| Red | |
|---|---|
 "Wolfie" and Red in the 1945 animated shortSwing Shift Cinderella. | |
| First appearance |
|
| Created by | Tex Avery |
| Designed by | Claude Smith |
| Voiced by | Sara Berner (1943–1945) Connie Russell (1943; singing) Imogene Lynn (1945–1947; singing) Ann Pickard (1945; singing) Colleen Collins (1949) Teresa Ganzel (1990–1993) Grey Griffin (1996, 2010–2013) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
Red Hot Riding Hood, also known asRed andMiss Vavoom in the 1990s, is an American animated character, created byTex Avery, who appears in severalMGM short films andTom and Jerry films. She is a fictionalnightclub singer and dancer who usually makes all men in the room crazy, especially aWolf character who—in vain—tries to seduce and chase her. Red debuted in MGM'sRed Hot Riding Hood (May 8, 1943), a modern-day variant of thefairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood".[1]
She appeared in seven animated shorts in theGolden age of American animation, and was revived to appear in many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series from the 1990s until 2013.
According to Avery, the character originated in the army, where he helped the sergeant plan training films for the animators at MGM. When the film was finished, Avery got down to the projection room, where he always "ran the picture for the producer and the whole group". When the sergeant spotted the picture, much like the wolf, he roared. Word soon spread about the picture among the army. The version he showed was the uncensored version, which had a scene where the grandma marries the wolf and has children with him, and theHays Office found that the scene strongly suggestedbestiality. The scene was ultimately cut for the theatrical release.[2][3]
The character was designed by Claude Smith and animated byPreston Blair, who said that the picture originally was just planned around the wolf and the grandmother (her design was inspired by the caricatures ofPeter Arno), but they soon focused mainly on Red. In fact, the character was notrotoscoped, but was drawn from his imagination.[4][5] The first cartoon, garnering 15,000 bookings, was so successful that it garnered various sequels, the first beingThe Shooting of Dan McGoo.[6]
Jessica Rabbit ofWho Framed Roger Rabbit was inspired by Red.[7]
| # | Title | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Hot Riding Hood | May 8, 1943 | Red's debut. |
| 2 | Who Killed Who? | June 19, 1943 | Cameo, seen on the picture. |
| 3 | Big Heel-Watha | October 21, 1944 | In aScrewy Squirrel cartoon; as Minnie Hot-Cha in unmasked Native American Indian form. |
| 4 | The Shooting of Dan McGoo | March 3, 1945 | In aDroopy cartoon; as Lou |
| 5 | Swing Shift Cinderella | August 25, 1945 | AsCinderella |
| 6 | Wild and Woolfy | November 3, 1945 | In aDroopy cartoon |
| 7 | The Hick Chick | June 15, 1946 | Cameo, as a nurse in hen form. |
| 8 | Uncle Tom's Cabaña | July 19, 1947 | As Little Eva |
| 9 | Little Rural Riding Hood | September 17, 1949 | Red's final theatrical cartoon, reused footage fromSwing Shift Cinderella. |
| 10 | Thanks a Latte | 1999 | Cameo, in production withCartoon Network. |
Red is voiced by the following actresses: