75 years ago…
… on May 27, 1933 three little pigs with the help of Walt and his crew made their big, colorful entry on cinema screens around the USA. Yes, today 75 years ago Walt Disney released the technicolour animated short “Three Little Pigs” on the big screen, directed by Burt Gillett. The short not only introduced the Fifer Pig, Fiddler Pig and Practical Pig who went on to star in three additional shorts for Disney (1934, 1936 and 1939), were seen again Who Framed Roger Rabbitt as well as in Disney’s tv show House of Mouse and are even today can still occasionally be met as characters in the Magic Kingdom style parks around the globe.
The short also introduced the big bad wolf, a Disney villain par excellence - and not to forget the classic song “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” by Frank Churchill, which went on to became a hit single. The song is often referred to as an anthem for the people fightin on during the Great Depression, with the “big bad wolf” implied to impersonate the depression.
The short not only played extremly well with the audiences but also won the 1934 Academy Award for Best Short Subject in the category Cartoons. Praise continues to be heaped on the short till today. In fact it was was introduced into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2007. So maybe its time to dig out those Silly Symphony DVD sets again tonight…
P.S.: thanks to the TAG Blog for pointing out this event in a post worth reading for placing the short firmly in the history of animated entertainment and evaluating its importance for the whole art form.