Hoodwinked!, also titled Hoodwinked on its theatrical poster and in other sources, is a 2005 American computer-animated family action comedy film which tells the story of the Little Red Riding Hood folktale as a police investigation, utilizing flashbacks to show multiple characters' points of view. It was independently produced by Blue Yonder Films with Kanbar Entertainment, directed by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, and produced by Maurice Kanbar, David K. Lovegren, Sue Bea Montgomery, and Preston Stutzman. The film was released by the Weinstein Company in Los Angeles, CA on December 16, 2005 for a one week engagement, before expanding nationwide in the USA on January 13, 2006. It stars the voices of Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, David Ogden Stiers, Xzibit, Anthony Anderson, Chazz Palminteri, and Cory Edwards.
Hoodwinked! marks one of the earliest examples of a completely independently funded computer animated film. Due to the film's small budget, its animation was produced in the Philippines, and a less realistic design, inspired by stop motion films was decided on. The Weinstein Company did not sign on as the film's distributor until near the end of production, and while few changes were made to the film by the company, they had many of the roles recast with more famous actors. Critical reception to the film was varied, with negative reviews criticizing its animation and considering it inferior to the Shrek series, while positive reviews praised the film's script and cast.
A sequel called Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil was released in 2011.
The movie opens as Little Red Riding Hood discovers that the Big Bad Wolf has disguised himself as Granny, just as the ax-wielding woodsman bursts through the window, startling everyone. The police quickly arrive, and led by detective Nicky Flippers, Red, Wolf, Granny, and the Woodsman are all questioned about the events leading up to the incident.
Red explains that she was delivering goodies for her grandmother when she discovered a threat from the mysterious Goodie Bandit. Hoping to save her Granny’s recipes, she embarked upon a journey to take them to the top of a nearby mountain where her Granny lives. On her way, she encountered the Wolf, who asked her a series of suspicious questions. She managed to escape, and eventually reached her Granny’s house; however she found the Wolf already waiting in ambush.
What at first seems to be an open-and-shut case becomes confused though, once it is learned that the Wolf is an investigative reporter. He reveals that he was searching for a lead on the identity of the Goodie Bandit, and had reason to believe that Granny and Red were the culprits. Locating Red, he questioned her, hoping to get to the bottom of the mystery. When Red escaped, he headed for her Granny’s house and arriving first, went undercover, hoping to trick her into giving him the evidence he needed.
When questioned, the Woodsman reveals that he is in fact an aspiring actor who was only trying out for the part of a woodsman in a commercial. After his schnitzel truck was robbed by the Goodie Bandit, he went out into the woods to get in character for his role, and spent the rest of the day felling trees. An especially large tree rolled after him, and pushed him through the window of Granny’s home.
When the investigation turns to Granny, she reveals that, unbeknownst to her family, she is an extreme sports enthusiast. During a ski race earlier that day, she was attacked by the opposing team, but got away safely after learning that they were hired by the Goodie Bandit.
Despondent over her Granny’s lack of honesty, Red wanders off alone. Meanwhile, Nicky Flippers realizes that the one commonality between all four stories was a bunny named Boingo, and concludes that he is the Goodie Bandit. However, Boingo has already snuck into the home and stolen Granny’s recipes. Red sees Boingo and follows him to his hideout at a cable car station, but the police pursue him in the wrong direction. Granny, the Wolf, and the Woodsman manage to locate Boingo as he is explaining his evil scheme to Red. Boingo plans to add an addictive substance to the stolen recipes, and then explode the forest, making way for new real state for expanding his business.
The Wolf and the Woodsman go undercover to distract Boingo as Granny sneaks into his lair, however open conflict ensues. Boingo sends a bound and tied Red down the mountain in a cable car loaded with explosives, and Granny goes after her, with Boingo and his henchmen in pursuit. Red manages to free herself, and escapes with Granny, while the police, who have been located by the Wolf’s assistant, are waiting at the bottom of the mountain to arrest Boingo and his henchmen.
The Woodsman finds success as part of a yodeling troupe, and Red, Granny, the Wolf, and the Wolf’s assistant are enlisted by Nicky Flippers to join a crime solving organization called Happily Ever After Agency.
- Anne Hathaway as Red Puckett, a young girl who delivers goodies throughout the forest for her grandmother, but dreams of having a more adventurous life.
