People who are ready to compare the animation of this film to films such as “Toy Story” and “Shrek” might be disappointed. However, beneath the somewhat lackluster artistic effort lies a brave attempt to put a new spin on a very old tale.
Hoodwinked follows the age old tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” and we all know what happened there, right? The film plays on the fact that the characters within the story just really can’t agree on how the whole shebang went down and how exactly Granny’s recipe was stolen, which happens to be the inciting incident for all the events that follow.
The film follows the template of the oft parodied “Rashomon” in which all the characters remember the events in a slightly different way (TV fans might recall this being parodied in both “The Simpsons” and “The X-Files”). The problem in all this is that the director doesn’t seem able to keep all the conflicting storylines from haphazardly bumping into each other and sometimes making a mess. However, despite the films sometimes lack of coherence, the film is still full of funny quips and parodies within parodies of more adult films such as The Matrix.
Kids will enjoy the cartoonish slapstick humor of the film while adults will enjoy the little winks and nudges the director sends their way. Some parents might think the crazed, extreme ending of the film too erratic for really young children. There is also quite of bit of Looney Toon style cartoon violence involving explosives and guns. However, where this film really excels is cracking jokes that only the adults will really appreciate while somehow keeping the kids distracted enough not to care.
The voice talent in the film is top notch with the Wolf being played by voice veteran, Patrick Warburton (who, being a Disney blogger, I must point out appears in the pre-show for WDW’s Soarin’). Of course, there’s also great performances by Glenn Close as The Granny, Anthony Anderson as Detective Stork, and David Ogden Stiers as Nicky Flippers.
Overall, the film is worth a look and, though a bit erratic, still remains humorous and inventive. Hoodwinked is now available on DVD from Amazon.com.