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
We’re all familiar with the story of Little Red Riding Hood. A little girl in a red hooded cape goes skipping tra-la-la through the woods to grandma’s house. When she gets there, she comments on how big her grandma’s eyes, ears and nose are, unaware that grandma is actually the wolf in disguise (and I’ve always wondered why Red Riding Hood didn’t notice that grandma was not only bigger, but also hairier); the wolf tries to eat Red Riding Hood who is saved by a woodsman. Pretty cut and dried for fairy tale, right? Well, not so fast there Mister (or Miss) I-know-everything-about-every-fairy-tale-by-heart. There’s a lot more going on in this tale than we were initially led to believe, or so says the movie Hoodwinked, a surprisingly fun and clever look at what really happened during the story of Red Riding Hood.
What I think is great about this movie is that although it has some Christians behind the scenes, (one of the directors is a Christian stand-up comedian and the other worked with popular Christian performers on their TV show) the movie doesn’t try to be what one might call a “Christian� movie. Instead, we get something that’s fun, enjoyable, and extremely witty. It’s a movie that’s not concerned with providing an overall moral message (except perhaps not to trust certain little fluffy creatures), or finding some way of presenting a veiled version of the gospel, but all it does is have fun. Now I think that those other motives for making a movie are certainly valid, and I’m very happy that the Lion movie has had so much success considering the message it carries, but I really appreciate the fact that Christians can also produce a movie that’s just straight-up fun. Movies may be a great tool for ministry, but they’ve always primarily been about entertainment, which is something the creators of Hoodwinked seem to understand.
The story of Hoodwinked begins as one would expect the story of Little Red Riding Hood to begin, but it quickly unravels into something quite different. As the police investigate exactly what took place at grandma’s house that night, we get to see the same story from four different perspectives. This non-linear approach to story telling is especially fun because you get to see how all the pieces of each story fit together. As the various tales of Red, the Wolf, Granny and the Woodsman weave and intersect, the different perspectives begin to reveal the greater truth as to what’s really been happening in the forest. It actually reminded of how the four gospels in the Bible work together to deliver a complete picture of who Jesus Christ is from their four different perspectives. Some may argue that the gospels contradict each other because they don’t always record certain events in exactly the same way. But any time you have more than one person involved in something or observing something, you’re going to get more than one perspective on that event. It doesn’t mean that any account is any less valid; it just means that each person had a different view of the event that when taken as a whole can reveal the truth. That’s what happens when you read all four gospels, and it’s what happens when watching Hoodwinked.
Perhaps what’s most amazing about Hoodwinked is that it was produced independently for around $15 million. In an age when Pixar and Shrek dominate the computer animated industry with their big-budget slick visuals and mega-star voice casts, Hoodwinked does just as much with much less. Granted the shoe-string budget shows in the visuals, which aren’t nearly as impressive as anything done by Pixar, Dreamworks or Disney, but then again, what good is it to have tens-of-thousands of individually animated feathers when you don’t have an engaging story? I found it very easy to dismiss the sub-par computer animation of Hoodwinked because the story itself was so entertaining and fun to watch. The humor is genuinely witty, and doesn’t need to dip into endless pop-culture references or stoop to bathroom-humor to be funny. The other impressive aspect of Hoodwinked is the excellent voice-cast, who I’m guessing took a significant pay-cut to work on this movie. I don’t know that for sure, but for only $15 million, I can’t imagine they were paid what they normally receive. Patrick Warburton, whom you may remember as Puddy from Seinfeld, is perfectly cast as the Wolf, Anne Hathaway turns in a solid performance as Red, Glenn Close often steals the show as Granny, Jim Belushi is extremely entertaining as The Woodsman, and Andy Dick is hilarious as the cute little bunny that turns out to be not so cute. While the talent may not be a who’s-who list of A-list, trendy Hollywood stars, every single voice-actor is perfectly cast and turns in a fun and entertaining performance.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve used the words “fun� and “entertaining� several times during this review; well; that’s because those are the words that best describe my experience while watching Hoodwinked. I went with my family, and I was just entertained as my kids, and not once did I have to wince because of some joke that I wished my young, impressionable kids hadn’t heard. It’s a rare feat when the little guy is able to compete with the big-boys, but the creators of Hoodwinked have done just that. While Pixar still sets the bar when it comes to compelling stories, characters and cutting edge animation, Hoodwinked certainly holds its own when it comes to a fun story filled with characters that can make you laugh and can hold your interest with an engaging story. As Disney struggles to find a way to make computer-animated movies without Pixar, I think that they could take a few lessons from the makers of Hoodwinked, because despite its limited resources, it succeeds in a lot of areas where Disney’s efforts have come up short.
