenes are more explicitly violent, it is in this latter part of the mini-movie that we see evidence of the creator’s effort to censor the original story. First of all, the wolf does not kill or even eat the grandmother (whole); instead he “bundles” her, connoting gentleness, not even harming her in any suffocating sort of way, and places her in the closet. Upon Little Red Riding Hood’s entering the house, reason is given to her confusion as we are told that the inside is dark; she is barely able to see, thus she is not unintelligent for not recognizing her grandmother. Nearly at the exact moment that the wolf exposes himself, the “wood-cutter” shows up at the door (note that he is not a hunter of any sort). Without any sort of warning, the wood-cutter is next referred to as “her father,” in order to reinforce the idea of familial unity and loyalty. This instantaneous appearance suggests that parents always stand behind their children and in fact have a sort of sixth sense that keeps them constantly in touch with the needs of their offspring and which intuitively triggers something in them whenever their children may be in danger. Thus, this rendition of Little Red Riding Hood is less a tale about the agency of children and their overcoming hardship, but instead one that strengthens the idea of the family unit, especially in times of despair, and reinforces the lesson of necessary obedience.