They don’t make kids’ cartoons like this any more…
While researching a piece on meanings and adaptations of well-known fairytales, I found this 1943 MGM cartoon directed by Tex Avery, the existence of which has lurked in the back of my mind for a while, even though my conscious mind could hardly believe in it.
The Big Bad Wolf is wild with desire for Red, a sizzling Jessica Rabbit-like nightclub singer, but ends up being pursued by her even more lascivious Granny.
It includes a famous scene in which the wolf goes through an elaborate, uncontrolled, physical expression of lust, and concludes with him shooting himself in the head with two guns, only for his ghost to continue to leer over Red.
I think you’ll agree that they don’t make ‘em like this any more.
This was the version that passed the censor. In the original story, the wolf ends up having a shotgun wedding with Grandma and they have little half-man-half-wolf kiddies. That was banned because the suggestion of bestiality was considered a bit de trop even for 1940s MGM cartoons.
Was it supposed to be seen by children? We live in more innocent times.
this is one of those weird images that I think everyone over 30 must have stored somewhere in their brain
Is it possible that Rolf could have featured it on his Cartoon Time?
…it’s one of those little clips that seems to always feature in a ’20thC flashback montage thing that speeds up as it flicks through various images of pop culture like 2 seconds footage of napalm going off in vietnam and a space capsule decoupling and falling back to earth and hitler banging a lectern and some blokes standing on top of berlin wall and a man with carrier bags stopping a tank in tianamen square’