Hoodwinked!

Hoodwinked! (alternatively styled Hoodwinked) is a 2005 American computer-animated musical comedy thriller film. It retells the folktale Little Red Riding Hood as a police investigation, using backstories to show multiple characters' points of view. It was produced independently by Blue Yonder Films with Kanbar Entertainment, directed and written by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, and produced by Katie Hooten, Maurice Kanbar, David K. Lovegren, Sue Bea Montgomery, and Preston Stutzman. The film was released by The Weinstein Company in Los Angeles, California, on December 16, 2005, for a one-week engagement before expanding nationwide on January 13, 2006. The film features the voices of Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Anthony Anderson, David Ogden Stiers, Xzibit, Chazz Palminteri and Andy Dick.

Hoodwinked! was among the earliest computer-animated films to be completely independently funded. Working apart from a major studio allowed the filmmakers greater creative control, but also restrained them economically. Due to the film's small budget, its animation was produced in the Philippines, with a less-realistic design inspired by stop motion films. The Weinstein Company did not sign on as the film's distributor until near the end of production, and while the company had many roles recast, it otherwise made few changes to the film.

Structurally, the film was inspired by non-linear crime dramas, such as Rashomon and Pulp Fiction. It was released shortly after the first two installments in the successful Shrek series, which accentuated the fairy tale parody genre of which Hoodwinked! is a part. Hoodwinked! however, intentionally deviated from the Shrek series in its style of humor and in certain plot elements. This was in part based on Cory Edwards' concerns over exposing children to the high level of cynicism often found in the genre.

Critical reception to the film was varied; although its script and cast were praised by many reviews, its animation quality was heavily criticized. The film was a commercial success, earning over thirteen times its less-than-$8 million budget. A sequel, ''Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil'', directed by Mike Disa, and written by the Edwards brothers and Leech, was released in 2011 to negative reviews and financial failure.

Plot
Little Red Riding Hood (Anne Hathaway) arrives at her grandmother's house, where the Big Bad Wolf (Patrick Warburton) has disguised himself as Red's Granny. The Wolf attacks Red. Granny (Glenn Close), who has been tied up, suddenly jumps out of the closet to help Red, just as an axe-wielding woodsman (Jim Belushi) bursts through the window. The police arrive on the scene. Detective Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers) questions everyone involved about the events leading up to the incident.

Little Red, actually named Red Puckett, explains that she was delivering goodies for her grandmother, when she discovered a threat from the mysterious Goodie Bandit, who has been stealing recipes. To save her Granny's business, Red embarked upon a journey to take the Puckett family recipes to Granny's home on top of a nearby mountain. En route, she fell out of a cable car operated by the bunny Boingo (Andy Dick), and encountered the Wolf, who sprung a series of suspicious questions on her. Evading the Wolf, Red then met an old singing goat named Japeth (Benjy Gaither), who accompanied her through the remaining journey to Granny's house. Upon arriving at her destination, Red found the Wolf already waiting in ambush.

What at first seems to be an open-and-shut case becomes confused once the Wolf shares his side of the story. The Wolf, to the surprise of many at the crime scene, is an investigative reporter. He reveals that he was searching for a lead on the identity of the Goody Bandit and had reason to believe that Red and Granny were the culprits. Along with his hyperactive squirrel assistant Twitchy (Cory Edwards), the Wolf confronted Red in the hopes of solving the Goody Bandit mystery. When they failed to detain Red for long, the Wolf and Twitchy made haste for Granny's house. They managed to arrive ahead of Red (by using a shortcut known by Boingo). At the house, they found Granny already tied up in the closet. The Wolf then went undercover, planning to trick Red into sharing the truth about the Goody Bandit.

When the Woodsman, named Kirk, is questioned, he explains that his appearance at Granny's house was pure happenstance. Kirk is in fact an aspiring actor who was only trying out for the part of a woodsman in a commercial. After his schnitzel truck was robbed by the Goody Bandit, he was consoled by Boingo, and then received a callback for the commercial. He spent the rest of the day chopping trees, getting into character for his upcoming role. At sunset, a large tree collapsed and pushed him through the window of Granny's home.

The investigation then turns to Granny. Unbeknownst to her granddaughter, Granny is an extreme sports enthusiast. Earlier that day, she competed in a ski race, where Boingo was in attendance, supposedly as a fan of Granny's. Once the race started, Granny was attacked by the opposing team. Able to withstand the attack and win the race, she learned that the team had been hired by the Goody Bandit to eliminate her. Granny explains to the investigators and her fellow suspects that while parachuting back home, she got tangled up in the parachute strings, which snagged on her ceiling fan and threw her into the closet.

Feeling betrayed by Granny's secrecy, Red wanders off alone. Flippers deduces that Boingo, who had been present in all four stories, must be the Goody Bandit. After Boingo sneaks into Granny's home and steals the Puckett family recipes, Red notices Boingo and follows him to his hideout at a cable car station. The police pursue Boingo in the wrong direction. Granny, the Wolf, and Kirk manage to locate Boingo as he is explaining his evil scheme to Red. Boingo plans to add an addictive substance called "Boingonium" to the stolen recipes and then bulldoze the forest, so as to clear the way for a new Boingo-themed corporate empire.

The Wolf and Kirk go undercover to distract Boingo, as Granny sneaks into Boingo's lair, but they are all soon found out and open conflict ensues. Boingo sends a bound and gagged Red down the mountain in a cable car loaded with explosives. Granny goes after Red, with Boingo and his henchmen in pursuit. Red manages to free herself, and escapes with Granny, while the police, who have been redirected by Twitchy, are waiting at the bottom of the mountain to arrest Boingo and his henchmen.

Some time later, Kirk finds success in a yodeling troupe, while Red, Granny, the Wolf, and Twitchy are enlisted by Flippers to join a crime solving organization called Happily Ever After Agency.

Cast

 * Anne Hathaway as Red Puckett
 * Glenn Close as Granny Abigail Puckett
 * Jim Belushi as Kirk, the Woodsman
 * Patrick Warburton as Wolf W. Wolf
 * Anthony Anderson as Det. Bill Stork
 * David Ogden Stiers as Det. Nicky Flippers
 * Xzibit as Chief Ted Grizzly
 * Chazz Palminteri as Woolworth
 * Andy Dick as Boingo
 * Cory Edwards as Twitchy
 * Benjy Gaither as Japeth the Goat
 * Ken Marino as Raccoon Jerry
 * Tom Kenny as Tommy
 * Preston Stutzman as Timmy
 * Tony Leech as Glen
 * Joshua J. Greene as Jimmy Lizard
 * Mark Primiano as 2-Tone
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as P-Biggie
 * Tara Strong as Zorra
 * Tye Edwards as Dolph
 * Kathryn J. Lovegren as Quill