Three Little Pigs

Three Little Pigs (1933)

**** (out of 4)

Disney's adaptation of the Grimm fairly tale is certainly one of the highlights of their early animated films. The story is pretty simple as three pigs are building a house. The two who builds it out of straw and sticks are free to play around more but the one building with brick has to work even harder. The two lazy pigs think it's quite funny until a wolf shows up and their lack of work comes back to haunt them.

THREE LITTLE PIGS is certainly one of the best animated shorts from this era of Disney and it's amazing when you think of the fact that when people think of the story, their ideas come from this short and not the Grimm tale. That says quite a bit because the story itself was quite popular before this short but ever since it was released people think of this short when the idea of three little pigs come along. The animation is as great as you'd expect and there's no question that there's a certain flow in the story that just makes it irresistible. Fans of Disney and animation will certainly love and remember this one.

Academy Award-winning Disney short that brings to life the timeless fairy tale of the three little pigs who, as we all know, live in houses made of straw, sticks, and brick. The Big Bad Wolf comes by and does his thing, huffing and puffing. You know what happens next but it's still very entertaining to watch it unfold. It's a wonderful cartoon that was very popular with the Depression-era audience that first saw it and still holds up quite well today. Who doesn't love the classic song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" It's a beautiful-looking cartoon with rich colors and fluid animation. The voice work is terrific and the music score is delightful. It's the premier version of the three little pigs tale, which has been told in countless cartoons over the years. It's a fun short that everybody should see at least once, preferably when they're still young enough to truly appreciate its simple charms.

I've seen the second version with the Wolf dressing as a fairy but it is in Japanese and was a gift from my in-laws (my wife is Japanese) to my daughter. It's weird in that it combines the stories of the three little pigs with Little Red Riding Hood with the practical Pig coming to Riding Hood's rescue. This version doesn't have the Jewish Peddler sequence in it. I recently rented another video version which sounds like the one most viewers are commenting on as it does not have the Red Riding Hood sequence. The animation, colour, are excellent and the Wolf is terrifying even as an adult. Something about how Disney drew predators in these early films is extremely effective even today.

A charming cartoon; but you'd never know it if you'd seen the three sequels without seeing the original - as I had. Luckily I know better now. The animation is primitive - about as primitive as in "Shrek", although of course more expressive - but unlike "Shrek", the character designs promise less, not more, than the animators are capable of delivering. The sequels were made in EXACTLY the same style as the original, but what was state of the art in 1933 was no longer state of the art even in 1934, and you can tell this just from watching one of the sequels, even if you're unaware of the year of its release or the fact that it's a sequel.

Obviously, the cartoon struck a chord in 1933 (the popular theory that the Wolf symbolised the Great Depression may well be right) which it doesn't strike today. Good though it is, it's far from being the best of the Silly Symphonies, most of which are truly timeless. It is, perhaps, the one that ushered in Disney's "high" period.

You know the basic story, the practical hardworking pig builds his house with bricks and mortar; one lazy buddy uses sticks and the other uses straw. Then when the time comes to keep out the Big Bad Wolf everyone heads to the brick house. It's an old fable and Disney wisely altered the original story where the wolf eats the two lazy pigs and is eaten by the remaining pig after falling into boiling water.

"The Three Little Pigs" was the 36th cartoon in Disney's "Silly Symphony" series and came just a year after "Flowers and Trees" forever changed the animation industry by introducing the first Technicolor cartoon. Technicolor was a process where three separate negatives (each a primary color) were combined to produce a color print. It took a while to perfect it for live action so it was first utilized for animation.

"The Three Little Pigs" was the most popular cartoon in history, on many theater marquees it was billed above the feature film. Disney had a two year exclusive on the use of the Technicolor process and had one animator work on giving each pig a distinct personality while another animator created the wolf. Frank Churchill wrote the "Big Bad Wolf" song, which unexpectedly became a monster hit-Disney's first published song. The wolf at the door was considered the symbol of the Depression and the song became a national rallying cry.

Disney would follow it up with three other attempts: "The Big Bad Wolf", "Three Little Wolves", and "The Practical Pig". None were nearly as successful as the original and Walt is said to have repeatedly stated: "You can't top pigs with pigs."

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.