"A Silly Symphony"

Release Date April 18, 1936

Running Time 9:21

Synopsis

A Disney take on "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig continually set off the wolf alarm to Practical Pig's annoyance. Unbeknownst to them, they are being stalked by the Big Bad Wolves' sons.

Characters

Three Little Wolves

Three Little Pigs

Big Bad Wolf

Credits

Director : Dave Hand

Animation

Fred Moore

Videos

United States

Cartoon Classics (Second Series) : Volume 4 : Silly Symphonies

Favorite Stories : Three Little Pigs

France

Silly Symphonies Volume 1

Germany

Verrückte Musikanten

Italy

Silly Symphonies Volume 2

Laserdiscs

United States

Paul Bunyan / The Three Little Pigs

Silly Symphonies / Animals Two by Two

Japan

More Silly Symphonies

The Three Little Pigs

DVD

United States

Disney Treasures : Silly Symphonies

Region 2 : United Kingdom

Walt Disney's Fables : Volume 5

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #19 : The Big Bad Wolves

The Ink and Paint Club : #33 : In the Nursery with the Silly Symphonies

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by United Artists Pictures

Comments

A Silly Symphony.

From Jerry Edwards : There are several interesting scenes in this short for me. The opening scene shows the Big Bad Wolf instructing the Three Little Wolves on the edible parts of a pig. The little wolves show they're a hand full when they use sling shots to pelt the Big Bad Wolf. When he threatens them, they go into the "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" song and the scene dissolves into Fiddler and Fifer Pig dancing and singing the same song. The Big Bad Wolf dresses up as Little Bo Peep with the little wolves as sheep to lure the pigs into his cave. When "Bo Peep" locks the door and swallows the key, the two pigs act embarrassed as if "she" had sexual intentions - a very odd scene, indeed! The Practical Pig's "Wolf Pacifier" invention is a lot of fun. The wolf is subjected to an assembly line of being kicked by boots, hit by rolling pins, punched by boxing gloves, tarred and feathered, and shot out of a cannon.

From Atsuko : While a lot of people seem to feel the first Three Little Pigs cartoon was the best and the three that followed were weaker, I've always liked this one and 1939's "The Practical Pig" the best of all four. There is a lot of fun in this one, especially when the Big Bad Wolf fools the pigs in his Bo Peep disguise. The Wolf Pacifier is very interesting and well done. It seems to me to be a more fitting punishment than what the wolf got in the last two cartoons, plus there's a lot of gags as the helpless wolf is subjected to the assorted functions of the machine.

From Ryan : I used to own this short on a video. I remember one time I accidentally taped a small segment of some stupid 1970's cartoon over a short scene of this short. Let me tell ya somethin' this short is better than that cartoon or any other 70's cartoon for that matter. I really can't determine whether I like the original "Three Little Pigs" or this sequel better. I liked the beginning of this short where the Big Bad Wolf was singing the parts of the pig to his three sons to the tune of an old German folk song. "Ist da schnictein sausage meat?" The funniest part, however, was when the wolf was lured into Practical Pig's "Wolf Pacifier." He was tarred and feathered, kicked in the butt with three or four boots, hit on the head with some rolling pins, and shot out of a cannon. He made an impression in the clouds and of course clouds are just fog.

From Ajisai : As a little girl, this was one of my favorite cartoons, and I think I've seen it more times than the original Three Little Pigs short.

In spite of serving as the introduction of the Wolf's sons- who, let's be blunt, are a bunch of little creeps that make even Donald's nephews look like angels- once again it's daddy who steals the show, with his dressing up as Little Bo Peep.Oddly, the pigs call him "little girl" even though he still towers over them! It's also interesting how they think "she" has amorous intentions when they're locked in by "Bo Peep"! I always thought it was funny that the Wolf, even after taking off the rest of the diguise, still has those frilly white bloomers on for the rest of the short.

The Wolf Pacifier sequence is the real highlight of the cartoon by far. The Wolf gets chased by a buzzsaw, whacked on the head with rolling pins, kicked in the butt by boots, punched by boxing gloves, dipped in tar and covered with feathers before being shot out of a cannon. Talk about harsh! The whole thing goes along to a sort of twisted version of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?", and it's all so surreal and kinda twisted (especially the Wolf getting strapped into a chair with its bottom cut out!) There's a lot of great animation during this scene though, with all sorts of machinery moving and chugging in the background. There's some really funny imagery in the background too, making up the machine: soup cans, barrels, a bicycle, and those things the boxing gloves are attached to are old wooden telephones holders!

If you look at the blueprints, you might notice one part that apparently didn't make it in: the machine was going to poke the Wolf with a pitchfork!

From Baruch Weiss : This and "The Practical Pig" were the only two cartoons in the three little pigs series starring the three little wolves. I loved the part where Practical Pig dressed up as a tomato salesman and said "Nice ripe tomatoes I'm giving a free sample!". However, what Walt Disney said was true, "You can't top pigs with pigs." In other words, sequels are not as good as the original.

Referenced Comments

Three Little Pigs (1933)

Gallery

Sketch courtesy of Frank Svoboda

Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture

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