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Hoodwinked!

Movie

Director:

Cory Edwards,Todd Edwards
Category:

Movie / Animation / Comedy / Crime / Family / Musical / Mystery
Writer:

Cory Edwards,Todd Edwards
Cast:

Anne Hathaway,Glenn Close,Patrick Warburton
Time:

1h 20min
Budget:

$17,500,000
Year:

2005

The candy recipes of the goody shops have been stolen by the Goody Bandit, and many animals are out of business. While the police are chasing the criminal, there is a mess at Granny's house involving Little Red Hiding Hood, The Wolf, The Woodsman and Granny, disturbing the peace in the forest. They are all arrested by the impatient Chief Grizzly. Detective Nicky Flipper is in charge of the investigation, and each accused gives his/her own version of the incident. Flipper uses the information to disclose the identity of the evil Goody Bandit.

Casts

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Anne Hathaway	-	Red Puckett (voice)
	Glenn Close	-	Granny (voice)
	Jim Belushi	-	Kirk the Woodsman (voice)
	Patrick Warburton	-	Wolf W. Wolf (voice)
	Anthony Anderson	-	Detective Bill Stork (voice)
	David Ogden Stiers	-	Nicky Flippers (voice)
	Xzibit	-	Chief Grizzly (voice)
	Chazz Palminteri	-	Woolworth (voice)
	Andy Dick	-	Boingo (voice)
	Cory Edwards	-	Twitchy (voice)
	Benjy Gaither	-	Japeth the Goat (voice)
	Ken Marino	-	Raccoon Jerry (voice)
	Tom Kenny	-	Tommy (voice)
	Preston Stutzman	-	Timmy (voice)
	Tony Leech	-	Glen (voice)

Hoodwinked! (2005)

During production, Producer Sue Bea Montgomery showed little kids some concepts for the movie and watched the expressions on their faces. Since they especially liked the character of Japeth the Goat, they decided not to delete him, as they had initially planned.

Animated independently entirely in the Philippines.

The first encounter between Red and Wolf is told twice, using exactly the same dialogue, but the lighting is different to suggest the different viewpoints of the two characters.

The character of "The Wolf" seems to be patterned after Chevy Chase's "Fletch" character. He's an investigative reporter, uses disguises to get information and even his theme music is very much like what you hear in Fletch - Der Troublemaker (1985).

In Red's story, when she and Japeth are riding the mine cart, for a few frames, you can see Wolf and Twitchy riding past in a different mine cart. Later, in Wolf's story, while recounting the same time period, you can see Red and Japeth for a few frames in the background.

According to Todd Edwards at Anderson University's Chapel, this is the first fully independently-funded computer-animated feature film.

After Kirk the Woodsman gets his call back, Tommy, the lizard director says, "I have to be in a circle wipe, across town." A circle wipe is an effect in television and cinematography in which an image appears as a dot in the center of the screen, then expands to full size while overlaying the preceding image. This is exactly how Tommy appears on the screen when talking to Kirk.

When asked what he does, the wolf, an investigative reporter replies, "I'm a shepherd". Investigative reporter "Fletch" (Chevy Chase) uses the same line.

One of the locations on the goat's map is Sam Hill, a common epithet, used especially when one is lost.

The newt director of the commercial is a satire of the Geico gecko.

Other locations on Japeth the Goat's map are Murky's Low, Boulderdash, Puckett Grove, and Kanbar Kanyon. Kanbar is the name of the production company that made the movie.

The Weinstein Company's first fully-animated feature.

During the interrogation, both Red and Wolf are offering different versions of the same story. Both insist they are innocent of wrongdoing, and both are wearing hoods (Wolf is wearing an athletic hoodie). Both their hoods are primary colors. In every way, they are in competition with each other.

The moles' costumes during the first song are a reference to The Village People.

The label on the spray can that Red uses on the wolf reads, "Wolf Away Spray".

On the Happy Yodelers poster it says "Tonite only, Sporthalen - Eskiltuna, Tisdag 29 oktober 19.00". This is Swedish. There is a town named Eskilstuna and they have a sporthall; tisdag means Tuesday.

Some of the text within the film's pop-up book, is actually that of Charles Perrault's version of the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairytale.

The line, "The Axeman cometh", is a reference to Eugene O'Neill's play, "The Iceman Cometh".

Went into production in the summer of 2002.

The picture of Red in her martial arts uniform reads, "Red Puckett: Forest Regional Karate Champion".

The "Boingonium" image is possibly a reference to Bink Video.

Jason Bateman were considered for the role of Nicky Flippers.

Tom Kenny, who voices one of the pigs, voiced the Big Bad Wolf in an episode of Grim & Evil (2001).

Cloris Leachman were considered for the role of Granny.

Drew Barrymore were considered for the role of Red Puckett.

