User reviews

You know the basic story, the practical hardworking pig builds his house with bricks and mortar; one lazy buddy uses sticks and the other uses straw. Then when the time comes to keep out the Big Bad Wolf everyone heads to the brick house. It's an old fable and Disney wisely altered the original story where the wolf eats the two lazy pigs and is eaten by the remaining pig after falling into boiling water.

"The Three Little Pigs" was the 36th cartoon in Disney's "Silly Symphony" series and came just a year after "Flowers and Trees" forever changed the animation industry by introducing the first Technicolor cartoon. Technicolor was a process where three separate negatives (each a primary color) were combined to produce a color print. It took a while to perfect it for live action so it was first utilized for animation.

"The Three Little Pigs" was the most popular cartoon in history, on many theater marquees it was billed above the feature film. Disney had a two year exclusive on the use of the Technicolor process and had one animator work on giving each pig a distinct personality while another animator created the wolf. Frank Churchill wrote the "Big Bad Wolf" song, which unexpectedly became a monster hit-Disney's first published song. The wolf at the door was considered the symbol of the Depression and the song became a national rallying cry.

Disney would follow it up with three other attempts: "The Big Bad Wolf", "Three Little Wolves", and "The Practical Pig". None were nearly as successful as the original and Walt is said to have repeatedly stated: "You can't top pigs with pigs."

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I've seen the second version with the Wolf dressing as a fairy but it is in Japanese and was a gift from my in-laws (my wife is Japanese) to my daughter. It's weird in that it combines the stories of the three little pigs with Little Red Riding Hood with the practical Pig coming to Riding Hood's rescue. This version doesn't have the Jewish Peddler sequence in it. I recently rented another video version which sounds like the one most viewers are commenting on as it does not have the Red Riding Hood sequence. The animation, colour, are excellent and the Wolf is terrifying even as an adult. Something about how Disney drew predators in these early films is extremely effective even today.

Three Little Pigs is a cheerful, fun and lovable little classic that I have loved ever since I was a child. While the pacing is a tad too quick in places it is still hugely enjoyable for a number of reasons.

When I was little, I marvelled at how good the animation was for its time. From a 17 year old perspective it is still very very good, with colourful backgrounds and beautiful colours.

I also remembered singing along to the song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? That song has to be one of the most memorable songs ever in a Silly Symphony, it is ever so catchy and easy to sing along to.

The dialogue is great. The Big Bad Wolf has some classic lines, but I think the best of them come from Fifer and Fiddler. There is one funny part when the Wolf dresses up in the sheepskin, the dialogue Fifer and Fiddler say cracks me up every time.

The Wolf, like the Three Little Pigs, is a truly memorable character. Sinister and rapacious, he did scare me when I was little, not so much now but the animation and voice work is wonderfully impressive even by today's standards. I do think the Wolf from Peter and the Wolf is scarier, me and sister haven't got over how scared we used to be of him.

The voice work is excellent. Billy Bletcher is perfect as the Big Bad Wolf and Walt Disney I recognised immediately from his voicing of Mickey in cartoons like Boat Builders and Mickey's Good Deed. Pinto Colvig, the original voice of Goofy, also does a stellar job.

Overall, hugely enjoyable childhood favourite. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

One of the most enduring of animated classics is Walt Disney's Three Little Pigs, taken from the old fairy tale about three juvenile little oinkers, only one of whom meets the challenge of the Big Bad Wolf.

Coming out as it did in 1933 it's both a metaphor for the Great Depression, the consequence of no financial planning for a rainy day and the steps we must take to reform the system as the New Deal attempted to do. A lot of people thought the same way as the Three Little Pigs did in poopooing the notion of a Big Bad Wolf, but only Practical Pig took practical steps in building his house of bricks so the wolf was kept from his door.

In Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse became the first of Walt Disney's animated creations, but in Three Little Pigs, the first of many songs identified with the Magic Kingdom was written and has certainly endured. Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf is probably sung by so many parents to their children in reciting this tale that they probably think it came with the fairy tale. It probably was what won Disney his Oscar for Best Short Subject for the cartoon.

It was a mega-hit during the Depression, not an easy thing when people weren't buying records. I happen to have a rollicking version by Thirties band-leader and entertainer Ben Bernie of the Frank Churchill- Ted Sears classic. It's still quite a hoot.

And as a lesson in planning ahead, Three Little Pigs for children and former children can't be beat.

Three Little Pigs (1933)

**** (out of 4)

Disney's adaptation of the Grimm fairly tale is certainly one of the highlights of their early animated films. The story is pretty simple as three pigs are building a house. The two who builds it out of straw and sticks are free to play around more but the one building with brick has to work even harder. The two lazy pigs think it's quite funny until a wolf shows up and their lack of work comes back to haunt them.

THREE LITTLE PIGS is certainly one of the best animated shorts from this era of Disney and it's amazing when you think of the fact that when people think of the story, their ideas come from this short and not the Grimm tale. That says quite a bit because the story itself was quite popular before this short but ever since it was released people think of this short when the idea of three little pigs come along. The animation is as great as you'd expect and there's no question that there's a certain flow in the story that just makes it irresistible. Fans of Disney and animation will certainly love and remember this one.

One good and classic short movies from Disney. The wolf's representation is cruel and accurate to transmit fear as the story wants. Classical Disney scheme with happy ending and defeating of the bad character, but it is acceptable in a Disney point of view for an lovely short film.

Well, to start with, what do you say about a cartoon that somehow got its way into The Shining? Well, it's that damn iconic, simply put. I first saw this short many years back, so long ago it was when the Disney channel played, from time to time, 1930s and 40s Disney cartoons at certain times of the morning or day (when kids were at school so, you know, on sick days and such). It stuck with me for the simple reason that, hey, it's the 3 Little Pigs, what kid doesn't know the basic gist of it? The Big Bad Wolf will come to the door, you got to know how to defend against him from getting in.

"Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin," being one of those lines. But what's so much fun about the short, why I can remember it (and them, there was more than one short I think) was that it kept the song catchy throughout, the animated characters had strong, direct personalities, and I actually felt some danger for those little animated pigs from the Wolf. It's colorful, it's funny, it's a little terrifying in the strange way that a 30s cartoon can get in little moments, and it has persevered due to its message for young and old alike of facing against the odds and the "Big Other" that might try to come down. It's great to find out that the term 'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf' was used as a line of optimism in the Depression too.

"I toot my flute and I don't give an hoot" - well that's the attitude of the first piggy who builds his house of hay. The second "plays on his fiddle and doesn't give a diddle" as he builds his rather drafty looking dwelling from sticks. Finally, the third finds "work and play don't mix" as he builds his home of bricks. A musical rendition of "Whose Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" perhaps tempts providence though and when their salivating predator does arrive, he huffs and puffs and.... well you know the story. I did like this animation, the wolf has a degree of (comedic) menace as he pursues the pigs using a range of disguises and his considerable wind-power before he ends up turning a bit blue! It's nicely scored, colourful and quickly paced and even if I did rather want the wolf to save us from their singing...

Academy Award-winning Disney short that brings to life the timeless fairy tale of the three little pigs who, as we all know, live in houses made of straw, sticks, and brick. The Big Bad Wolf comes by and does his thing, huffing and puffing. You know what happens next but it's still very entertaining to watch it unfold. It's a wonderful cartoon that was very popular with the Depression-era audience that first saw it and still holds up quite well today. Who doesn't love the classic song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" It's a beautiful-looking cartoon with rich colors and fluid animation. The voice work is terrific and the music score is delightful. It's the premier version of the three little pigs tale, which has been told in countless cartoons over the years. It's a fun short that everybody should see at least once, preferably when they're still young enough to truly appreciate its simple charms.

We've all seen this a hundred times. The lazy pigs build houses of straw and sticks and fool around, singing that song. Meanwhile, the practical third one is putting up a brick building. The wolf is lurking and has pork chops on his mind. After accosting the first two pigs, he must make it past the door of the third little pig. The animation is wonderful. This is Disney and it is pristine, far superior to other efforts at that time. There is a great deal of humor, particularly related to the arrogant bragging of the first two pigs. The wolf is a sight to behold. He is obviously born of poverty, but more of a symbol of the threat that faced those who had little in 1933. Disney was just getting his chops in the animation business and the rest is history.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Each of THE THREE LITTLE PIGS builds a home from materials that suits his personality. The two lazy porkers choose straw or sticks; the Practical Pig uses sturdy bricks & mortar. His brothers think he's wasted his time - until the Big Bad Wolf shows up...

This is one of the all-time great cartoon classics. Lots of attention was lavished on it, and the characterizations & visuals were just right for this version of the old children's tale (notice the sly humor in the details: the picture of `Father'; the piano made of brick; the corkscrewing tails). But the film and its instantly popular tune `Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?' caught the public's fancy as an inspiration to laugh in the face of the Great Depression, America's own Wolf at the door. This must have come as a surprise to Walt, as he intended the song to underscore the silly pigs' foolishness, not their foolhardy defiance. Be that as it may, the cartoon was a huge commercial success, perhaps the most famous animated short of all time. It easily won the 1933 Academy Award and produced a litter of three sequels, the first of which was THE BIG BAD WOLF (1934).

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.

I've heard about the politically incorrect version...the original version...of this cartoon, but have never seen it until today. It's the theatrical release that featured the wolf dressed as a jewish peddler, complete with a BIG false nose, beard, long black hair and hints of Yiddishe music for a few bars in the background as he gets hit over the head by Practical Pig (A clever(?) disguise as why would a Jew be at the door going after some pork?) In the latter day, "cleansed" version (circa???), Disney artists edited this part out and REDREW the scene aping the old classic style, changing the Big Bad Wolf into a harmless Fuller Brush Man, sans Jewish features. This modern whitewashing happened due to protests from folks over offensive stereotypes, but anyone whose seen pre-code movies knows Jewish peddlers were omnipresent whenever street scenes were shown, as were all ethnic stereotypes On the "forbidden" video I viewed, the second cartoon featuring the wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood" ('34), he dons a fairy outfit and minces about in the forest in an openly gay manner (it's hysterical), enticing Bo Peep and two of the Little Pigs. I don't know if this scene has been subsequently cleaned-up as well for today's uneasy audiences, but I have never seen this cartoon before. In fact, it was a well-kept secret, never featured on any Disney TV show to the best of my knowledge. The video I previewed is fairly recent, released circa 1995 (I thought it was cleaned-up in the '50's or '60's...the old version being yanked from circulation around the same time). Other videos I have seen feature the "scrubbed" PC version from an even earlier date, so I don't really know what's going on over at Disney. All I can say is that I'm Jewish, and love watching stuff like this. I don't believe in censorship, revisionism, correctness, or cowardice for that matter. These films are a chronicle of their age, and should be left alone. I'd like a show of hands...have any of you seen one or both versions...and do you deplore the Disney clean-up...or condone it?

A charming cartoon; but you'd never know it if you'd seen the three sequels without seeing the original - as I had. Luckily I know better now. The animation is primitive - about as primitive as in "Shrek", although of course more expressive - but unlike "Shrek", the character designs promise less, not more, than the animators are capable of delivering. The sequels were made in EXACTLY the same style as the original, but what was state of the art in 1933 was no longer state of the art even in 1934, and you can tell this just from watching one of the sequels, even if you're unaware of the year of its release or the fact that it's a sequel.

Obviously, the cartoon struck a chord in 1933 (the popular theory that the Wolf symbolised the Great Depression may well be right) which it doesn't strike today. Good though it is, it's far from being the best of the Silly Symphonies, most of which are truly timeless. It is, perhaps, the one that ushered in Disney's "high" period.

When a hungry wolf starts blowing down some pigs' houses, they take refuge in their sensible brother's brick house.

In many ways, this film is the definitive version of the three little pigs story. I suspect (though I may be wrong) that this was the first time "Who's Afraid of the Bid Bad Wolf" was ever sung, or at least sun on film. This had to be influential, because we still sing the song today (2015).

I am a bit sad the anti-Semitic part has been cut. I mean, of course I understand why. But it seems that for historical purposes it ought to be kept in. We like to think that the only people who were anti-Semitic in the 1930s were the Germans, but that is not close to the truth. Americans were in many ways just as bad.

This short assumed a symbolism that few cartoons do as America stumbled through the Great Depression of the 1930's. "Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" was false bravado for many Americans who were losing their jobs and homes. I remember hearing this short as well as seeing it. Our school had an audio version of it.

The three little pigs are very unlikable. Fat, round, smirky and totally out of whack with nature!

Imagine they made Zeke's son out to be the pig's best friend. Zeke wolf is an animal that can only eat meat, and in fact, if he doesn't get meat, he will develop all kinds of medical conditions because of malnutrition. It is like the sailors who got scurvy and lost their teeth because they lacked vitamin c.

This show is totally racist, but it seems like no one really cares about that. I wonder if it would be possible to make up stories were animals were not warped into something they are not and did not suffer because of human morality or political agenda?

This short is a classic and great fun for the entire family.

I remember watching Three Little Pigs when I was little, it is great. This is a great short for any age. featuring the classic song ""Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"

I give The Three Little Pigs 7 out of 10

I remember first watching this before Pollyanna on "The Wonderful World of Disney" in 1981 and enjoying it so I decided to see this again on YouTube. Still enjoyable and hearing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" brings such nice memories of being a child. Did not see the controversial version with the wolf posing as a Jewish peddler with the big nose but that's the only disappoint I got from this. (Just to make this clear: I'm disappointed not because I wanted to see a Jewish stereotype but because I wanted to see this short the way it was originally presented.) Burt Gillett really did a fine job as director with the music and the houses being blown down and the first two pigs still not completely learning their lesson as evidenced by the worker pig doing a trick on them at the end. So with all that said, I highly recommend The Three Little Pigs. Update 3/3/11-I just saw the excised scene on YouTube.

In the early days of cinema's cartoon animation, the artists were the ones who were tasked with coming up with the storylines. In May 1933's "Three Little Pigs," Walt Disney revolutionized animation production with the premise that drawers weren't necessarily the greatest storytellers. He and his creative team devised a new way of assembling more brilliant cartoons. Under a director overseeing each project, a team of writers were assigned scripting the plot and the dialogue. The scripts were accompanied by storyboards, visually detailing each sequence in the cartoon. Once approval was given, largely from Walt himself, the director and writers then worked with the animators who were responsible for drawing, frame-by-frame, the actual cartoon.

As part of the 'Silly Symphony' series, "Three Little Pigs" was greeted by an enthusiastic audience when it first played at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Because of its popularity, the eight-minute Technicolor film continued its extended run in theaters far longer than normal cartoons-sometimes even longer than the most popular Hollywood feature films. "Three Little Pigs" is the most financially successful short cartoon in the history of cinema, raking in over a quarter of a million dollars for a cost of only $22,000.

The designers of "Three Little Pigs" gave the lookalike pigs distinctive personalities-a first in animation. Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig are similar with their flimsily built home and their lazy habits, playing music most of the time. On the other hand, Practical Pig is the hard-working, industrialist pig, building and fortifying his strong, brick house and informing his two friends he "has no chance to sing and dance 'cause work and play don't mix." The song, "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" composed by Frank Churchill, is heard while the Practical Pig is sweating over his brick and mortar. The tune became a best selling hit, and served as an uplifting anthem for the economically depressed during the Great Depression. Its lyrics also bolstered those who defied Adolf Hitler while the dictator was taking Germany into a dark place. Playwright Edward Albee said he titled his 1963 play 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" after he saw the phrase written in soap on a mirror. He felt its words reflected those 'who are afraid of living life without false illusions."

Because of its historical influence on animation, "Three Little Pigs" was voted eleventh of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of All-Time. The Academy's members named it the winner of Best Animated Short film of 1933, the second year in a row Disney won for his "Silly Symphony" series, the first being "Flowers and Trees." Because of its success, Disney produced three additional three-pig cartoons. But none had the drawing power as the original one. Walt just shrugged his shoulders on the mediocre returns of the two sequels with the realization that 'You can't top pigs with pigs."

The Silly Symphonies was a popular series of shorts made by Disney from 1929 to 1939. They began in black and white and from 1932 they moved to Technicolor. While some are forgotten (like all the black and white ones except SKELETON DANCE) many of the colour ones are still remembered to this day. And THREE LITTLE PIGS deserves an honorary mention mostly because of all the ones I saw in my childhood it was the one I liked the most. I re-saw it today and the memories were great.

Since the plot is known to anyone, I will explain all the qualities. The animation is probably the best of the best for 1933 standards and it has aged well; I am probably exaggerating but it's on par with the animation of future classics like FANTASIA, DUMBO and SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES... it's THAT great! The soundtrack is great and it's among the best I have ever heard in an animated short, especially in the brick house and the chase scenes parts. And you can't help but laugh at some of the moments in the movie (like when the wolf ends up under tons of apples).

In substance, one of the best animated shorts ever made by Disney and a very landmark in animation history. Not to be missed by anyone!