"Ah, the wolf did it. Talk about profiling."

Granny Puckett (Glenn Close) is famous for her delicious baked goodies. Everyone in the forest knows her granddaughter, Little Red Riding Hood (Anne Hathaway), because she delivers those fabulous goodies anywhere in the forest on her bike. The forest isn't safe anymore though. The Goody Bandit is on the loose, and he's stealing all the best recipes! With shops closing down all around her, and a rock marked "You're Next!" thrown through the window of the Puckett family store, Red is convinced that she better take Granny's recipe book up the mountain to her house.

After plummeting from Boingo Bunny's (Andy Dick) sky tram, Red has to make her own way up the mountain and it's not going to be easy! A creepy wolf (Patrick Warburton) keeps stopping her and asking her questions. Flashing squirrels (Cory Edwards) are falling out of trees, and while the Japeth, the singing goat, has a map of all the mine cart tracks up the mountain that won't save anyone from an avalanche! Throughout it all, phone calls to Granny don't help much. She appears to be more concerned about laying out fresh doilies and keeping Red from making the dangerous trip up the mountain than someone wanting to snatch her award winning recipes.

Why is the Wolf following her? Who is the axe-wielding maniac (James Belushi) who arrived so suddenly at Granny's house, and why is he so obsessed with yodeling? Will Japeth ever break his curse and stop singing? Can Red elude the Bandit and keep the family goodies safe? Will the Bandit ever be revealed? Can Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers) make sense of it all, or will we all be hoodwinked?

~~~ My Thoughts~~~

"Now hold on a pea-picking minute! I may lead a double life full of secrets and deception, but that's no reason to be suspicious." ~ Granny Puckett

This animated family feature is fast paced and fully loaded with fun. There is a large cast of vocal talents, and Andy Dick in particular was very entertaining. There is a scene towards the end of the film where his character, Boingo, tells Keith the evil henchman that he really needs to change his name because it isn't scary enough. Very well delivered and another in a long string of highly amusing moments, Andy Dick ad-libbed that bit. They liked it so well that they kept it. James Belushi as the schnitzel man was hysterically funny. "It was a callback! I'd heard about them, but I'd never gotten one!" I was also impressed with both Patrick Warburton's calm dry delivery of lines, and Cory Edwards ability to speak so rapidly!

Twitchy will delight all the coffee addicts in the audience, and the very concept of a Grandma who prefers extreme sports to quilting is delightful... especially to us young Grannies! Perhaps one of my favorite scenes is towards the end of the film when Wolf is getting into the villains layer by posing as a building inspector.


Wolf: "Let me level with you, you're an evil genius, right?"

Villain: "Well, I don't know if I'd say "genius," you know. I was asked to join Mensa."

Wolf: "Well, you got yourself an evil lair in a mountain cave. That's standard, but see, most masters of evil that we deal with are up to evil genius code. Are you familiar with the code? "

Villain: "You know, I'm more of a do-it-yourself kind of guy. Yeah."

Wolf: "I understand. Are you thinking about puttin' in a laser?"

Villain: "I don't know. I don't... Do you think I should?"

Wolf: "Well, it's standard equipment for a cave lair. I'm not saying you're going to zap someone with it today, but you gotta think about the future. Those things have gotta be calibrated."


The plot is relatively simple and easy to figure out, it is geared for kids after all. There is plenty to entertain viewers of all ages though. Amusing characters, witty dialogue, many humorous moments as the "real" story of Little Red Riding Hood unfolds. The CGI animation isn't the most amazing I've seen, but it definitely gives a fun cartoon feel to everything... almost like a living coloring book in its appearance and movement. The water and some of the shadow play is probably the best work, although the roller coaster mine cart ride and the snowboarding/ski scenes were quite fun too.

"What the Schnitzel?" ~ The Woodsman

With an 80 minute run time, it isn't a long tale but it packs in quite a lot of action and fun during those 80 minutes. The more adult flashes of humor are more subtle than other films have given us, and often delivered so matter-of-factly that you actually stop and think, "Did I just hear what I thought I heard?" Yep, you did, and it was funny!

With each of the main characters giving us their version of what happened, we are given a wealth of info, perspective, and action to go along with the humor. I really enjoyed this aspect of the film as life is very much like that; the more people involved in a situation the more unlikely that their stories will match. Everyone sees things differently and it's good to realize that what may appear one way to one individual will be a completely different story to someone else. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. A wonderful way to highlight the lessons of Perspective to younger audiences while still entertaining more savvy viewers!

"Old people just have big ears, Dear." ~ The Wolf disguised as Granny

Hoodwinked reveals truth through illustrating mis-direction, mis-communication, and mistaken assumptions. Young or old, we all need to remember to look beyond the surface of a situation for the truth, and should beware our tendency to be more comfortable with our assumptions than the truth as it stands. In today's society, people are far too apt to jump to an assumption without ever looking below the label they've stuck on for the reality. Because it wasn't a huge hit, it can be found at a very good price on DVD. It stands up to repeated viewings well, carries some excellent messages and cleverly cloaks it all with rollicking good humor.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12