Little Red Riding Hood

"Little Red Riding Hood" is a famous fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been told in many different ways over the years. It began with old stories from Europe, including places we now call France, Italy, and Germany. The tale was first written down in French by Charles Perrault and later retold by the Brothers Grimm in the nineteenth century.

The story is also known as "Little Red Cap" or simply "Red Riding Hood." It is very well known and has been used in many new versions and stories. In a system used to organize folk tales, this story is number 333.

Plot

The story is about a girl named Little Red Riding Hood, who wears a red hooded cape. She walks through the woods to take food, like wine and cake, to her sick grandmother.

A wolf follows her and wants to eat her and the food. He tricks her into picking flowers for her grandmother while he goes to the grandmother's house. Pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf tricks the grandmother into letting him in. He eats the grandmother and hides in her bed, waiting for the girl.

When Little Red Riding Hood arrives, she notices something strange about her "grandmother." The wolf tries to eat her, but in some versions of the story, a woodcutter or hunter arrives and saves her. The wolf is defeated, and Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother are safe.

History

The story of Little Red Riding Hood has roots in old tales from many parts of Europe. It shares similarities with ancient stories from Greece and Rome, Norse myths, and tales from North Africa. Over time, the story has been told in many different ways.

The earliest known printed version was written in French by Charles Perrault in 1697. His version has a darker tone and ends with the wolf winning, teaching a lesson about not trusting strangers. Later, the Brothers Grimm collected German versions of the tale and added a happy ending where a huntsman saves Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. Since then, many authors have rewritten and adapted the story in new and interesting ways.

Interpretations

There are many ways people think about the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Some see it as a way to talk about natural changes, like the sun moving through the day or the seasons of the year. Others think it might be about growing up and becoming an adult.

Some stories change the tale to show Little Red Riding Hood or her grandmother standing up for themselves against the wolf. These versions focus on strength and empowerment instead of danger.

In popular culture

Main article: Adaptations of Little Red Riding Hood

Adaptation

The story of Little Red Riding Hood has been around for a long time and has been turned into many films and shows. The two main points that stay the same are those of a girl in a red hood and a wolf. There are at least 400 versions of Little Red Riding Hood, including TV and movies, literature and novels, and kids’ books.

In animation and film

In Tex Avery's short animated cartoon, "Red Hot Riding Hood" (1943), the story is recast in an adult-oriented urban setting. Similar modern takes also feature in "Swing Shift Cinderella" (1945) and "Little Rural Riding Hood" (1949). The Company of Wolves (1984) is a film adaptation based on the short story by Angela Carter and directed by Neil Jordan. Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf is a 1937 adaptation of the story by the German state. The Big Bad Wolf is a 1934 animated short released by United Artists. The 1996 movie Freeway is a crime drama loosely adapted from the Riding Hood story. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999) is a Japanese action political thriller animated film. Hoodwinked! (2005) is a retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" as a police investigation. The film Red Riding Hood (2006) is a musical based upon the tale. The film Red Riding Hood (2011) is loosely based upon the tale. Red Riding Hood is one of the main characters in the 2014 film adaptation of the 1987 musical Into the Woods, portrayed by Lilla Crawford. Little Red Riding Hood is parodied in the Warner Bros. cartoons Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944, Merrie Melodies) and The Windblown Hare (1949, Looney Tunes), with Bugs Bunny, and Red Riding Hoodwinked (1955, Looney Tunes) with Tweety and Sylvester. The Grimm Variations (2024), a Netflix anime series, features a retelling of the story.

In television

In the pilot episode "Wolf Moon" of the MTV hit series Teen Wolf the protagonist Scott McCall wears a red hoodie when he gets attacked by an alpha werewolf in the woods on the night of a full moon. The pilot episode of NBC's TV series Grimm reveals that the Red Riding Hood stories were inspired by the fabled attacks of Blutbaden. In Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus, Red is portrayed by John Cleese as a huge, thuggish strongman in a dirndl and hood, while the wolf is an inoffensive longhaired Dachshund wearing an unconvincing costume. In the PBS Kids series Super Why!, Little Red Riding Hood is one of the main characters in the show. She transforms into a superhero called Wonder Red. Red: Werewolf Hunter is a 2010 Canadian television horror film. Red Riding Hood is a character in ABC's Once Upon a Time (2011) TV series. The story was retold as part of the episode "Grimm Job" of the American animated TV series Family Guy. In the TV series Goldie & Bear Red is a little girl who delivers muffins to her granny. Little Red Riding Hood is parodied in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode, "Little Red Riding Princess" with Princess Toadstool in the role of Red Riding Hood and King Koopa as the wolf. The tabletop role-playing game show Dimension 20 has Little Red Riding Hood as a main character in the "Neverafter" season.