Bill Murray were considered for the role of Kirk the Woodsman.

Patrick Stewart were considered for the role of Nicky Flippers.

Jack Black were considered for the role of Wolf W. Wolf.

Blair Underwood were considered for the role of Chief Grizzly.

Orlando Jones were considered for the role of Detective Bill Stork.

Nathaniel Parker were considered for the role of Boingo.

Maggie Smith were considered for the role of Granny.

Kristin Chenoweth were considered for the role of Red Puckett.

Will Arnett were considered for the role of Wolf W. Wolf.

Bradley Whitford were considered for the role of Detective Bill Stork.

Forest Whitaker were considered for the role of Chief Grizzly.

The ninth computer-animated film to be rated PG by the MPAA after Antz (1998), Dinosaur (2000), Shrek (2001), Ice Age (2002), Shark Tale (2004), The Incredibles (2004), Robots (2005), and Madagascar (2005).

During Wolf's story he knocks on Granny's door and says "Candygram", a reference to Chevy Chase's SNL shark character.

Tony Shalhoub were considered for the role of Kirk the Woodsman.

The scene where Boingo is admonishing his henchman, Keith, that his name isn't scary enough and he should change it to Boris, was not scripted. It was ad-libbed by Andy Dick while recording his lines. The dialogue is ironic because the names mean almost the same thing. Keith is Scottish-Gaelic and means, "from the battlefield". Boris is Slavic, and means, "battler, or, warrior".

During the scene when Mr. Flippers is explaining who the Bandit is, and Granny is signing Boingo's clipboard, on the other side is a list of things to do, which are: Take down Muffin Man, Ruin Red, Act cute & fuzzy, Steal Recipe Book!!, Send Wolf on goose chase, Pick up dry cleaning, Pay evil ski team, Pay gas bill, Call Mom, and Finish lair.

Boingo's chief henchman looks and talks like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but is named Dolph, a nod to Schwarzenegger's tough-guy competitor, Dolph Lundgren.

Boingo says that he was asked to join Mensa. The Mensa website reads, "...potential members must score within the top two percent of any approved standardized intelligence test". Using statistical averages, this means that Boingo's I.Q. is in the range of 140.

Granny's extreme sports name "Triple G" is a spoof of the Vin Diesel movie Triple X where he plays an extreme sports athlete with the nickname of "Triple X". The three G's she has tattooed onto the back of her neck, is a spoof of the three X's Xander has on his neck.

One of Japeth the goat's songs has the same rhythm and some lyrics as Johnny Cash's "To Beat the Devil".

MrRipper

I'm annoyed at all the "know-it-alls" on these boards who are judging this film solely based on what they think they see in the trailer.

One guy went so far as to say that it was shoddy script-writing.

Let me just say this... I spend most of my time helping to make feature animation look really good... it's my job.

I've been involved with some very slick looking films. However, no matter how good it looks, if it's not a good story, it's still a crappy film.

Like the old saying goes: "you can polish a turd, but in the end all you're gonna have is a shiny turd."

I've seen Hoodwinked. I can say from experience that the animation isn't the greatest, the deformations aren't the greatest and the general tech of the film isn't the greatest. There have been many "prettier" films to hit the silver screen. After all, this movie was made on a shoe-string budget by CG standards.

Having said that, I fell in love with this movie after five minutes. The characters are endearing, the humor was fantastic and there's a level of originality and sophistication in the scriptwriting and storytelling that have not been seen before in the area of animation, not to mention a level of "cleanness" that is rare nowadays.

And, I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who has this opinion... after all, Bob and Harvey Weinstein decided to distribute it.

Go see the film... you won't be disappointed.

-Matt Steele

(edited for misspelling)

Cae

Hoodwinked is an ultra low budget affair compared to the average 3D CGI-animated film (it was shot for a reported 15 million vs 70 to 90 million for films like Finding Nemo or Shrek 2). If you want a fairer comparison in terms of animation quality, you'd have to look at something like Jimmy Neutron (30 million budget).

What really made the animation work in terms of style is...the style. Hoodwinked almost looks like a revved up Rankin-Bass stop motion animated film in the vein of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Once you get absorbed in the world of Hoodwinked, you stop comparing it to Pixar and simply enjoy the magic little world the creators obviously put so much care into creating.

And the film is indeed absorbing! It starts a little slow, but once the story picks up steam, it is non-stop fun. It's clear that the writers weren't going to let a lower budget stop them from writing a clever and often laugh-out-loud funny script. My kids, aged 12, 8, and 3, giggled throughout the film. Your kids will LOVE the squirrel, the granny, and the singing goat, and adults will pick up more culture references in terms of homage scenes (not in adult content) to pictures like Fletch, Kill Bill, and the Matrix.