- Glenn Close as Granny Puckett, a famous goodie maker who leads a secret double life. She is Red's grandmother.
- Jim Belushi as Kirk, the Woodsman. He is a muscular, German actor who is pretending to be a woodsman.
- Patrick Warburton as Wolf W. Wolf, an investigative reporter and a master of disguise.
- Anthony Anderson as Det. Bill Stork
- David Ogden Stiers as Det. Nicky Flippers, a British frog who leads the story's investigation.
- Xzibit as Chief Ted Grizzly
- Chazz Palminteri as Woolworth, a sheep who is one of Wolf's informants.
- Andy Dick as Boingo, a rabbit who used to work for The Muffin Man.
- Cory Edwards as Twitchy Squirrel, Wolf's hyperactive sidekick and photographer.
- Benjy Gaither as Japeth the Goat. He is an old, blind, Southern-accented, hermit goat. Due to a mountain witch putting a spell on him 37 years ago, Japeth sings every single word he says.
- Joshua J. Greene as Jimmy Lizard, the director of a commercial that Kirk auditions for.
- Ken Marino as Raccoon Jerry
- Tom Kenny as Tommy
- Preston Stutzman as Timmy
- Tony Leech as Glen
- Kevin Michael Richardson as P-Biggie
- Tara Strong as Zorra
- Tye Edwards as Dolph. He is the leader of the Evil Ski Team and has an Austrian accent.
"...I realize that there were other independently-funded projects being done at the same time, but... we were the first... the first kind of a new model and a new way of making an animated film. It was made with no studio money, overseas, then picked up by a major distributor. A few other animated films have followed this path, but not to the level of success that Hoodwinked was able to achieve. I know Veggie Tales had a movie come out earlier that year, but that was with a struck deal and brand recognition. Hoodwinked was this freak of nature that was made completely outside of the studio system and, thankfully, worked. I rarely toot my own horn, but these are facts that never get mentioned and I am really proud of what our little film did."
Cory Edwards, director of
Hoodwinked![2][3]
Hoodwinked! was one of the first independent computer animated films to be produced without the aid of a distributor.[2][3] It was produced on a budget of less than $8 million,[1] significantly less than a typical computer animated film's budget.[4] Producer David Lovegren explained that "Six or seven years ago, the idea of doing Hoodwinked as an independent [animated] feature would have been impossible. Animation was just too expensive and only major companies like Disney could afford budgets that reached a million dollars a minute. However, technology has benefited the independent film companies. Today filmmakers can buy production software that allows them to create theatrical style animation at acceptable cost levels."[5]
The filmmakers only made the film independently by necessity,[6] and Cory Edwards has said that "It’s not a model to be followed. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, seat-of-your pants kind of thing that just barely came off." However he added, "...if you’re going to push it to the limits, do this one-time thing for your first big film... If we knew then what we know now, we might have been less ambitious. Thank goodness we were!"[7]
Hoodwinked! was the first film to be produced by Kanbar Animation Studios, an independent production company founded by entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar and Sue Bea Montgomery who had previously worked in animation as a post-production manager on Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire.[8] Montgomery had also served as an associate producer on the 1999 indie film Chillicothe made by brothers Cory and Todd Edwards. After unsuccessfully trying to find new opportunities for the brothers, Montgomery set up a meeting for them with Kanbar, who had invested in Chillicothe.[9] Accompanied by their producer Preston Stutzman, the Edwards brothers pitched a number of live-action film ideas to Kanbar,[10] but it was after being shown an animated short film they had made called Wobots that he became impressed. He suggested the possibility of making an animated feature with them, telling a familiar fairy tale with a modern twist, and gave them a month to come up with a story idea.[9] Kanbar had expressed interest in Cinderella or Pinocchio, however the Edwards' did not like these ideas as they had already been done by Walt Disney.[10] A few days after the brothers' initial meeting with Kanbar, Todd came up with the idea of telling the story of Little Red Riding Hood as a police investigation, using multiple points of view. Kanbar was taken with the idea and agreed to fully finance the film before even seeing a finished script,[9] with the initial intent of releasing the film Direct-to-DVD.[4] Cory served as the film's main director, as he had more experience with animation, comedy, and children's entertainment, while Todd served as co-director. Disney animation veteran David Lovegren joined as a producer on the film, and Tony Leech who had worked with the Edwards brothers on Chillicothe was initially hired as an editor, but proved to be so valuable to the production that he was given a role as co-director.[5]
