Hoodwinked

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Anne Hathaway)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

Stories have a way of being recycled, finding new life by being renewed and re-told to succeeding generations in ways that make them relevant to the times. Indeed, the story of Little Red Riding Hood has changed through the ages. Originating as a fairly dark tale—more of a horror bed time story for children—it morphed and has been cleaned up through the years. Cory and Todd Edwards, the co-writer-directors (with Tony Leech) deliver Hoodwinked, a frenetic version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood in tune to a more media-savvy and sophisticated audience.

The writers follow a simple credo: what if you just change one bit of a familiar story? Then they keep changing and changing and changing. Due to the actions of the bandit, almost like a mega-corporation squeezing out the small businesses, The Forest, home to all fairy tales, feels like it’s in the midst of a recession. The movie follows the police investigation of the “incident at Granny’s house� (reminiscent of the comic book, Fables) all as part of their pursuit of the “Goody Bandit, � the thief of goody recipes, who has been plaguing The Forest. Thus Hoodwinked plays like a satirical take on our culture’s fascination with police procedurals like Law and Order, C.S.I., NYPD Blue, or The Wire. With a Rashomon-style take on the story, the backstory leading to the confrontation in Granny’s house is examined through the eyes of the four main characters (rounded up like the criminals from The Usual Suspects).

Red (voiced by Anne Hathaway) laments a world too dangerous for her to make her way in. Few recognize how grown she truly is, but she has been so protected that she doesn’t know if she’s equipped to face the world. The Wolf (Patrick Warburton, The Tick) is re-cast as a reporter investigating goody trafficking. The Woodsman (James Belushi), a dim-bulb actor wanna-be, enjoys a day job as a schnitzel truck driver. Granny (Glenn Close), Triple G, is into extreme sports. And, yes, Hoodwinked does feature a scene that redeems the ridiculousness of XXX.

The more we learn from the characters, the story spins further and further into slapstick comedy territory. No target is safe from the writers’ skewering, not even other fairy tales.

“Pieces of a puzzle have funny shapes, but they still fit together in the end.�

–Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers)

One of the themes of the movie is the search for truth. The investigation into what really happened gave four perspectives on the same events, yet manages to seem like four separate stories. Much like the four Gospels that unveil the story of Christ, each perspective is true, though the narratives don’t quite line up perfectly. However, taken together, the narratives bring out a greater, essential truth.

Hoodwinked also examines the power of fairy tales. Indeed, the slew of animated features of late—from The Lion King to A Shark Tale—are little more than modern day fairy tales. Besides entertainment, their purpose is to help equip children for the reality of the world. Like the story that it adapts, Hoodwinked is a cautionary tale, one that recognizes that it’s not that children can’t handle certain truths, it is a matter of how those truths are conveyed to them. And truths are always best be conveyed in story.

There are wolves and all other manner of bad people out in The Forest (the world) waiting to prey on the innocent and unassuming. It doesn’t necessarily take a warrior or a prince—not necessarily the strong or the powerful—to confront evil; but the humble and the weak, with enough pluck, can face down evil. Sometimes the hero(ine)s have to overcome hardships, trials, and may have to suffer to accomplish their goals. However, getting by with a measure of luck (God-incidence, if you will) and help from their friends, they can ultimately triumph.

Made independently for a meager $15 million, thus explaining the animation style, Hoodwinked feels like the pilot for an animated series. In fact, I think this movie would work even better on television. Not quite as shrewdly subversive as Shrek, and lacking the magic of the Pixar movies (like Finding Nemo), Hoodwinked does not lack for laughs. In fact, the story sometimes feels like an excuse for strings of zany gags and strung together jokes. Yet, it seems to work: the movie succeeds at being entertaining for children and their parents alike. And that, like the truest and best fairy tales have, is a happy ending.

— Overview