One thing comes across very clearly in Hoodwinked--love of the craft. So many seemingly throw away gags end up being very important to the story later on. Enjoy this little gem of an "indie" animated film, and imagine what these young guys could do with a bigger budget next time around!

Brariel

Lots of people bitch about the animation being pretty stone age in this film, and for a reason. Technically, "Hoodwinked" is far behind "Finding Nemo" or "Incredibles". However, if you look past the unpretty exterior, there is plenty of goodies to found inside. Hilarious punchlines and a clever script by far makes up for the lack of jaw-dropping animation. Actually, I found the outdated CGI to add another layer of quirkiness to this little flick! When comparing "Hoodwinked" to other recent releases in the genre, it comes out with flying colors. Where "Chicken Little" and "Valiant" fail, this one really excels! Dialogues are well written and full of treats that makes this one a movie to see more than once. And for once, I even enjoyed the musical numbers, catchy and well performed. It doesn't have any scenes that - like "Shark Tale" - fell plastic or numb, instead it's an 80 minute, twisting and turning roller-coaster that doesn't stop until the credits start rolling. All you have to to is buckle up, and enjoy the ride

Thetalas

A few months ago I was speaking with a friend who runs a drive-in movie theater. He asked me what movies I may want to see when he opens for the season. I remembered seeing ads for "hoodwinked" but never caught it in the theater so I told him I'd like to see it. He remembered the film and played it last weekend.

As it turned out, I could only bring my 9 year old daughter and 2 year old son because my wife had some sort of meeting. I really wasn't looking forward to seeing it with a 2 year old but surprisingly he watched the entire movie! That was a first for him. My 9 year old girl loved it laughing out loud every few minutes. Her favorite characters were the singing goat and the squirrel. I thoroughly enjoyed it too and will buy the DVD on my way home today so I can show the rest of the family (and see it a few more time myself).

Thanks for making such a wholesome and clean movie that is NOT lame in any way at all. It was genuinely clever, original, entertaining and funny, very very funny. I sincerely hope you make movies like this for years to come and that each one is more successful. Thanks!

Burking

I'll confess something up front which seems to be place me in the minority--I didn't go to see this movie hoping for great animation, a break-through in story-telling, or the chance to see self-proclaimed "artists" waxing philosophic about their personal world views. I went to have fun and enjoy myself.

On that score, Hoodwinked fully delivers. A brief glance at any trailer will tell you the animation is not the greatest, and I know some people have taken that to mean the movie itself is not worth seeing. However, that assessment is just wrong. I walked into the theater not really knowing what to expect, and spent the next hour and however long basically laughing the entire time--sometimes so hard I had to make myself stop to catch my breath. It's a really funny movie, and when it comes down to it, isn't that the point of a movie like this?

Hoodwinked basically tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but as seen through the eyes of several different characters. Not an original plot, by any means, but once you get into the story the quirkiness and eccentricities of the characters wrap you up so much you don't care.

Bottom line: If you want to have fun and see a good movie, check out Hoodwinked. If you want cutting edge technicality that may or may not reflect on the actual quality of the story and writing, go look elsewhere.

Āłł_Ÿøūrš

Despite low-budget animation, the newest feature by the Weinstein Company, "Hoodwinked," is saved by some silly animal and human characters, as well as great writing and hilarious jokes.

Basically, it's the story of Little Red Riding Hood as told from the vantage point of Red (voice of Ann Hathaway), the Big Bad Wolf (Patrick Warburton), Granny (Glenn Close) and a dimwitted, axe-wielding woodsman (Jim Belushi).

The four are arrested, accused of stealing goodie recipes and interrogated by a long-legged frog, Inspector Flippers (David Ogden Stiers). Each suspect tells a different story that somehow cleverly ties the whole event together. In other words, it's like a version of Kurosawa's "Rashomon" as produced by computer animators who could not get work at Pixar, Disney or Dreamworks.

Seeing the studio's press release, I noticed the poor computer work and thought this would be another "Valiant," but the crisp dialogue and truly funny situations made me laugh almost all the way through this film, which is director Cory Edwards' feature debut.

It's also a much more entertaining picture than "Chicken Little" or "Shark Tale" could ever hope to be. And while the puns are pretty much aimed at adults, the kids will enjoy the many animal characters, such as pigs as policemen (get it?!), a singing, hillbilly goat (Benjy Gaither), a squirrel on speed (director Edwards), a Huggy bear-type stool pigeon sheep (Chazz Palimeri) and a tricky little bunny, Boingo (Andy Dick).

This film runs 85 minutes and opens for wide release on Friday, Jan. 13.

Fomand

This is a very fast paced movie that plays to the two levels successful animated films play to: The kids are entertained, but so are the parents. There are zingers that come out of nowhere, some but not all of which are shown on the trailer. Some of those zingers will only catch the attention of the adults in the house, but don't detract from kids' enjoyment. But some will get all generations to laugh, like the "Run!!!" sequence from the trailer. A four second bit.