The filmmakers found independently producing the film to have both benefits and challenges. While they did not have to deal with rewrites imposed by a studio,[5] their budget kept them from making potentially beneficial changes to the story as well once production was underway. Todd Edwards related that "Money doesn’t just buy you more talent and more machinery, it also buys you flexibility on a story level. At Disney, if they don’t like the third act, they just throw the whole thing out and re-animate the whole thing, even if it’s finished...We had no such luxury, and so in a way, you’re watching our first version of the movie." Knowing ahead of time their inability to alter the film's script once animating had begun, an effort was made by the filmmakers to finalize the script as much as possible before the start of production, which is not a common practice for studio produced animated films.[11]
Turning away from the well known archetypes of the Little Red Riding Hood characters, the filmmakers looked to the 1950 Japanese film Rashomon for inspiration. Producer Preston Stutzman explained that "The whole film is about surprises and secret lives." Not wanting the character of Red to be "boring" or "too innocent" she was patterned on James Dean and given the desire of leaving home to find her way in the world. Todd Edwards had the idea of basing the Wolf on Chevy Chase's character in Fletch, feeling that it would be fun to apply the character’s dry, deadpan style of humor to an animated wolf, while Cory Edwards created the hyperactive character of Twitchy the squirrel to serve as the Wolf’s foil. Going against types, Red’s Granny was written as a thrill-seeking action hero, while the strong Woodsman was written as being childishly incompetent.[12]
The film’s cast was originally going to be composed mostly of little known actors; however as the producers gained greater confidence in the film, larger name actors were brought in.[4] Patrick Warburton was the first celebrity actor to join the film. He joined purely out of a love for the script, and unlike most of the celebrity actors in the film, he was hired before the film found a distributor. Though Cory Edwards had originally envisioned the Wolf as sounding like a mixture between a young Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, he praised Warburton’s performance, saying that he "made The Wolf his own character." Andy Dick also joined the cast early on, playing the character of Boingo. He utilized improvisation, and approached the role differently from how it had been written. The filmmakers were enthusiastic over Dick’s angle on the character, with Todd Edwards relating that "What we had written was kind of stock, to be honest, but Andy Dick, well, where he was supposed to laugh, he’d be crying. Where he was supposed to yell, he’d be laughing. He just mixed it up!"[12] Prolific voice performers Tara Strong, David Ogden Stiers, and Tom Kenny were cast in multiple roles, with Strong playing both protagonist Red, and Zorra, one of the film’s villains, Stiers playing Kirk, the Woodsman and Nicky Flippers, and Kenny playing Tommy and Woolworth the Sheep.[1] In an effort to save costs, the film's directors, and producer Preston Stutzman all took on roles.[13] Cory Edwards took on the role of Twitchy the squirrel, with Pro Tools being used to speed up the recording of his dialogue by 50%,[14] Todd Edwards took on the role of Sandwich Man, Tony Leech played both Det. Bill Stork and Glen,[1] and Stutzman played Timmy. Cory and Todd also turned to their cousin Tye Edwards, and their friend Joshua J. Greene to fill the roles of Dolph and Jimmy Lizard, respectively,[13][15] while the role of Japeth the Goat was written specifically for Benjy Gaither, a childhood friend of the Edwards, who had collaborated with them on Wobots.[10] Emmy winning actress Sally Struthers was brought in to play Granny Puckett and Joel McCrary was cast as Chief Grizzly.[1]
"...they weren’t specialists at the beginning of the project. There wasn’t a lighting team and an animation team and an animatic team. Everyone did everything. That isn’t always best, because you find out later that someone’s forté is lighting, but he’s been animating characters."
-Todd Edwards, co-director of
Hoodwinked!, on the film's animators.
