Solid Entertainment Atop a Classic Tale

In my opinion the fairy tale as source material for an animated feature spans two extremes: On the one end is Shrek (and it’s seemingly never ending sequels) and the other are the Happily N’ever After films. Shrek does things properly with an original, witty, and engaging tale in the forefront and classic fairy tale spoofs and references thrown about for good measure.  Better still they often integrate pop culture references with the medieval setting which is humorous by virtue of contrast alone.

Happily Ever After went a more direct route in its approach: Take a classic, add a few silly twists and call it something new.  Now in my opinion this is certainly the less desirable of the two extremes.

For this story, we begin at the end. Furry and feathered cops from the animal world are investigating a domestic disturbance at Granny's cottage, involving a girl, a wolf, and an axe-wielding madman.

The impatient Chief Grizzly arrests them all on the scene while Detective Nicky Flipper interviews the accused to gather each of their own version of the incident and the events leading up to it.

What unfolds is a massive conspiracy threatening the entire animal world’s economic stability as candy recipes of the goody shops have been stolen by the Goody Bandit, and here in fairy tale land, sweets aren’t just snacks, they’re the currency of the forest!

Hoodwinked falls firmly in the middle of the scale with a tale that starts out as classical material (in this case Little Red Riding Hood) and throws in a wide variety of both cultural and sociological references.  It also makes pretty amusing use of the POV (point of view) method of story telling to weave a singular tale.

The laughs aren’t constant and the animation is obviously a few notches below what moviegoers have come to expect from the president set by Pixar, DreamWorks, and Blue Sky but that doesn’t mean Hoodwinked doesn’t shine in its own unique way.

The vocal cast for one thing offers up a fantastic variety of appropriate flavors.  Rapper turned reality show television host Xzibit dazzles as the thick-necked Chief Grizzly, Glenn Close delivers the goods as Triple G: The extreme sports addicted granny and Seinfeld’s ever-monotonous Patrick Warburton’s rendition of the big bad wolf is nothing if not spot-on.

The story itself is rife with originality and some interesting twists on the classical tale about a young girl on her way to granny’s place.  I can’t say I’m particularly enamored with the whole fairy-tale turned modern comedy genre of computer animated feature films but Hoodwinked is solid enough to remind that with enough creativity and heart, an antiquated story can be made into something appreciated by viewers of any age and background.  Perhaps the most impressive aspect about this one is that it manages to play ball with some of the blockbusters in animation on an absolute shoestring budget.  The response to this film was positive enough to warrant development of a soon-to-be-released sequel and that in and of itself is nothing to sneeze at!