I was at a screening attended by families in the business, but mostly kids. Hard laughter throughout the movie. As for quality of animation, which was clearly done on the cheap, you don't notice it. The basic story quality is there. I think it is also possible that this film may nab a best song nomination. Some very catchy original tunes, well orchestrated and well sung. All in all, worth the trip to the theater, and worth buying the DVD.

Sequel probable.

playboy

I got a sneak peak and had the pleasure of seeing this film at the Cannes Film Festival in May. I was blown away by how clever this movie is. Sparking, fresh witty dialog. Original engaging characters. I was rolling in the aisle. I see a lot (I mean a lot) of movies and this film is better than everything out there. I would highly, highly recommend this to everyone I know. Let me tell you the average everyday movie goer is not looking at all the effects and cgi .. WE LIKE A GOOD STORY - DON'T SELL THAT ASPECT OF A FILM SHORT! Plus their were clever references and homages sprinkled throughout which the any intelligent moviegoer will appreciate. It is refreshing to see an Independent Animated Feature. Someone comment something negative about who was in it. Who cares? Its animation. The story is paramount, I don't care about whose voice it is. Hoodwinked is clever start to finish. I think this film is going to do well at the box office. And I think it will open the world up animation to other independent filmmakers. This film is original and a whole lot of fun.

Mozel

To me, the animation didn't seem to be quite state-of-the-art, but the movie as a whole was very creative and entertaining. I loved it, as did my wife and my two children (ages 7 and 4). I think the PG rating is appropriate - I don't think it's quite a G, but neither did I have to give a whole lot of parental guidance. I certainly have no qualms about having taken my kids. Very enjoyable for all ages.

The animation was good, just not the best I've seen. And I think it's FAR better to have a good story and a good script than to have eye-popping animation.

We saw the Tulsa premier. We liked it enough that we will see it again in the theatres when it opens (per my children's insistence), and will buy it on DVD when it's available.

Gavinranara

This movies was absolutely hilarious! We laughed so hard we were all crying! We would have liked to see more of Japeth the Goat. We would see this movie again and tell everyone to go and see it and get the DVD when it comes out! Definitely worth spending some money on and a great family movie! I didn't have any problems with the animation. I am not an expert but it was not about the animation but the story line. The writing was great and so was the plot line. All the characters were funny and they picked the right actors/actresses to voice the characters. I give "Hoodwinked" two very major thumbs up and so does my daughter, my neighbor and her little girl! Very intelligent humor and very witty!

Ueledavi

...........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA...and ORLANDO, FL

HOODWINKED easily could have been an excellent film. Who hasn't heard of Little Red Riding Hood? It unfolds as an ongoing investigation into the facts, where each character, one by one, recounts events from their own perspective. Sound interesting? Well, it seems HOODWINKED was truly well conceived, but experienced several setbacks during its execution.

What began in the mid-nineties with Toy Story, soon followed by SHREK and Finding Nemo, the C G I Category (Computer Generated Images) has established itself as a ore dominant genre with each passing year! But ALL CGI movies can't be a TOY STORY, a SHREK or an AVATAR (Shame, that!)

First off, the animation in HOODWINKED, by Weinstein Studios, just didn't manage to convince me! In their intent to mimic the "CLAYMATION" of Wallace and Gromit, they placed a limitation on themselves which impeded them from realizing the full potential of the CGI process.

In addition, they were incapable of making a film like SHREK, for example, which encountered great acceptance from both adults and from children alike! Nevertheless, since there are really so few good comedies nowadays, HOODWINKED is quite acceptable, even fun at times!

7*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome! [email protected]

Ddilonyne

I'm not going to give Hoodwinked a harsh review like so many others. This is primarily a kids movie, nothing more, nothing less. All the kids in the cinema that I was in were roaring with laughter and I must admit at times I was also laughing out loud. Some of the older people and parents will enjoy the references it makes to other movies and fairy tales, although they are dumbed down for the suited audience.

The plot is almost like an animated, kids version of Pulp Fiction. Many different stories (told by Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf, The Woodsman and Granny) intertwine.

The voice actors all do a great job with their characters and the animation, although nowhere near the best, was still pretty good. The characters were all hilarious, the funniest being a singing goat and a nutty squirrel (who I think was high).

3/5.

Binar

Now here is a modern-day animated film that is hard to classify. It's part film noir, part fantasy, part comedy, part Indiana Jones adventure, part Thin Man detective, on and on. One thing for sure: although kids might like it, this movie is geared more for adults. Even older adults as some of the humor is referenced by classic movies.