[7]
The film's animation was created on Maya software, and in an effort to save costs, was produced in Manila, Philippines by a group of around twenty animators who had previously been employed with an ill-fated independent animation studio which Hoodwinked! producer David Lovegren had helped to start.[5] These animators had little experience with computer animation and feature length films, and had to be trained by the producers over the course of the film's production.[6] They were accustomed to working at fast paces however, and despite their small numbers, each phase of production was able to be completed within a short period of time. Towards the end of the film's production, another animation studio was enlisted to finish the lighting and compositing.[7]
The filmmakers found that the most difficult aspect of producing the film independently was their inability to fix all of the mistakes made in the film's animation.[4][11] Todd Edwards explained that "it becomes an equation: “I have 10 things that I would like to change in this shot. I have the time and the budget to do three. Pick those three and then let’s move on.” And that was hard to do."[11]
Knowing that they couldn't match the quality of other CG animated movies (such as ones produced by Pixar), the film was instead designed to imitate the look of classic stop motion animated movies. "We know we [couldn’t] be Monsters, Inc., so [we picked] a style that we could achieve well on this budget, instead of trying to overachieve and doing it poorly" said Cory Edwards who cited Rankin-Bass as an inspiration. He further explained, "If we approach our look like that—photographed miniatures in stop-motion—and if that nostalgia resonates with our audience as far as that look, then we’re not going to shoot ourselves in the foot trying to put every freckle and hair on photoreal creatures."[5] The Nightmare Before Christmas was cited as an inspiration for the filmmakers to try to bend the shapes of characters into extremes, and choices unconventional to computer animated films were intentionally made, such as making one of the Woodsman's eyes bigger than the other, and giving Red only four fingers, so as to make her look more like a doll. Producer Katie Hooten explained that "CG in the past has been pushing the envelope to make things look more realistic, but Hoodwinked takes things back to where CG looks a lot more like a cartoon."[7] Distancing the film from what producer Preston Stutzman called the "candy-coated, brightly colored pastel world[s]" of other CG animated films, an attempt was made to bring an organic look to the film, and dirt was rubbed into the colors.[12]
"Sally Struthers was the original Granny for two years of the project. She did a fantastic voice. When Glenn Close walked in, she said, 'Why do you need me? Sally did a great job.' I didn't want to say 'because Harvey made us.' I'm friends with Sally through some other people -- I ended up writing her a nice note... Sally did more of a southern, battleaxe granny, Glenn's was more a prim and proper one."
-Cory Edwards, director of
Hoodwinked!, on the recasting of Sally Struthers.
[15]
Hoodwinked! was shown to potential distributors throughout various stages of its production. Though a distribution offer was made by DreamWorks, it was turned down as the filmmakers did not feel that it was a good deal.[16] Towards the end of the film's production, the then newly formed Weinstein Company signed on as its distributor.[17] The Weinsteins had recently left the Walt Disney Company and according to Cory Edwards, they "loved the idea of picking up an animated film and giving Disney a run for their money."[16] The film was nearly complete by the time that the Weinsteins became involved, and Edwards has stated that nothing was done by them to ruin "the original vision of the movie," however a few edit suggestions were made to quicken the film's pace which Edwards felt were good ideas, as he considered the first twenty minutes to be dragging.[17]
The Weinstein Company also heavily recast the film with larger name actors in the hopes of attracting a larger audience. Anne Hathaway replaced Tara Strong in the lead role of Red, Jim Belushi replaced David Ogden Stiers in the role of Kirk, the Woodsman, Anthony Anderson replaced Tony Leech in the role of Det. Bill Stork, Glenn Close replaced Sally Struthers in the role of Granny Puckett, Xzibit replaced Joel McCrary in the role of Chief Grizzly, and Chazz Palminteri replaced Tom Kenny in the role of Woolworth the Sheep.