— 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
We’re all familiar with the story of Little Red Riding Hood. A little girl in a red hooded cape goes skipping tra-la-la through the woods to grandma’s house. When she gets there, she comments on how big her grandma’s eyes, ears and nose are, unaware that grandma is actually the wolf in disguise (and I’ve always wondered why Red Riding Hood didn’t notice that grandma was not only bigger, but also hairier); the wolf tries to eat Red Riding Hood who is saved by a woodsman. Pretty cut and dried for fairy tale, right? Well, not so fast there Mister (or Miss) I-know-everything-about-every-fairy-tale-by-heart. There’s a lot more going on in this tale than we were initially led to believe, or so says the movie Hoodwinked, a surprisingly fun and clever look at what really happened during the story of Red Riding Hood.What I think is great about this movie is that although it has some Christians behind the scenes, (one of the directors is a Christian stand-up comedian and the other worked with popular Christian performers on their TV show) the movie doesn’t try to be what one might call a “Christian� movie. Instead, we get something that’s fun, enjoyable, and extremely witty. It’s a movie that’s not concerned with providing an overall moral message (except perhaps not to trust certain little fluffy creatures), or finding some way of presenting a veiled version of the gospel, but all it does is have fun. Now I think that those other motives for making a movie are certainly valid, and I’m very happy that the Lion movie has had so much success considering the message it carries, but I really appreciate the fact that Christians can also produce a movie that’s just straight-up fun. Movies may be a great tool for ministry, but they’ve always primarily been about entertainment, which is something the creators of Hoodwinked seem to understand.The story of Hoodwinked begins as one would expect the story of Little Red Riding Hood to begin, but it quickly unravels into something quite different. As the police investigate exactly what took place at grandma’s house that night, we get to see the same story from four different perspectives. This non-linear approach to story telling is especially fun because you get to see how all the pieces of each story fit together. As the various tales of Red, the Wolf, Granny and the Woodsman weave and intersect, the different perspectives begin to reveal the greater truth as to what’s really been happening in the forest. It actually reminded of how the four gospels in the Bible work together to deliver a complete picture of who Jesus Christ is from their four different perspectives. Some may argue that the gospels contradict each other because they don’t always record certain events in exactly the same way. But any time you have more than one person involved in something or observing something, you’re going to get more than one perspective on that event. It doesn’t mean that any account is any less valid; it just means that each person had a different view of the event that when taken as a whole can reveal the truth. That’s what happens when you read all four gospels, and it’s what happens when watching Hoodwinked.Perhaps what’s most amazing about Hoodwinked is that it was produced independently for around $15 million. In an age when Pixar and Shrek dominate the computer animated industry with their big-budget slick visuals and mega-star voice casts, Hoodwinked does just as much with much less. Granted the shoe-string budget shows in the visuals, which aren’t nearly as impressive as anything done by Pixar, Dreamworks or Disney, but then again, what good is it to have tens-of-thousands of individually animated feathers when you don’t have an engaging story? I found it very easy to dismiss the sub-par computer animation of Hoodwinked because the story itself was so entertaining and fun to watch. The humor is genuinely witty, and doesn’t need to dip into endless pop-culture references or stoop to bathroom-humor to be funny. The other impressive aspect of Hoodwinked is the excellent voice-cast, who I’m guessing took a significant pay-cut to work on this movie. I don’t know that for sure, but for only $15 million, I can’t imagine they were paid what they normally receive. Patrick Warburton, whom you may remember as Puddy from Seinfeld, is perfectly cast as the Wolf, Anne Hathaway turns in a solid performance as Red, Glenn Close often steals the show as Granny, Jim Belushi is extremely entertaining as The Woodsman, and Andy Dick is hilarious as the cute little bunny that turns out to be not so cute. While the talent may not be a who’s-who list of A-list, trendy Hollywood stars, every single voice-actor is perfectly cast and turns in a fun and entertaining performance.I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve used the words “fun� and “entertaining� several times during this review; well; that’s because those are the words that best describe my experience while watching Hoodwinked. I went with my family, and I was just entertained as my kids, and not once did I have to wince because of some joke that I wished my young, impressionable kids hadn’t heard. It’s a rare feat when the little guy is able to compete with the big-boys, but the creators of Hoodwinked have done just that. While Pixar still sets the bar when it comes to compelling stories, characters and cutting edge animation, Hoodwinked certainly holds its own when it comes to a fun story filled with characters that can make you laugh and can hold your interest with an engaging story. As Disney struggles to find a way to make computer-animated movies without Pixar, I think that they could take a few lessons from the makers of Hoodwinked, because despite its limited resources, it succeeds in a lot of areas where Disney’s efforts have come up short.
— Overview