I doubt if this was a hit movie probably because of the above. Animated films need to be geared toward young kids who want to see it, and then get their parents to take them to the theater. I'm not complaining, just explaining why some of you may not have heard of this film. I heard about it by accident, since it got very little publicity.

More than the geared-toward adults-dialog, what fascinated me were the visuals. I read where other reviewers here on IMDb downgrade the artwork but I disagree. This is beautifully drawn with magnificent colors that are not bold and bright, Although most animated films of today feature bright and bold colors, which look fantastic, this looked good, too, because of the richness of the colors. It's hard to describe; you have to see it. It just looks different, but very pleasing to my eyes.

Overall, the story was only so-so and sometimes lagged in the first half of it, but I get the feeling this DVD will rise in my ratings as I see it multiple times.

If you are looking for an animated film and story that is different, look no further.

Legionstatic

Deconstructed fairy-tales and animation go hand in hand and have produced fantastic films such as THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE Christmas, SHREK, and SHREK 2.

HOODWINKED literally rips the entire fable of Red Riding Hood apart, borrowing from RED RIDING HOODWINKED, RASHOMON, PULP FICTION and even TOUCH OF EVIL. The events that led to Red Riding Hood's eventual confrontation with the Big Bad Wolf are told not from one but from several points of view as the main players -- Red, the Wolf, the Woodsman, and Granny -- are interrogated by the police who are investigating a crime from one "Goody Bandit". Every confessions reveals a lot more about each character and the more that is disclosed, the closer they are to catching up with the thief.

A sharp reconfiguation of a classic fairytale has the unfortunate aspect that it looks flat and clumsy. It's as if the entire production team felt the rush of having to turn out their product and in the process forgot to complete it. The laughs that come from its setting, while frequent and spot-on at the beginning, become clichéd after a while and makes the film look much longer than its brief 80 minutes. The animation, frankly, was bad. Here is where it fails the most. There are many moments when Red Riding Hood's lips don't match her voice and in two sequences she looks like a pre-production image. Ditto for Granny and the entire landscape-as-book sequence. A musical number feels placed for the hell of it, and I found myself guessing whodunit well before the revelation. And that's bad.

Oh well... maybe next time or when it reaches DVD and will look considerably improved. Kids will love it, though.... Aren't they the ultimate critics for a film like this?

THOMAS

forget everything you've heard about "Little Red Riding Hood",this is the true story.well,not really of course but is an animated take on the fairy tale.the gist of the story is that the police have been looking for the perpetrator of a series of crimes(non-violent of course),well one crime,actually,committed several times.anyway,a series of events lead the police to 4 suspects:Red herself,(Anne Hathaway)Granny(Glen Close),The Woodsman(Jim Belushi)The Wolf(Patrick Warburton).we are treated to a series of flashbacks,one by each character depicting the events that had transpired according to their own viewpoint.By the way,almost all the characters in the movie,from the police chief on down,are characters mostly from the original rendition of the fairly tale.Some of these characters are quite amusing anyway,through the flashbacks,we are treated to some comedy,action(including some extreme sports)some drama,mystery,and the movie even becomes a musical for a brief time.and there are some suspenseful moments.there are also some scenes of mild to moderate peril,so it might be a bit too much for very young children,otherwise it all adds up to one very entertaining experience suitable for(generally)the whole family.as well,it is also unpredictable,right until nearly the very end,when the perpetrator is finally revealed(it is not who you might think).finally, all the actor's voices really went well with their respective roles.truly a wacky,unique tale on the Red riding Hood Fable. 8/10

caif

A blend of the good ol' favorites with modern themes for a humorous mix.

The story: Not bad. Giving an adult-orientated crime theme to our usual bedtime stories. Much like Shrek, but this one plays more with current pop culture making it more easier to understand for the x-gen onwards. The crime-investigating scene was pretty interesting. It's kind of a treat to crime genre lovers because we haven't seen a who-dunnit movie in a while.

The CGI: Kinda crappy, but who cares. But then, the characters were cuter compared and more lively compared to the ones in Ice Age and so on...

Voice Acting: Not bad, even though it's mostly live-action cast and not voice actors. Stangely, Anne Hathaway was almost perfect for the role of Red.

Overall: If Pixar works are genius (Toy Story, Nemo and so on) and Dreamworks are crap (Shrek), this would be in the better-half section.

Rivik

I went to see this movie in the US with two Hungarian friends last winter when it was freezing out. We had no idea what to expect. We are all in our upper 20s, but we couldn't stomach going to see a lame King Kong movie and this was the only other movie showing. It blew us away! The music in this animation is not only original, none of the songs are pop hits, but it is outrageously funny and done by famous artists -- Ben Fold's being one of them. My wife and I bought the soundtrack just to hear a blind goat sing and dance to the "Schnitzel Song" again. The movie was so good we were laughing out loud in the theater -- even my overly serious Hungarian friends were. Best movie I have seen in years! I now own the DVD and recommend it to everyone -- old and young. I really can't say enough about it.

you secret

Hoodwinked was an example of a film that was much better than I expected. It is an amusing family film, that kids will definitely enjoy, and as a 17 year old female I too enjoyed it. Yes, it is too short, and the animation isn't always that great. But one thing I did love about Hoodwinked is that it is very funny, many funny lines in the script but one of my personal favourites was "the singing was good but the choreography was terrible". The story is a very original one, about a goodie bandit, and the search in the fairy tale world for the real culprit. It is well told, and fizzles with energy. As I said, where the film is least impressive is in some of the animation. Nice colours and backgrounds, but apart from a very clever roller-coaster-like ride on the side of a mountain, it just lacked at times visual invention, and the character animation was a tad awkward. Plus the film at less than eighty minutes is too short. Despite all that, there is a lot to recommend it, the funny script and the story do compensate hugely. Other pros are the very groovy soundtrack, and a terrific voice cast that include Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, David Ogden Stiers and Patrick Warburton. All in all, not perfect, but very funny and original, so I do recommend it. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Nahn

My husband and I took our grand boys (5, 9, and 10) to see this yesterday. The 10 year old could not stop laughing, which says a lot about a movie that doesn't resort to bathroom humor for laughs. I didn't know if he'd come up for air! When asked, the other two liked it better than the other movie we saw it with.

I agree with Matt, the animation's not the greatest, but the characters are. For those of us who are children only in our minds, the reference to the Thin Man was funny. He even had Astro, the dog.

Rent it on DVD or see it at the "cheap" theater. Bring a kid with you and laugh at him/her laughing!

Onoxyleili

We all know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, right? But with director Cory Edwards at the helm of this fairy tale, things get changed just a wee bit.

Little Red (voiced by Anne Hathaway, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) wants out of the forest. She's not happy living in such a constrained society. She dreams of flying over the mountains and seeing what lay beyond. But bad things are afoot in the forest. Food establishments are closing due to a rash of recipe thefts. Little Red has to protect her and Granny's recipe book before it disappears as well. But who's behind these thefts? And for what reason? When Little Red arrives at Granny's house, the typical meeting with The Wolf occurs sort of. Granny (voiced by Glen Close, FATAL ATTRACTION) is tied up in the closet (or is she?) The Wolf asks Little Red lots of probing questions about her basket. And as Little Red discovers that The Wolf is not Granny, The Woodsman comes bashing through a window wielding his axe and acting murderous. But is he? The police are called in to investigate this "domestic disturbance" and as Detective Nicky Flippers (voiced by David Ogden Stiers, M*A*S*H) soon discovers, many more strange things are happening than meets the eye. Granny has a triple-G tattoo on her neck and loves extreme sports (paying homage to xXx with Vin Diesel). The Wolf (voiced by Patrick Warburton, SKY HIGH) is actually a reporter researching the recent recipe thefts and feels that Granny and Little Red are at the center of it. The Woodsman (voiced by James Belushi, K-9) is just a Schnitzel-On-A-Stick salesman turned actor trying to find his inner Woodsman. And Little Red is simply a delivery girl who's disenchanted with the world around her.

Borrowing from just about every action film out there, HOODWINKED really works. Everything from THE MATRIX to CITY SLICKERS is referenced and it's done very well. The animation seems nearly old-fashioned and out-of-date, which actually adds a quaint quality to the film; it's not trying too hard to be something it isn't. It isn't FINDING NEMO or SHREK. It couldn't be with a budget only a fraction of what those two animation goliaths cost. This is an independent film (gotta love 'em!), so money is stretched thin. Which leads me to my next point When the film was put out at theaters (in limited release), it didn't have the marketing budget that Pixar and Disney had for theirs. Professional reviews were cool (to say the least), which leads me to wonder if this movie had been put out by Disney or Pixar what the reviews might have been like. With action figures at Toys-R-Us, computer games, posters, and God only knows what else, the financial ability of the production company might have weighed heavy on the minds of reviewers and how children (and adults) viewed it. Trust me, this IS an issue. Independent films struggle under the shadow of these huge film companies.

And here's the thing: this movie is GOOD. It's not perfect by any means, but it's fun, light, engaging, voiced well, animated fine, and uproariously entertaining. I especially enjoyed Twitchy the speed-talking squirrel whose brush with caffeine addiction makes for some of the funnier moments. I also liked Japeth the singing Goat, who takes a ride with Little Red through a mine that looks suspiciously like the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction at Disneyland. A little needling at the Disney corporation maybe? Loved it!

And who is the recipe thief, you may be asking. Well that's something you'll HAVE to find out for yourself and it's worth it.