[1] Despite these recastings, Tara Strong retained the much smaller role of Zorra, David Ogden Stiers retained the role of Nicky Flippers, Tom Kenny retained the role of Tommy, and Tony Leech retained the role of Glen. Many high profile country singers were considered for replacing Benjy Gaither in the role of Japeth the Goat, however none of them were available and Gaither retained the role. The Weinsteins also wanted to replace Joshua J. Greene in the role of Jimmy Lizard with a more famous actor such as Albert Brooks, however the role was ultimately not recast. Edwards appreciated the reason for the recastings and attributed a large part of the film's success to them. However he expressed disappointment with the amount of recasting that was done, saying, "At a certain point it became Recast-o-Rama, everybody got recast-happy. My feeling is, you get two or three names on that poster, you're fine. Our Hoodwinked poster has like a paragraph of names on it. After a certain point, I don't think you need more than two, three celebrities -- give it to the voice actors. It sweetens the pot." Since the film's animation had already been mostly completed once the recastings were made, the new actors had to deliver their lines exactly as the old actors had done, giving them no opportunity to improvise. Edwards expressed disappointment with the fact that the original actors would not get any credit for their improvisations in the film, which were copied by the replacement actors.[15]
The soundtrack was released in December 2005. It features a score by John Mark Painter and songs performed by various artists, including Todd Edwards, Cory Edwards, Anne Hathaway, Ben Folds, Pupil and more. Due to legal disputes, the CD was pulled off of the market a month after its release[18] and wasn't available again until November 2009.[19] It was re-released on iTunes in January 2010.[20]
The song Great Big World replaced an earlier version called Woods Go-Round. Both versions were written by Todd Edwards who called Woods Go-Round "a more kidsy type of song...in the vein of Saturday morning cartoons." He explained that it was removed because it "didn’t really fit with what we had." Parts of John Mark Painter's score were replaced with a contemporary rock score in an attempt to appeal to older audience members.[21]
|
| 1. |
"Into the Book" |
Instrumental |
0:33 |
| 2. |
"Great Big World" |
Anne Hathaway |
1:57 |
| 3. |
"Critters Have Feelings" |
Todd Edwards |
3:34 |
| 4. |
"Nicky Intro" |
Instrumental |
0:16 |
| 5. |
"Red is Blue" |
Ben Folds |
4:21 |
| 6. |
"Be Prepared" |
Benjy Gaither |
2:46 |
| 7. |
"Go Flippers" |
Instrumental |
0:10 |
| 8. |
"Little Boat" |
Daniel Rogers |
4:38 |
| 9. |
"Red/Wolf Stare-Down" |
Instrumental |
0:11 |
| 10. |
"Runaway" |
Josh Greene |
3:01 |
| 11. |
"The Schnitzel Song" |
Fleming K. McWilliams and Jim Belushi |
2:04 |
| 12. |
"Tree Critter" |
Todd Edwards |
2:54 |
| 13. |
"Three G's" |
Instrumental |
0:23 |
| 14. |
"The Real G" |
Cory Edwards |
2:44 |
| 15. |
"Blow Your House Down" |
Pupil |
1:02 |
| 16. |
"Hoodwinked Theme, Granny Techno Mix (Banzai!)" |
Instrumental |
0:55 |
| 17. |
"Eva Deanna" |
Todd Edwards |
1:24 |
| 18. |
"Chopping for Actors" |
Instrumental |
0:26 |
| 19. |
"Glow" |
Todd Edwards |
1:17 |
| 20. |
"Nicky Knows" |
Instrumental |
3:19 |
| 21. |
"Top of the Woods" |
Andy Dick |
2:41 |
| 22. |
"Delivery Girl" |
Instrumental |
0:19 |
| 23. |
"Lair Rescue" |
Instrumental |
0:32 |
| 24. |
"Cable Car Rescue/End of the Line" |
Instrumental |
1:36 |
| 25. |
"Bounce" |
Todd Collins |
3:51 |
| 26. |
"Bossa for Boingo" |
Instrumental |
1:20 |
| 27. |
"Hoodwinked Theme (Surfer Version)" |
Instrumental |
0:21 |
|
Total length:
|
48:35 |
|
Hoodwinked! received a one week, limited release in Los Angeles, CA on December 16, 2005 to qualify for Oscar consideration.[22] A nationwide U.S. release was scheduled for Christmas Day, 2005, however it was moved to January 13, 2006 to avoid competition with other films released during the holiday season.[17]
In its opening four day weekend, the film grossed $16,879,402 in 2,394 theaters in the United States ranking #2 at the box office, averaging $7,050 per venue,[23] and falling only $50,000 short of the box office's number one spot.[24] At the end of its theatrical run it had grossed a total of $110,013,167 worldwide — $51,386,611 in the United States and $58,626,556 in other territories.[23]
Critical reception has been mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes, as of May 31, 2011, 47% of 123 critics gave the film positive reviews. The site's consensus is: "This fractured fairytale doesn't have the wit or animation quality to compete with the likes of the Shrek franchise."[25] On Metacritic, it received a score of 45/100 ("mixed or average reviews").[26]
James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave it two and a half stars out of four, and wrote, “Watching the same, familiar story told multiple times can become tedious, irrespective of the variations…Despite the occasionally amusing lines and non-stop references to other fairy tales, it slips into boredom.[27] Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News wrote that the film “isn’t destined to become a classic. Oddly enough, if it hadn't tried so hard to be "now," it might have had a better shot at being remembered later.”[28] Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle gave the film two and a half stars praising its “snappy dialogue and fresh characterizations”, though considering the film’s plot underdeveloped and characters lacking in motivation.