Animated tentpoles from the likes of Disney, DreamWorks, and Illumination often take cultural precedent over smaller productions. One such example is 2005’s “Hoodwinked!,” a musical parody that hilariously transforms “Little Red Riding Hood” into a police procedural mystery. While initial critical reception erred on the lower end, “Hoodwinked!” was a hit, earning $110 million against an $8 million budget. It’s since gained a cult fanbase, but has sadly been absent from most VOD and streaming platforms. But in a truly unexpected turn of events, “Hoodwinked!” has been made available to stream for free on Tubi for a whole new generation.
This alternate version of “Little Red Riding Hood” picks up in the aftermath, with Red (Anne Hathaway), Wolf (Patrick Warburton), Granny Puckett (Glenn Close), and a raving Woodsman (Jim Belushi) giving their testimonies to the police “Rashomon” style, with each having a different perspective of how they came to be at the same location at the same time. In addition, everyone is considered a primary suspect in the ongoing investigation of a recent plague of dessert recipe thefts committed in the forest.
The hurdle most encounter with “Hoodwinked!” is its coarse animation, and while it’s a far cry from what’s expected of theatrically released animation, there’s good reason for its aesthetic shortcomings.
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The team behind Hoodwinked! made the best of a limited budget
Wolf, Kirk the Woodsman, Granny, and Red in handcuffs in Hoodwinked! – The Weinstein Company
One of the more remarkable aspects of “Hoodwinked!” is that it’s one of the first independently financed CG-animated films ever. Director Cory Edwards and his brother Todd had caught the attention of Skyy vodka founder Maurice Kanbar, who sought to develop an animated feature with the duo’s company Blue Yonder Films. The most alluring of their pitches was a procedural riff on “Little Red Riding Hood.” With an exceptionally small $8 million budget, the producers saved on costs by renting a house out in the Philippines that would serve as the production’s central hub.
Along with the animation crew at Digital Eye Candy, who had never worked on a feature-length animated film before, additional lighting and composition work was outsourced to Prana Studios in India. The lack of resources meant “Hoodwinked!” wouldn’t receive nearly as much attention to detail as Pixar’s biggest releases, so the wise decision was made for character movements to emulate Rankin Bass’ stop-motion style.
“Hoodwinked!” received distribution after Bob Weinstein and his convicted sex offender brother Harvey learned of its existence at the Cannes Film Festival. With their acquisition, however, came a mandate to recast the main characters with celebrity voices like Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, and Jim Belushi, among others. Thankfully, voice actors like Tom Kenny, David Ogden Stiers, and Tara Strong retained their supporting roles.
Hoodwinked! overcomes its animation with a smart and hilarious script
Twitchy coming down from caffeine rush in Hoodwinked! – The Weinstein Company
After learning why the animation on “Hoodwinked!” looks partially unrendered, you can appreciate everything else it succeeds at. The screenplay is a very funny, smart satire of investigative stories. Riffing on fairy tale archetypes made it difficult for the film to not draw comparisons to the “Shrek” franchise. However, “Hoodwinked!” is much less cynical with more sly pop culture references. Cinephiles will clock the amphibious Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers) as a cheeky ode to William Powell’s Det. Nick Charles from the “Thin Man” comedies.
Much of the humor in “Hoodwinked!” channels the manic, yet controlled energy of “Looney Tunes.” Two of the funniest side characters are Twitchy (Cory Edwards), Wolf’s rapid-speaking squirrel assistant, and Japeth (Benjy Gaither), a horn-collecting goat who may or may not be cursed to sing everything he says. Even the songs don’t overstay their welcome, the funniest of which being a jingle about the Woodsman serving Schnitzel on a stick like an ice cream salesman. The best joke of all may be the identity of the Goody Bandit, with the disgraced voice actor inhabiting the insecure role they were born to play.
Such praise doesn’t apply to its terrible 2011 sequel “Hoodwinked Too! Good Vs. Evil,” which is significantly less funny and somehow looks even worse despite a massive increase in budget. Save your time and just watch the original, now available for free on Tubi.
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Read the original article on Looper.