Essay Example on Comparing Little Red Riding Hood: Perrault vs. Grimm

Zohar Shavit highlights certain notable differences between the two major versions of the story Little Red Riding Hood by Perrault and Brothers Grimm. Shavit classifies two primary perceptions of children form which are amusement and educational standpoint. Zohar notes that these differences could have been as a result of different perspectives about the concept of childhood.

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While the main audience in Perrault's story was the child, the Grimm Brothers story was not initially intended for children. Rather it was intended for adult members of the literary elite who appreciated this form of writing. As such, they would not have the luxury of addressing both adults and children since at that time, children were seen as a different entity from adults and they were perceived to have different needs and different intellectual capacities.

Shavit points out that one of the main differences in these two publications lies in their tones and their endings. the differences in tone are largely due to the intentions of the authors. On one end, Perrault used irony and satire to address the elite population while the Grim Brothers intended to preserve the illusion of a naive narrator which many people believed was essential in maintaining the authenticity of the text.

There are certain striking differences between Perrault's story and that of the Grimm Brothers. Perrault's story tells of a young, innocent girl who sets on a journey to go and visit her grandmother and she stopped by a wolf in the middle of the forest. The story has been included in very many fairytales collections to teach children about the dangers of speaking to strangers. Nevertheless, the original version of Perrault's appears to be a more sexual parable that is designed to warn women about the dangers of promiscuity and warn them against the dangers of 'wolves'.

Perrault's story is an illustration of the morals code that governs the relationships between men and women and the institution of marriage which governed them. It is therefore quite sexually suggestive than any other version of the story. Certain sex suggestive lines such as "Little Red Riding Hood took off her clothes and climbed into the bed" and "All the better to hug you with" says the wolf, before he devours a little red whole (Tatar 13). Such lines give credence to Perrault's initial intention of Perrault and they were considered to be unsuitable for children. On the contrary, the version by the Grimm Brothers was created during the industrial revolution to appeal to the emerging middle class and their children. the story is based on the ideals of a child from a middle-class family who is obedient and innocent and with a disciplined social structure. This characteristic is portrayed by the description of the girl as a sweet girl who everybody loved at first sight. While it follows the same storyline whereby the girl meets a wolf on her way to visit her grandmother, in this case, she is not swallowed by the wolf. She is saved by a huntsman. The way he is described is an indication of a patriarchal family where women are weak and vulnerable.

During the Grimm Brothers era, literature had become very attractive and books had become relatively cheap as such, the audience for books had expanded extensively. Since their version of the story mostly targeted children as they hoped to teach them morality, a lot of sexual content was removed. However, they still maintained the concept of violence to exaggerate good and evil. The violence is depicted in many lines such as "The huntsman took out a pair of scissors and began cutting open the belly of the sleeping wolf" (Tatar 15). The objective of including such lines was to emphasize the moral of the story to obey one's parents. Such adjustments changed the story from a sexual fable to a family fable which later became very popular in Europe since it underscored the Christian message of virtue.

The ending of the two versions of the story also differs to a large extent. Perrault's story, does not have a happy ending and ends with a moral story. However, the moral message which Perrault included at the end of the story clearly illustrates that his work was not intended for the children but for teenagers and young ladies. The story did not show any punishment and the moral message was too sophisticated for the children to grasp. On the other hand, the Grimm version has two endings but the common thing on both is that the girls are not hurt. However, in the first ending, the girl is punished since they are saved from the wolf after the wolf had started devouring them. In the other ending, the wolf is drowned before harming them this change in the ending of the story changes its significance completely. Brothers Grimm made the story more suitable for children as it contains happy endings and, at the same time, directly instructs the children that those who do bad will end up being punished.

How the Tales are Presented in Disney Productions

Today, Wiley Disney company is shaping most of the traditional fairy stories using appealing, lucrative, and motion pictures that allow and influence most cultures. The stories in the Disney movies are traditional stories adapted and modified to suit the present cultural demands. Disney movies chose fairy/folk tales due to their wide appeal to both adults and children to produce various animated films. Due to their familiarity, it is easier to follow along. The common stories available in Disney movies include Perrault's version of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and Beaumont's version of Beauty and the Beast. The Little Red Riding Hood cartoon featured in Disney in 1922. Despite the title, 'The Little Red Riding Hood' in the Disney movies, the plot has very few similarities with the written version of the story by Perrault or Grimm brothers. The original storyline by Perrault and Grimm brothers outlines how Red meets a wicked wolf on her to deliver donuts to her grandmother who disguises her and finally eats her grandmother and causes her harm. Whereas the tale warns the society on talking to strangers, this moral lesson is lost in Disney movies which in both versions have a happy ending.

This fairy tale contains different cartoons. The first one is the Little Red Riding Hood who is attacked by a wolf on her way to deliver doughnuts to her grandmother. she is rescued by a man in an airplane fetched by her cat. The second version "the big bad wolf" in the story Red accompanies Fiddler and Piper pig to deliver food. On their way, they meet fairy Queen and Goldilocks who turn to be the big bad wolf. On her escape, the wolf arrives at her grandmother's place before her and tries to eat her. However, she hides in a closet until Practical Pig helps her among others. The original storyline has not been adopted by the Disney movies since most cases Disney omits violence and extreme mistreatments to women and girls. Disney movies seek to motivate the theme of family value, the slogan of dreams are achievable, economy, and true love. To manipulate the story of the Little Red Riding Hood requires more effort to suit these themes before it suits the contemporary culture's interest.

As Jack Zipes notes, there has been a gross misrepresentation of folktales and fairytales, especially in Disney productions. According to Zipes, Walt disgraced the work of these authors. In his eyes, Disney productions do not live up to the original expectations of the stories and the company does not accord much acknowledgment to the original authors of these stories. Zipes argues that Disney manipulates his audience by using certain features such as loud sounds, elaborate images, and bright colors without capturing the original message of the authors. He notes that Disney productions dilute the literary works of these takes leaving the audience with no chance of critical analysis (Zipes 12). These features enabled Disney to influence the audience and by making them believe that he accurately depicted the fairy tales, he intrigued them into watching more of his productions.

More importantly, he highlights the parallelism that Disney attempts to create between his life and these tales. He alters the stories to his like to fit his intended agenda. Besides, Zipes criticizes Disney's depiction of women as vulnerable and powerless and that the only thing that a woman desires is love (Zipes 16). To a large extent, Zipes illustrates that Disney's depiction of these two tales is not an ac...