[29] Peter Rainer writing for The Christian Science Monitor gave the film a C+ and said that “When it comes to computer animation, Pixar has raised the bar so high that even a perfectly OK specimen like Hoodwinked seems drab by comparison…It's a moderately enjoyable escapade that isn't quite clever enough for adults and not quite imaginative enough for children.”[30] While Ty Burr of The Boston Globe praised the film’s “cheerfully sardonic vocal performances” he wrote, “There are some cute surprises in the telling...but "Hoodwinked" never builds to a level of sustained comic mania…One aches to think what the great Looney Tunes directors could have done with this material.[31] Justin Chang of Variety called the film “a fast-paced, fitfully clever 3-D-animated feature that will entertain tykes but provide scant novelty for auds who've had their fill of revisionist fairy tale gags and postmodern 'tude from the "Shrek" franchise.”[32]
However, many critics were more enthusiastic about the film. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave “Hoodwinked” an A-, calling it “a wacked kiddie Rashomon in which the different versions dovetail with a logic as impeccable as it is flat-out buggy...Hoodwinked's most radical feature is that it's a ride without heroes—unless, that is, you count the filmmakers, who could end up doing for independent animation what Soderbergh and Tarantino did for indie film: planting it on the map as a viable mass-culture form."[33] Nancy Churnin writing for the Dallas Morning News gave the film a B and said that “it's got an upstart charm, a clever premise, appealing characters voiced by a terrific cast and a script that should make you laugh out loud more than once.”[34] In his review for the Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington wrote, “the voice cast is tops, the songs (by Todd Edwards) are catchy and the script is clever...it packs more verbal wit and surprise than the usual cartoon.”[35] Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave it three stars out of five saying that “Hoodwinked has laughs and plenty of them.”[36] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave it three and a half stars out of five calling it “high-energy, imaginative entertainment”.[22]
One of the main criticisms of the film was the poor quality of its animation. Berardinelli called it some of the worst CGI animation in memory and said, "The characters have plastic looks (kind of like that creepy Burger King guy in the TV commercials) and the backgrounds are uninteresting and one-dimensional. On more than one occasion, I thought I was watching something made for TV. When compared to today's visual standards for animated films, Hoodwinked is far below the curve."[27] Westbrook felt that the animation worked well for the animal characters, but said that "the humans have a glassy sheen and brittle hardness, much like work done in the early days of CG...That art has come too far to embrace a throwback like Hoodwinked as lovably quaint. It's simply dated."[29] Burr said that the film's "cheaply rendered surfaces resemble Teletubbieland reupholstered with Naugahyde."[31] Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post compared the characters to rubber toys, and said that "their faces are without nuance or vividness. It's hard to become emotionally involved in the fate of rubber objects. In movement, especially, do they lack grace and conviction. It seems like the recent breakthroughs in computerized magic have bypassed the poor Edwards fellows, as it looks stuck somewhere in the 1970s, or maybe even earlier."[37]
Hoodwinked! was released on DVD on May 2, 2006 and on Blu-ray and DVD on February 15, 2011. The film was the highest selling DVD in its initial week of release, selling over 700,000 copies and making over $13.5 million.[38] A twenty-two minute behind the scenes video podcast is available for free on iTunes.[39]
Timothy Sexton writing for Associated Content called Hoodwinked!, "a film with ideas and political and cultural and social implications" in his article "Hoodwinked: A Postmodern Examination of the Dangers of Runaway Capitalism." He considered it to be one of the first "postmodern" animated films and felt that the filmmakers were saying "that truth isn't absolute." He went on to read political subtext into the film, calling it "the most subversive movie released nationwide since Fahrenheit 9/11." Sexton saw it as a critique on the free enterprise system, feeling that the film shows that "capitalism that runs amok without regulation is detrimental to society." He drew comparisons between the film's villain and the typical American capitalist business owner, going so far as to say that the character was "clearly based on people like Bill Gates and Sam Walton; a business tycoon whose road to success lies not in creating better products, but in forcing competition out of business."[40]
