Red
"Wolfie" and Red in the 1945 animated short Swing Shift Cinderella.
First appearance
Created byTex Avery
Designed byClaude Smith
Voiced bySara Berner (1943–1945)
Connie Russell (1943; singing)
Imogene Lynn (1945–1947; singing)
Ann Pickard (1945; singing)
Teresa Ganzel (1990–1993)
Grey Griffin (1996, 2010–2013)
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman
GenderFemale

Red Hot Riding Hood, also known as Red and Miss Vavoom in the 1990s, is an American animated character, created by Tex Avery, who appears in several MGM short films and Tom and Jerry films. She is a fictional nightclub singer and dancer who is usually making all men in the room crazy, especially a Wolf character who—in vain—tries to seduce and chase her. Red debuted in MGM's Red Hot Riding Hood (May 8, 1943), a modern-day variant of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood".[1]

She appeared in seven animated shorts in the Golden age of American animation, and was revived to appear in many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series from the 1990s until 2013.

History

According to Avery, the character originated in the army, where he helped the sergeant plan training films for the animators at MGM. When the film was finished, Avery got down to the projection room, where he always "ran the picture for the producer and the whole group". When the sergeant spotted the picture, much like the wolf, he roared. Word soon spread about the picture among the army. The version he showed was the uncensored version, which had a scene where the grandma marries the wolf and has children with him, and the Hays Office found that the scene strongly suggested bestiality. The scene was ultimately cut for the theatrical release.[2][3]

The character was designed by Claude Smith and animated by Preston Blair, who said that the picture originally was just planned around the wolf and the grandmother (her design was inspired by the caricatures of Peter Arno), but they soon focused mainly on Red. In fact, the character was not rotoscoped, but was drawn from his imagination.[4][5] The first cartoon, garnering 15,000 bookings, was so successful that it garnered various sequels, the first being The Shooting of Dan McGoo.[6]

Appearances

Shorts

# Title Release Date Notes
1 Red Hot Riding Hood May 8, 1943 Red's debut.
2 Who Killed Who? June 19, 1943 Cameo, seen on the picture.
3 Big Heel-Watha October 21, 1944 In a Screwy Squirrel cartoon; as Minnie Hot-Cha in unmasked native american indian form.
4 The Shooting of Dan McGoo March 3, 1945 In a Droopy cartoon
5 Swing Shift Cinderella August 25, 1945 As Cinderella
6 Wild and Woolfy November 3, 1945 In a Droopy cartoon
7 The Hick Chick June 15, 1946 Cameo, as a nurse in hen form.
8 Uncle Tom's Cabaña July 19, 1947 As Little Eva
9 Little Rural Riding Hood September 17, 1949 The final Red's Theatrical cartoon, Reused footage from Swing Shift Cinderella
10 Thanks a Latte 1999 Cameo, In production with Cartoon Network

Television

Films

Video games

Comics

Known voices

Red is voiced by the following characters

References

  1. ^ Red at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016.
  2. ^ Floraine, Place-Verghnes (2006). "4: Facing Contemporary Politics". Tex Avery : a unique legacy, 1942-1955. John Libbey Publishing. p. 61.
  3. ^ Barrier, Michael (2009-03-03). "COMMENTARY : Tex Messaging". Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  4. ^ Red Hot Riding Hood Concept Drawings by Preston Blair Group of 4 (MGM, 1943).... (Total: 4 Original Art)
  5. ^ Maltin, Leonard (1980). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. McGraw-Hill. pp. 287–289. ISBN 0-07-039835-6.
  6. ^ Animation Anecdotes #361
  7. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television cartoon shows: an illustrated encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003. McFarland & Co. p. 289. ISBN 9780786422555.
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