"Little Red Riding Rabbit" is a 1944 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny. This is the first time Mel Blanc receives a credit for a cartoon.
It is a parody of "Little Red Riding Hood", in which Red, a typical 1940s teenage bobbysoxer with a very loud, grating voice, is bringing a rabbit [Bugs] to her grandma "to have". Of course, a big bad wolf is waiting for them.
"Little Red Riding Rabbit" provides examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: A slight variation of the Big Bad Wolf, as while normally wanting to devour Red and/or her grandma, here he's more interested in eating a more appropriate prey animal (i.e. Bugs); even after revealing that he's a wolf to Red, he refuses to eat her and instead throws her out of the house.
- Asshole Victim: While Red's not a bad person per se, she's incredibly annoying (and that's putting it mildly).
- The Bad Guy Wins: Bugs, annoyed by Red's interruptions (and her overall obnoxious behavior), offers a truce with the Wolf if he agrees to switch places with Red so that she can fall onto red hot coals as punishment for her behavior. The Wolf happily accepts this, and as they watch Red about to get 'redder', Bugs happily shares a carrot with the Wolf.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: Red.
- The Ditz: Red attempts to show Bugs to himself and has some trouble remembering her lines to the Wolf.
- Enemy Mine: Bugs and the Wolf towards Red at the very end.
- Get Out!: After the Wolf chases Bugs around the house, Red comes back. The Wolf shouts this before forcing her back out the door, though Bugs takes advantage to shove him out, as well.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: The Big Bad Wolf, as he usually is in Looney Tunes shorts.
- The Last Straw: There's a literal one and metaphorical one—Bugs is about to add the literal last straw on the pile the wolf is holding when Red interrupts...which to Bugs is the metaphorical last straw.Bugs: I'll do it...but I'll probably hate myself in the morning.
- Never Mess with Granny: Though unseen, Red's grandmother is implied to be a Rosie the Riveter type who was out working a "swing" shift at Lockheed [an aircraft manufacturing company, now merged with rival Martin Marietta to create Lockheed Martin].
- Never Trust a Title: Bugs isn't in the Little Red Riding Hood role as the title (and title card) would imply.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed/Shout-Out:
- Red's voice is inspired by Cass Daley, a comic actress from screen and radio.
- At one point, the wolf does an impression of French actor Charles Boyer to get rid of Red.
- No Indoor Voice: "HEEEEY GRANDMA!!! I BROTCHA A LIL' BUNNY RABBIT! TA HAVE!!"''
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Bugs was still in his more heckler-like persona at this point in his filmography, but to switch the Wolf with Red, an innocent but annoying character who never directly threatened or disrespected him, is extremely rare for him to do (Buckaroo Bugs being a similar example), and would be downright unthinkable in his later characterizations.
- Road-Sign Reversal: The wolf sends Red on the long way to Grandma's house.
- Rump Roast: Bugs pokes the Wolf in the butt with a hot coal from the fireplace, and as he jumps up in pain, Bugs lays down a whole shovelful of them underneath him. The Wolf manages to do a split between two chairs to avoid the coals, so Bugs starts piling up stuff on top of him to weigh him down. Then Red interrupts him again, so Bugs decides to have her switch places with the Wolf for the final scene.
- Running Gag: Red interrupting Bugs and the wolf.
- The Runt at the End: The wolf finds a bunch of other wolves in Grandma's bed and tells them to beat it. After he lies down he feels something stirring, a small wolf left behind comes out and leaves.
- Scooby-Dooby Doors: The Wolf and Bugs wind up chasing each other through several doors in Grandma's surprisingly roomy house.
- Stop Copying Me: Bugs mimics the Wolf to annoy him, only to trick the Wolf into mimicking himself, and eventually lead into a rousing rip-roaring rendition of "Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet", and to hold up a sign saying "Silly, isn't he?" (A gag reused from "Heckling Hare", and later repeated in "Stage Door Cartoon" and "Hare-Way to the Stars").
- Sure, Let's Go with That:Red: HEY GRANDMA, WHAT BIG EYES/EARS YOU GOT?
Wolf: [sending Red out] Yeah yeah, big eyes/ears, big eyes/ears! - The Unreveal: Red has already questioned the wolf on his big eyes, big nose, big ears and sharp teeth, and one wonders what she was planning to ask next when she interrupted for the last time.
- Verbal Tic: Red ends a lot of her lines with the exclamation "Ta' Have!", just another thing that makes her so very irritating.
- Wartime Cartoon: Red's grandmother is apparently working at a Lockheed aircraft factory.