The film's director and co-writer Cory Edwards commented on the interpretation saying, "If Mr. Sexton sees my movie as a sermon against mega-corporations monopolizing America, that’s fine. But our villain is just as easily the face of every dictator in history, or every schoolyard bully who is compensating for low self-esteem, or any Mafia boss who dominates by either absorbing or wiping out his competition. Hey, if you look at an abstract painting and see the devil in a red splotch, that’s your prerogative...I guess a movie’s message is only partially supplied by the filmmaker" and explaining that he and the other filmmakers were simply drawing from the evil schemes common of James Bond films, Bugs Bunny cartoons, and The A-Team.[41]
In May 2007 Time Magazine ran an article by James Poniewozik titled "Is Shrek Bad for Kids?" which considered the negative effects on children of being raised with fairy tale satires, instead of the original stories. Poniewozik mentioned Hoodwinked! saying, "I thought Hoodwinked! and most of the Shrek series were hilarious...But even if you ultimately reject their messages, old-school fairy tales are part of our cultural vocabulary. There's something a little sad about kids growing up in a culture where their fairy tales come pre-satirized, the skepticism, critique and revision having been done for them by the mama birds of Hollywood."[42] Cory Edwards wrote into the magazine, expressing his similar sentiments and saying "As the writer-director of Hoodwinked, it may surprise you that I couldn’t agree more with James Poniewozik’s article. Even as I was making the film, I asked myself the same question: Are we parodying something that kids should have the chance to experience first, “un-parodied?” We went to great lengths to distance our film from Shrek’s humor (and no, I don’t think Shrek considers kids). I would hope that Hoodwinked and its sequels will be seen as trying to do something genuine with its characters, rather than look for the next joke at the expense of innocence. We ALL need the real folklore of fairytales, whether we admit it or not."[43]
A sequel, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, was released on April 29, 2011 to negative reviews.[44] Cory Edwards chose to not direct the sequel due to concerns about typecasting, and partly due to having had a negative experience with some of the first film's "key players," feeling that he had been poorly treated by them. Anne Hathaway and Jim Belushi did not reprise their roles in the sequel.[45]
- ^ a b c d e f Cory Edwards (December 30, 2010). "Stop the Madness". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=230. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
- ^ a b Jason Anders (January 26, 2009). "A Conversation with Cory Edwards". fullecirclestuff.blogspot.com. http://fullecirclestuff.blogspot.com/2009/01/conversation-with-cory-edwards.html#!/2009/01/conversation-with-cory-edwards.html. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
- ^ a b Cory Edwards (January 29, 2009). "Interview with Fulle Circle". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=95. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Martin Goodman (February 3, 2006). "Dr. Toon: A Peek Under the Hood page 2". awn.com. http://www.awn.com/articles/drtoon/dr-toon-peek-under-hood/page/2%2C1. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e J. Paul Peszko (May 11, 2004). "Hoodwinked: Anatomy of an Independent Animated Feature Page 3". awn.com. http://www.awn.com/articles/ihoodwinkedi-anatomy-independent-animated-feature/page/3%2C1. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
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- ^ "The Origins of Hoodwinked". cinemareview.com. http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=3276. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
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- ^ a b Melanie Hayes (January 11, 2006). "AU alumni unveil “Hoodwinked!”". anderson.edu. http://www.anderson.edu/events/news/2006-01-11.html. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Cory Edwards (February 15, 2011). "Twitchy’s Voice: The Sequel". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=301. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ a b c Joe Strike (August 31, 2007). ""With the Talents Of..." Celebritization of the VO Biz". awn.com. http://www.awn.com/articles/talents-celebritization-vo-biz/page/3%2C1. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ a b J. Paul Peszko (January 13, 2006). "Hoodwinked: Blue Yonder Set to Make Animation History page 2". awn.com. http://www.awn.com/articles/production/ihoodwinkedi-blue-yonder-set-make-animation-history/page/2%2C1. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
- ^ a b c J. Paul Peszko (January 13, 2006). "Hoodwinked: Blue Yonder Set to Make Animation History page 1". awn.com. http://www.awn.com/articles/production/ihoodwinkedi-blue-yonder-set-make-animation-history. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