Kazracage

Ever since the success of "The Incredibles" (a children's film that takes the bold and innovative step of respecting kids enough to NOT rely solely on fart jokes and bathroom humor for cheap laughs), animated filmmakers have been scrambling to copy Brad Bird and Pixar's format. The basic idea is to have inside jokes that kids won't get but that adults can appreciate ("Shrek 2"), while at the same time appealing to the young folks with an easy to follow plot and stunning animation.

And the makers of "Hoodwinked" try, really they do. It's just that the writing, which is supposed to be clever and sharp, ultimately fails miserably at both. The idea (the "REAL" story behind Little Red Riding Hood, which is almost surely already a book somewhere) is a good one, but the plot comes across confusing and scatter-shot. None of the main characters' back stories are interesting enough to follow; kids may get a kick out of an overly caffeinated chipmunk named Twitchy, but almost all of the other grand attempts at humor (hmm...a German Woodsman selling Schnitzel...these folks really ARE in-step with today's typical elementary school banter, huh?) fall completely flat.

Which brings us to the characters, another major problem with the movie. It is unwritten Hollywood law that all animated films have at least one highly adorable character if for no other reason than to sell a few toys (heck, even a mediocrity like 'Chicken Little' has the oddly endearing "Fish out of Water"). Not only do the makers of "Hoodwinked" fail to come up with one such marketable character, they create a cast that is largely unlikeable. In "Hoodwinked" we have an overly wry "Big Bad Wolf", an overwhelmingly unfunny Woodsman, a stereotypical 'wild' Granny, and a salt-of-the earth Little Red Riding Hood who comes across as though she belts back a shot of scotch and chain smokes each morning before heading to her nine-to-fiver. Detective Bill Stork is almost painful to watch both because of the bad fake accent and yawn-a-minute Sherlock Holmes impersonation.

The film gets a 5 out of 10 because it isn't blatantly offensive, but it is most definitely unfunny for adults and for any kid possessing at least the worldly sophistication of a six-year-old. You may as well rent it if your cable has been shut off and a winter storm is approaching, but don't go out of your way to find it, either.

Aurizar

The old fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood is a staple of the fairy tale stories. Red Riding Hood goes to visit her Granny in the woods, ending up being attacked by The Wolf, with the Woodsman saving the day. Hoodwinked is where the fairy tale ends. After what unfolds in the traditional story, Red, Wolf, Granny and The Woodsman are arrested for conspiracy. Snack businesses throughout the forest have been closing down, with owners secret recipes being stolen; the latest victim The Muffin Man. With each one a suspect, each of their stories are unfolded to reveal the mystery.

Based upon the fairy tale, Hoodwinked spins the whole story of Little Red Riding Hood on it's head, running off in a completely new direction. While pieces of the original story are present, the four split stories rework it into new territory, as each story unfolds and interweaves, revealing different views and perceptions from each character.

The script for Hoodwinked is the real structure of the film. While many animated films can release weight onto the visuals, Hoodwinked doesn't have that option. With amazingly detailed animated films from Pixar, and walking in Pixar's shadow Dreamworks, Hoodwinked severely pales in comparison. The animation is flat with mat colours, it has the same level of animation quality of Toy Story, which started the 3D animation trend; you can basically call it archaic.

Though calling the film bad based on the film quality is a low cop-out. The screenplay by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech is the strongest element. Hoodwinked is very cleverly written with the four separate stories. Weaving in other fairy tales references, yet not blatantly obvious. Cultaural and film references are kept minimal, the comedy evolves from the characters. While the script has been cleverly writing, the puns and jokes really fall flat; it's not very funny. Yes there are laughs to be had, but its not constant with many jokes clunking along. Hoodwinked runs off little laughs and snickers; nothing to really grab your sides; though at least they didn't resort to toilet humor for cheap laughs. The mystery story isn't that much of a mystery, you can figure it out early on in the piece.

Not using celebrity status for the voice talent, Anne Hathaway, Patrick Warburton, Glenn Close and James Belushi all work well as the four leads. The supporting cast with David Ogden Stiers, Anthony Anderson and Andy Dick all add great support.

Hoodwinked has taken an interesting spin on the fairy tale, yet lacking a lot of decent laughs and a few to many Looney Tunes situations, Hoodwinked doesn't leave much of a memorable mark.

Vuzahn

I was shopping for DVD's for my kids lately and my eye caught the cover of Hoodwinked. I thought it strange that I missed this at the cinema because with my preteen kids I have seen just about all the animation movies.

It turns out that this movie was never played at the cinemas in this country (Greece) and it came out straight on DVD . All I can say is what a shame because this is one great animation movie and all it was missing was cutting edge cgi (big deal when the story is so good) and a major studio to promote the heck out of it.

