Hoodwinked - A "spin" on Little Red Riding Hood

My first post here is not going to be sublime. In fact it isn't even one of my most favorite movies. But it is a really good movie at getting one (huge) point considered. A post about Manalive by Ria on Liber Parma brought it back to my mind.

After your kids are familiar with and finally bored with Little Red Riding Hood they can take this movie in. The cartoon starts with a kind of sappy re-telling of the Little Red Riding Hood story.

Then the police detective gets involved.

He interviews each of the characters one at a time to make sure that the truth comes out. Sure it SEEMS like that big bad wolf did it - easy target! - might as well be "the butler did it". But each interview re-tells the story from a first person perspective. Actions that fit the LRRH storyline may have a context that we didn't see at first. And that context sheds more light on the truth - and more innocence on each of the characters.

THAT is the big point. It is our obligation (and our delight) as rational creatures to seek the truth. That is something that usually requires seeing things from more than one perspective and entertaining things which may not fit our preconceived notions. We NEED to be able to see things from others' perspective. This movie demonstrates the point quite well. And, like any good story, is entertaining at the same time.

Unfortunately, as good as the point is in the movie I would not say it is anything like a classic. The illustration is kind of odd and the characters have modern (i.e. will soon be dated) tendencies and lingo. So I would call it a "see once" movie.