- ^ Cory Edwards (June 5, 2006). "Hoodwinked FAQ's". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=28. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ "Hoodwinked: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Hoodwinked-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B000CCZR0E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332207089&sr=8-2. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Cory Edwards (January 27, 2010). "Hoodwinked Soundtrack Back on ITUNES". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=113#comments. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Martin Goodman (February 3, 2006). "Dr. Toon: A Peek Under the Hood page 6". awn.com. http://www.awn.com/articles/drtoon/dr-toon-peek-under-hood/page/6%2C1. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ a b Thomas, Kevin (January 14, 2006). "Little Red gets 'Hoodwinked'". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/14/entertainment/et-hoodcapsule14. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ a b "Hoodwinked Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=hoodwinked.htm. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ Brandon Gray (January 17, 2006). "'Glory Road' Glides Past 'Hoodwinked' in MLK Photo Finish". boxofficemojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1985&p=.htm. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
- ^ Hoodwinked at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Hoodwinked! at Metacritic Retrieved February 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Berardinelli, James. "Hoodwinked A movie review by James Berardinelli". ReelViews. http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=1024. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
- ^ Bernard, Jami (January 15, 2006). "In striving to be hip, 'Hoodwinked' fails where the 'Shrek' films succeeded". New York Daily News. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-01-15/entertainment/18329766_1_fairy-tales-hoodwinked-shrek. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ a b Westbrook, Bruce (January 13, 2006). "Hoodwinked Its dated animation only withers in the shadow of an ogre". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/entertainment/movies/article/Hoodwinked-1499173.php. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
- ^ Rainer, Peter (January 13, 2006). "Hoodwinked Review Christian Science Monitor". The Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/p14s01-almo.html. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ a b Burr, Ty (January 13, 2006). "'Hoodwinked' lacks a certain edge". Boston Globe. http://articles.boston.com/2006-01-13/news/29249097_1_nicky-flippers-james-belushi-tony-leech. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
- ^ Chang, Justin (December 15, 2005). "Hoodwinked!". Variety. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117929119?refcatid=31. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (January 11, 2006). "Hoodwinked Review EW". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1147914,00.html. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ Churnin, Nancy. "Goodies are plentiful in twisted fairy tale 'Hoodwinked'". Dallas Morning News.
- ^ Wilmington, Michael. "Review for 'Hoodwinked'". Chicago Tribune. http://events.gazette.com/reviews/show/7370-review-hoodwinked. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ Moore, Michael (January 13, 2006). "Hoodwinked Review Orlando Sentinel". Orlando Sentinel. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-db-moviereviews-searchresults,0,3279701,results.formprofile?turbine_cdb_lib__cdb_01_txt=Hoodwinked&Find+it%21=Submit+Query. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ Hunter, Stephen (January 13, 2006). "OMGIF: Little Red Riding Hood Meets 'Dragnet' In 'Hoodwinked'". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/12/AR2006011202117.html. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
- ^ "Hoodwinked - DVD Sales". the-numbers.com. http://hsx.the-numbers.com/movies/2005/HDWNK-DVD.php. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Hoodwinked - 22 Minute Featurette". itunes.apple.com. http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoodwinked-22-minute-featurette/id115555255. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Timothy Sexton (February 22, 2006). "Hoodwinked: A Postmodern Examination of the Dangers of Runaway Capitalism". voices.yahoo.com. http://voices.yahoo.com/hoodwinked-postmodern-examination-dangers-23298.html?cat=38. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ Cory Edwards (May 11, 2006). "The Eye Of The Beholder". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=25. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ Poniewozik, James (May 10, 2007). "Is Shrek Bad for Kids?". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1619573-2,00.html. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ Cory Edwards (May 19, 2007). "Living in a Satirical World". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=62. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Cory Edwards (January 26, 2009). "Frequently Asked Questions". coryedwards.com. http://coryedwards.com/?p=94. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
![Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil [Trailer 2]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130913104256im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TJjnOIQQiHg/default.jpg "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil [Trailer 2]")
