Since Disney has pretty much wrapped up all of the Fairy Tales in one form or the other, other animation studios are creating their own style and spin on computer animated projects aimed at for the younger set. Films such as Ice Age and Robots depend on all new stories written in such a way as to be pleasing to kids and visually crafted in order to be accepted by audiences who are getting used to the look of a Pixar movie. Another tactic is to take a genre or familiar story and turn it a little on its ear. A perfect example of this would be Shrek (and the sequel), where familiar characters from famous Fairy Tales were all brought together and made the background (as well as the butt of rapid fire jokes) of an all new story. In all cases, the writers are also wisely writing in a lot of jokes aimed at the parents so they have a reason to see it, too (much like the old Warner Brothers animators used to do…)

A more recent example came out of the newly set up Weinstein Company recently, and is just now hitting DVD shelves. Hoodwinked tells the familiar story of how Little Red Riding Hood traveled through the forest in order to bring her grandmother a basket of goodies. We all know how the Big Bad Wolf tried to steal the goodies, then swallowed up Granny so he could pose as her to get Riding Hood AND the basket of goodies. Of course, thankfully the woodcutter showed up just in time to save Red, kill Big Bad, and get Granny out of Big Bad's stomach. Or, as this movie posits… do we REALLY know the whole story?

Hoodwinked makes its spin on the story of Red Riding Hood by turning it into a 'Rashamon' style detective mystery. Right off the bat we see one version of the story, Red going through the forest, talking to animal buddies, being chased by the wolf, etc… As soon as the woodcutter shows up, everything freezes and the cops (a bear, a stork and the three little pigs) show up to investigate the crime. But before they can haul off any of the alleged perpetrators a famous investigative frog shows up to question the witnesses.

What follows is a case of 'he said, she said, it said' as all of the characters are given the chance to tell their side of the story. And of course, the story is fleshed out by a mysterious Recipe Bandit who is causing all of the 'goodie' stores in the woods to close. What makes this so much fun is that it moves very quickly, but so much as to miss a single joke. Plus, as you see each version of the story you begin to recognize scenes you've seen before… but from a completely different perspective and physical angle. While it's not as fast and funny as Shrek, there is still a lot to laugh at, both for younger kids and adults.

The voiceover work is superb, from Anne Hathaway's cynical Red Riding Hood to the unrecognizable Glenn Close as the closet daredevil Granny. And of course, what animated film would be complete without the sly sarcasm of Patrick Warburton and the style and grace of David Ogden Stiers? But of all the characters, the one that steals the entire movie is the wolf's sidekick, Twitchy, a squirrel who totally lives up to his name. Physically, he moves just as you would expect a squirrel to move (if he happened to have to carry a camera), and his voice (Cory Edwards) is sped up to ludicrous speed. I laughed every single time this character showed up. The only character that I felt was weak was the woodsman as voiced by Jim Belushi. I love Belushi, but his faux-Swedish accent was not terribly funny… actually it was terribly bad.

The DVD for Hoodwinked includes several deleted scenes as well as a music video for the song 'Critters Have Feelings', a featurette on how to make an animated film and commentary by the filmmakers. All are well worth a watch.

Hoodwinked really turned out to be much funnier than I expected and even our 2 ½ year old got a good laugh out of it.

Directed by: Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech
Starring (the voices of): Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, James Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Xzibit, Anthony Anderson, David Ogden Stiers
Extras: Commentary by the Writers / Directors, Deleted and Extended Scenes, "Critters Have Feelings" Music Video, "How to Make and Animated Feature"
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Weinstein / Genius
Release Date: 5/2/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: G
Website

We'll give Hoodwinked a B.