The tale of little
red riding hood has been adapted by a ‘plethora of narrators’ (pp 89),
including books, cartoons, video games and films. It carries with it a
significant theme of criminality, which makes it interesting for adaptation. Unlike
most other well-known fairy tales, it has no hegemonic Disney version, making
it more present for broad exploration (Greenhill & Kohm, pp.92). Those who
are most familiar with the Grimms’ version of the story may be ‘shocked or
offended’ by some film versions, in which licence is taken by the writer to
sexualize Red Riding Hood; kill off any one of the characters, or re-set it in
a different period or location.
In this study, Greenhill and Kohm investigate a Japanese
anime revision of the story. In Jin-Roh
(1999) the action takes place in an apocalyptic world where Germany has won
WWII. Corrupt governments rule, and so a resistance force emerges, which uses
young girls known as ‘Red Riding Hoods’ to transport weapons. According to
Greenhill and Kohm, it is reminiscent of ‘Perrault’s version than of the Grimms’
version,’ (pp. 90) as the ending is tragic rather than victorious for the
hero(ine).Jin-Roh uses a lesser-known
version of the tale to ‘destabilize the audience’s sense of ease’ (pp.91). The
film uses animation to deal with the serious and tragic. ‘Indeed, the form
arguably increases the viewer’s sense of horror in its implicit juxtaposition
with conventional European and North American expectations that associate
animated films with material for children and that drawings distance their
subjects more than photographs’ (pp. 104)
This is contrasted to the 2005 western animated adaptation;
Hoodwinked! Unlike the former, this
film is geared more towards a younger audience, as most fairy tales and stories
would originally have been. This telling sees Red Riding Hood and her
grandmother as ‘cookie capitalists’ (pp. 90). In keeping quite true to the
Grimms’ version of the tale, the audience is allowed to feel ‘comfortable in
their knowledge of the fairy tale and thus in their own judgement of the facts
of the case.’
Storytelling is patterned,
but there is a significant importance placed on how the story is framed. Narratives
differ due to the experience of the storyteller. In Hoodwinked! the camera view ‘is the arbiter of fact. The audience
knows each personal experience narrative’s truthfulness because it is presented
mainly from the camera’s perspective - sometimes simultaneously with voiceovers
from the tellers’ (pp.97). Visual evidence is presented as reliable, even
though it comes from the point of view of one specific teller. In Jin-Roh the narrative can be confusing;
some state it is Little Red Riding Hood
as told from the wolf’s point of view. It narrates from multiple viewpoints throughout
the story.
Both these films are animated retellings of the
intertext, as I am hoping also to achieve with The Crane Wife. Comparing these two films ‘fosters exploration of
modes of storytelling connecting fairy-tale, filmic, and legal discourses’ (pp.
90). The authors attempt to illustrate how analysis of film discourses can
influence fairy tale studies themselves. They bring in to play questions of ‘narrative
style and textual authority.’ Until only relatively recently, fairy tales were
available only orally or as written texts. Discourses such as this have become
increasingly relevant as adaptations spring up in different media.
Reference:
Greenhill, P. & Kohm, S. (2013). Hoodwinked! and Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. Marvels & Tales, 27(1), pp.
89-108
