Red Hot Riding Hood

Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) is Tex Avery's cult cartoon short, free to watch online on iFILM. Seven minutes of MGM mayhem that blows up the old fairy tale from the inside: the characters get sick of playing the same parts and flat-out demand a new, grown-up version of the story.

The retelling drops everyone into a swanky 1940s nightclub. The Wolf becomes a sharp-suited playboy cruising in a stretched sports car, Grandma turns predatory, and Red struts out as a pin-up lounge singer. The bit where the Wolf takes one look at her and launches out of his chair — slamming a mallet on his own head, whistling, eyes shooting across the room — got copied by animators for decades afterward.

This is the short where Avery locked in his whole approach: gags pushed past the point of physics, the fourth wall smashed for laughs, timing tuned to the frame. No Red Hot Riding Hood, no later Bugs Bunny, no Jessica Rabbit. Essential viewing for anyone who loves classic American animation. Stream Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) online on iFILM.