I left the kids at home to watch it while I was away and when I returned they were jumping from excitement demanding that I sit right then to watch it myself. This is how good this movie was, the kids saw it twice in a row and the father had a blast.

Bottom line, you can have a technically top cgi movie which is average, even mundane and on the other hand you can have one with average cgi with a top story and direction which at the end of the day is far better. This is a classic.

Dugor

We're probably living through a period in film history that will be remembered as the emergence of CGI: leading the pack and ahead by a mile are Pixar, whose productions consistently set examples of how children's movies should be made, but walking the trail that Pixar have blazed over the years, other film-makers have contributed admirably to the newfound medium of animation. In doing so, artists and audiences alike have finally been able to find visual confirmation (in the 3 dimensional animation renderings) that nearly all elements of Live Action entertainment are absolutely compatible with animation, and that they will in fact be enhanced exponentially by the novelty of the medium collision alone.

Cory Edwards' "Hoodwinked" is yet another example of modern animation's increasing shift toward older age groups. As all will already know before viewing, the story is a reworking of the classic Little Red Riding Hood folktale, and borrowing heavily from the premise of the immensely popular "Shrek" films, the setting and characters in the film remain anachronistically traditional while the plot details, character treatment and especially dialogue are made fiercely contemporary. While this simple film device is bound to outwear its welcome one of these days, "Hoodwinked" is a clear demonstration that it hasn't done so yet. Add a little nonlinear, intertwining subplot, a hint of the "Rashomon" Effect and a few immature giggles and you get what proves to be perfectly entertaining.

Said entertainment however, will only take effect pending one contribution from the audience: we must give the animation criticism a rest. Some might say we must forgive the animation, but I refuse to say that because I don't believe there is anything here to forgive. Granted, there have been some simply stellar animated productions whose visuals have stunned audiences worldwide, such as "Princess Mononoke" and "Cars", and granted, the animation in "Hoodwinked" is on a par with a video game of two or three years ago. But what has been forgotten in the haze of elitist visual critique, and what needs to be remembered, is that films are not moving pictures, they are stories. A great story, a great screenplay, will carry a film with or without mind-blowing effects and it has never, in the history of the world, been the other way around.

This is what "Hoodwinked" has to offer audiences: a broadly engaging story, sassily scripted and deliciously delivered by all, yes, all of the leading actors. If one were forced to split hairs and pick the highlights of the voice talents, Patrick Warburton and Andy Dick would emerge at the top, as the Wolf and Boingo the Bunny respectively. And again in the tradition of "Shrek", (despite cynical reaction, the film remains inspired by rather than derivative of its Green Ogre predecessor), the pop culture satire, both filmic and general, old and new, is nearly always spot on. Admittedly, scenes such as Granny Puckett "talking Black" with her snowboarding homies will probably render the film very dated in a few decades, but so what: right now it's hilarious. This is the kind of film that is willing to sacrifice timelessness for laughs, and its audience is mostly the kind that is willing to let it.

In fact, overall enjoyment of the film is largely dependant on this: audiences letting it be what it is. Go ahead and laugh at the Generation Y culture references, at the 70's culture references even, at the hyperactive squirrel, the bunny aware of his cuteness, the 'Turtle scene', and just don't hold any grudges against the rest. You'll feel better for it, trust me.

Zugar

I saw Hoodwinked yesterday with my wife and two kids, ages 7 & 4. My kids basically see 80%-90% of all kids movies that are released, thanks to DVD, and we see them as well. My wife and I also love movies. Anyway, I was very disappointed with this film. The plot, a take-off on little red riding hood, with a detective trying to piece together who had been responsible for tying up granny, was not one that a kid could appreciate. The story is told through the interrogation/questioning of the four suspects, with variations from story to story.

I laughed twice, my wife was beside herself. My 4-year old was fidgety and interested in anything but the movie and my 7-year old had a tough time explaining the story to me afterwards. The jokes were so lame, so flat, but I realize humor is quite subjective. Still, I'm not going to compare this to a pixar or dreamworks kids' movie, but like even something remotely good, like any kids' movie was superior to this. Rubbish. Take Madagascar or Garfield, mediocre kids' movies --> 10x more fun and funny. Ice Age, 100x; Wallace & Grommit, 1000x (I guess I made those comparisons). You get the message. Maybe this was on par with Valiant, as that one I have not yet seen, but right now, both my 7 and 4 year old are fortunately still stuck on Sky High and March of the Penguins, and this one, well, just had nothing. The movie theater was sold out, all kids with parents, on a holiday. It was weirdly quiet throughout the film.

The animation was good enough, as movies like this don't need the best animation to entertain a kid, but only one of my kids was entertained: my 7 year old could watch a screen without reception and be entertained, but this movie had a plot that was not easy for a kid under age 8 to follow, and did not have either enough silly references or slapstick silliness to entertain.

Blech, - walkman

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