Chaperon Rouge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqrPAoS9Py4&feature=response_watch

I couldn't figure out how to embed the video, so I just linked it above.

So, this version of "Red Riding Hood" I found doesn't exactly follow the traditional framework of the story, but because the story is so firmly a part of a culture it is immediately recognizable as a variation on the traditional tale. What I thought was particularly interesting about this piece of animation is how much focus lies on the evil side of the deep forest. The stylization of the wolf especially brought back the nightmare aspect of the forest for girls. The fairy tale originated as a warning to girls about the forest, and I think that the utter incarnation of evil in the wolf hearkens back to this feeling of fear about the 'old forest'.

The video also presents some of the magical aspects of fairy tales curiously absent in versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" such as that of Charles Perrault. Even in the Grimm's version of the tale, "Red Riding Hood" has much less magic involved than many other fairy tales. In this interpretation, the forest portrayed seems incredibly magical and mysterious, as opposed to the mundane forests of Perrault and the Grimms. The forest visibly glistens, and the giant old growth trees imply a sensation of 'old magic', the pre-christian powers that fill fairy tale forests. The wolf also depicts a more magical fairy tale, because it is far less realistic and far more elemental than the wolves depicted in the fairy tales. However, because it is more representative of pure evil, it loses the symbolism for the predatory male that Perrault gives the character in his interpretation of the tale.

Overall, I enjoyed watching this clip because of its higher emphasis on the magic and elemental parts of the forest instead of the emphasis on a moral as found in Perrault.