Original release date: April 18, 1936

Rating: TV-Y7 and “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: nine little minutes

Background: “Three Little Wolves,” a Silly Symphony, is the sequel to “The Big Bad Wolf” which is the sequel to “Three Little Pigs.” It’s a bit of Disney going to the well more than they should, something the company would perfect in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

While loosely based on “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” some viewers have noticed much more symbolism than that. To quote a sentence on Wikipedia, “In the opening scene, the Big Bad Wolf is instructing his three rowdy wolf pups in “German”, pointing to a chart of pork cuts and saying ‘Ist das nicht ein Sausage Meat’, etc., reinforcing the interpretation that he is a stand-in for Adolf Hitler.” Yikes.

Review:

We do indeed start at the house of B.B. Wolf, talking German and teaching his three little wolves about he choice cuts of pork. Maybe he just has good taste. He knows both English and German which is quite impressive. The wolves are pesky and even sing the “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” song.

Naturally the little pigs are doing the same, Overalls Pig doing housework and the other two doing obnoxious things. They find a wolf alarm and blow it, causing Overalls Pig to go into panic, grab his gun and head to the alarm site. There was no alarm, just obnoxious pigs instead.

“Some day the wolf will getcha,” Overalls Pig warns. The other two, having never learned a lesson a day in their life despite two previous shorts, just laugh. Meanwhile Big Bad and Little Bads creep in, Big Bad eventually taking on a Bo Peep-style costume. Somehow the two dumb pigs DON’T NOTICE it is the Wolf, I assume at this point because they are idiots, and lead Big Bad Peep to her three missing sheep, all who are very wolf-like.

The sheep wolves lead the pigs directly into their house, the pigs don’t notice and I’m at the point where they deserve to be eaten. They blow their wolf alarm and wrestle with the little wolves. Overalls Pig hears it, prepares… and then waves them off, knowing how they play.

Big Bad prepares a fire for the pigs, having tied them up in a pan, while one of the little wolves blows the horn in celebration. The pigs, having developed brains at some point, challenge the little wolf to blow the horn. He blows and the pigs call it a “sissy blow,” which leads to Big Bad himself blowing it so loud the world hears it.

Overalls Pig comes in a mustache, another clear disguise, and traps Big Bad in his new “wolf pacifier” invention. The wolf pacifier basically beats him up, then tars and feathers him followed by a nice shot out of a cannon. Little wolves go chasing after the wolf as the pigs march out, Overalls Pig carrying the Wolves’ granny bloomers as a flag.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Nope.

Should you watch it?

Skip it unless you’re intrigued by war symbolism, in which case you should read up on the short on Wikipedia and then watch to compare. There was really no need for a third short in the series.

Original release date: April 13, 1934

Rating: TV-Y7 because of big bad wolves probably. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: nine red riding minutes

Background: After the success of the “Three Little Pigs” short, Disney decided to go back to the well (something the company would become VERY good at) and make a sequel short of sorts.

Part sequel and part adaptation of “Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Big Bad Wolf” carries over the wolf and pig characters and throws in Red Riding Hood and her granny, Grandma Hood.

Review:

The short starts with Little Red skipping along and finding the pigs at Overalls Pig’s brick house, him adding on an addition and the other two being goofy. She tells the pigs she is going into the woods, Overalls Pig telling her there is danger and the other two being obnoxious.

The two pigs and Red go skipping into the woods singing “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” apparently learning nothing from their previous battle. Big Bad sees them and dons his fanciest wig and dress, acting as Goldilocks. He is clearly a wolf in a dress but the pigs and Red aren’t quite as observant. Eventually he accidentally unveils himself and they go running.

Big Bad finds a house in the woods, Granny Hood in its bed. He runs in and chases her into a cabinet, while Red comes running home thinking she is safe. Big Bad puts on Granny Hood’s nightgown and hat and calls her in. Red somehow doesn’t notice that Granny’s face is now a wolf’s face because she’s a dummy.

Somehow despite his trick, Big Bad still can’t catch Red. Meanwhile, the two dumber pigs run home and hide under Overalls Pig’s bed. He packs a bag with an ax and several other weapons and runs off (Overalls Pig has a whole section of his house full of weapons for whatever reasons). Naturally he saves the day and Big Bad runs off, never to be seen again until the next short he’s thrown into.

I didn’t notice any cultural depictions.

Extras:

Zero.

Should you watch it?

Why not, watch it. Quality is down from the first short, but it is still entertaining enough.

Original release date: May 27, 1933

Rating: TV-Y7 due to pig-on-wolf violence. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight blow-away minutes

Background: “Three Little Pigs” is, of course, based on the fable of the same name. It is one of the most well known and classic of the Disney shorts, winning an Academy Award and making “greatest cartoons of all time” lists.

It is also one of the more merchandised of the non-Mickey Disney shorts. I remember having a book with a record of the story when I was a child, and there were walk-around characters of the pigs and wolf at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Review:

I don’t really need to fill you in with storyline for this, do I? Flute Pig builds his house out of straw, Pig Wearing Donald Duck’s Clothes builds his house out of sticks, and Overalls Pig builds his house out of bricks and frowns on the others dancing and singing because he’s a grump.

Flute Pig and Fiddle Pig (formerly known as Wearing Donald Duck’s Clothes Pig) march over to Overalls Pig’s house and sing songs at him while he continues his brickwork. The musical pigs sing about not being afraid of the big bad wolf, while Big Bad himself lurks behind trees and sneaks around like a creeper.

Big Bad finds them mid-song and chases them into their respective houses. He, of course, huffs and puffs and blows down the straw house, then does the same for the stick house. Big Bad really has impressive lung capacity.

They run to Overalls Pig’s house, who lets them in and scolds them. They sing together with the classic portrait of sausages and the caption “FATHER” on his wall, one of the greatest sight gags of early Disney. Big Bad comes by and slapstick violence occurs. He huffs and he puffs and fails to knock down the brick house, eventually going down the chimney right into a boiling pot because he apparently didn’t feel the heat rising like a big dummy. Big Bad’s butt gets burnt and he runs off, never to be seen again (until his own short).

I didn’t notice any cultural depictions and I’m starting to think they just threw that on all of the old shorts to cover their butts.

Extras:

There are no extra features.

Should you watch it?

Absolutely you should watch it. It’s a historical short and one that is incredibly well done at that.