In literature

Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem Little Red Riding Hood in The Court Journal, 1835 reflects on memories of lost childhood. Gabriela Mistral told the story as a short poem. Little Red Riding Hood appears in Angela Carter's short story "The Company of Wolves". In her collection, The World's Wife, Carol Ann Duffy published a poem called 'Little Red-Cap'. In the manga Tokyo Akazukin the protagonist is an 11-year-old girl nicknamed "Red Riding Hood". Jerry Pinkney adapted the story for a children's picture book. James Thurber wrote a satirical short story called "The Little Girl and the Wolf". Anne Sexton wrote an adaptation as a poem called "Red Riding Hood" in her collection Transformations. Little Red Riding Hood is one of the main characters in the 1986 children's book O Fantástico Mistério de Feiurinha. James Finn Garner wrote an adaptation in his book [Politically Correct Bedtime Stories]. Michael Buckley's children's series The Sisters Grimm includes characters drawn from the fairy tale. Dark & Darker Faerie Tales by Two Sisters is a collection of dark fairy tales which features Little Red Riding Hood. Singaporean artist Casey Chen rewrote the story with a Singlish accent and published it as The Red Riding Hood Lah!. Scarlet is a 2013 novel written by Marissa Meyer that was loosely based on the fairy tale. The Land of Stories is a series written by Chris Colfer. In it, Red Riding Hood is the queen of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom. Irish-American author Caitlín R. Kiernan has written a number of retellings of Little Red Riding Hood. Nikita Gill's 2018 poetry collection Fierce Fairytales alludes to Little Red Riding Hood in the poem "The Red Wolf". In Rosamund Hodge's 2015 novel Crimson Bound, a girl named Rachelle is forced to serve the realm after meeting dark forces in the woods. In Lois Lowry's historical novel Number the Stars, the protagonist Annemarie runs through the woods while fleeing Nazis, reciting the story of Little Red Riding Hood to calm herself down. The Kentucky writer Cordellya Smith wrote the first Native American version of Little Red Riding Hood, called Kawoni's Journey Across the Mountain: A Cherokee Little Red Riding Hood. Hannah F. Whitten wrote a retelling inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood" named "For the wolf". Red Riding Hood is a character in Bill Willingham's Fables (comics) series. In 2024, Little Red Riding Hood was adapted in Jade Maitre's "The Burning Girls", combining the familiar motifs of the classic story with elements of psychological depth, gothic horror, and dark fantasy.

In music

"How Could Red Riding Hood? (Have Been So Very Good and Still Keep the Wolf from the Door)", written by A.P. Randolph, was first recorded in 1926 by various artists including the Yacht Club Boys and Dolly Kay. Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs's hit song, "Li'l Red Riding Hood" (1966), take Wolf's point of view. The Kelly Family's "The Wolf" (1994) is inspired by the tale. "Little Red Riding Hood" is a rawstyle song by Da Tweekaz. Sunny's concept photo for Girls' Generation's third studio album The Boys was inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood". Lana Del Rey has an unreleased song called Big Bad Wolf. The music videos of the songs Call Me When You're Sober from American rock band Evanescence and The Hunted from Canadian supergroup Saint Asonia featuring Sully Erna from American heavy metal band Godsmack were inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood". Rachmaninoff's Op. 39 No. 6 (Études-Tableaux) is nicknamed "Little Red Riding Hood" for its dark theme. The Real Tuesday Weld's "Me and Mr. Wolf" (2011) portrays the relationship between the wolf and Red Riding Hood as toxic. CupcakKe references the tale and characters in her song "Little Red Riding Good" (2024) from her album Dauntless Manifesto.

In games

In the Shrek 2 (2004) video game, she is playable and appears as a friend of Shrek's. Dark Parables: The Red Riding Hood Sisters is a 2013 computer game. In the fighting game Vampire Savior (1997), the character Baby Bonnie Hood is a parody of Little Red Riding Hood. The 2009 psychological horror art game The Path features 6 sisters, ages 9–19, who all must face their own 'wolf' in the forest on the way to Grandmother's house. In the BLACK SOULS video game series, she is one of the main character in the series, and is also playable as recruitable heroine.

In musicals

Little Red Riding Hood is one of the central characters in the Broadway musical Into the Woods (1987) by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine.