NFR Project: 'The Three Little Pigs' (1933)

 

NFR Project: ‘The Three Little Pigs’

Dir: Burt Gillett

Premiere: May 25, 1933

8 min.

This Disney color short subject was a big hit, has become a classic, and was originally antisemitic.

First, the good news. The animation studio’s developing understanding of the mechanics of making a cartoon film meant that the end result was immediately convincing in conveying the movements of its anthropomorphic characters, leading the audience directly into the fantasy of the film. Its ability to delineate character almost instantly meant that the viewer was hooked. There is something intensely compelling about top-notch Disney effort. It’s the gold standard, at least in America.

The story is an adaptation of the familiar fairy tale – one pig builds his house of straw, the second of sticks, the third of bricks. The first two cavort and play while their industrious, wise brother slaves away crafting his brick mansion. “Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?” the first two sing. Of course, the wolf is nearby.

The villain blows down the house of straw, and the house of sticks. The two brothers find refuge in their practical brother’s home. Now the bad news. The wolf dresses up like a Jewish peddler, complete with huge nose, whiskers, and Brooklyn accent, and knocks on the door. “I’m da Fuller Brush man!” he exclaims. “I’m woiking my way t’rew collitch!” Underneath his appearance, a snatch of klezmer-like background music plays.

Obviously, this was problematic, so Disney actually went back and changed that scene. In the new version, the Wolf appears as himself, clad only in spectacles (the soundtrack stays the same). It was one of those egregious prejudiced assumptions of the day, that found a place in mass media alongside similar depictions of Black people and Asian-Americans. This kind of corrective wouldn’t work for the feature-length, breathtakingly racist Song of the South (1946).

After a second unsuccessful attempt to enter, disguised as an orphaned sheep, the Wolf finally climbs down the chimney, where he lands in a boiling kettle laced with turpentine. Screeching and dragging his behind on the ground, he exits. The three pigs celebrate – then a knock is heard at the door! The first two pigs cower under the bed! Ah, but it was their industrious brother playing a trick on them.

The cartoon was so popular that it was billed above the feature in some cinemas. The success of the song “Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?” made it into kind of a Depression-era anthem, right up there with “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” The Wolf was hard times; it knocked at the door but was ultimately vanquished, a form of wish-fulfillment desperately needed by audiences of the period.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Wild Boys of the Road.