The Three Little Pigs

"The Three Little Pigs" is a

The phrases used in the story, and the various morals drawn from it, have become embedded in Western culture. Many versions of The Three Little Pigs have been recreated and modified over the years, sometimes making the wolf a kind character. It is a type B124^[3] folktale in the Thompson Motif Index.

Traditional versions

"The Three Little Pigs" was included in The Nursery Rhymes of England (London and New York, c.1886), by James Halliwell-Phillipps.^[4] The story in its arguably best-known form appeared in English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, first published on June 19, 1890, and crediting Halliwell as his source.^[5] The earliest published version of the story is from Dartmoor, Devon, England in 1853, and has three little pixies and a fox in place of the three pigs and a wolf. The first pixy had a wooden house:

"Let me in, let me in", said the fox.
”I won’t”, was the pixy's answer; ”and the door is fastened.”^[6]

The story begins with the title characters being sent out into the world by their mother, to "seek out their fortune". The first little pig builds a house of straw, but a wolf blows it down and devours him. The second little pig builds a house of sticks, which the wolf also blows down, though with more blows and the second little pig is also devoured. Each exchange between wolf and pig features ringing proverbial phrases, namely:

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"No, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."^[7]

The third little pig builds a house of bricks, which the wolf fails to blow down. He then attempts to trick the pig out of the house by asking to meet him at several places at specific times, but he is outwitted each time since the pig gets to those places earlier than the wolf. Finally, the infuriated wolf resolves to come down the chimney, whereupon the pig who owns the brick house lights a fire under a pot of water on the fireplace. The wolf falls in and is fatally boiled, avenging the death of the final pig's brothers. After cooking the wolf, the pig proceeds to eat the meat for dinner.

Other versions

In some versions, the first and second little pigs are not eaten by the wolf after he demolishes their homes but instead runs to their sibling's house, who originally had to take care of the two other pigs and build a brick house in a few versions. Most of these versions omit any attempts by the wolf to meet the third pig out of the house after his failed attempt to blow the house in. After the wolf goes down the chimney he either dies, as in the original, runs away and never returns to eat the three little pigs, or in some versions the wolf faints after trying to blow down the brick house. All three of the pigs survive in each case.

The story uses the literary rule of three, expressed in this case as a "contrasting three", as the third pig's brick house turns out to be the only one which is adequate to withstand the wolf.^[8] Variations of the tale appeared in

Analysis

Writer Bruno Bettelheim, in his book The Uses of Enchantment, interprets the tale as a showcase of the capacity for anticipation and courage in the face of adversity, symbolized by the wolf. According to him, the individual who is content to prepare themself as the first two pigs will be destroyed by the vicissitudes of life, and only a person who builds a solid base can face such hazards. He viewed the tale as a means of telling children that one cannot always act according to the pleasure principle, and must submit to the reality principle when life demands it. He exemplified this point by observing that the first two pigs valued gratification rather than planning and foresight as the third pig had.^[9]

Later adaptations

Animated shorts

• Silly Symphony cartoon, was produced by Walt Disney
  . The production cast the title characters as Fifer Pig, Fiddler Pig, and Practical Pig. The first two are depicted as both frivolous and arrogant. The story has been somewhat softened. The first two pigs still get their houses blown down, but escape from the wolf. Also, the wolf is not boiled to death but simply burns himself and runs away. Three sequels soon followed respectively as a result of the short film's popularity:
  • The first of them was The Big Bad Wolf, also directed by Burt Gillett and first released on April 14, 1934.^[10]
  • In 1936, a second cartoon starring the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf followed, with a story based on The Boy Who Cried Wolf. This short was entitled Three Little Wolves and introduced the Big Bad Wolf's three pup sons, all of whom just as eager for a taste of the pigs as their father.^[11]
  • A third cartoon The Practical Pig, was released in 1939, right at the end of the Silly Symphonies' run.^[12] In this, Fifer and Piper, again despite Practical's warning, go swimming but are captured by the Wolf, who then goes after Practical only to be caught in Practical's newly built Lie Detector machine.
  • In 1941, a fourth cartoon much of the film was edited into
    war bonds, and the Big Bad Wolf representing Nazi Germany is unable to blow his house down.^[13]
  • Fiddler Pig, Fifer Pig, and Big Bad Wolf appeared in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
• In 1942, there was a Walter Lantz musical version, The Hams That Couldn't Be Cured.^[14] The wolf (claiming he is a musical instructor) explains to the court how the three little pigs harassed him through their instrument playing which ends up destroying the wolf's house.
• In 1942, there was also a wartime version called Blitz Wolf with the Wolf as Adolf Hitler. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio and directed by Tex Avery.
• Four cartoons inspired by the Disney version were produced by Warner Bros.
  • The first was
    Hungarian Dances, which was a serious musical treatment, directed by Friz Freleng
    .
  • The second was The Windblown Hare (1949), featuring Bugs Bunny, and directed by Robert McKimson. In Windblown, Bugs is conned into first buying the straw house, which the wolf blows down, and then the sticks house, which the wolf also blows down. After these incidents, Bugs decides to help the wolf and get revenge on all three pigs, who are now at the brick house.
  • The third was
    The Turn-Tale Wolf
    (1952), directed by Robert McKimson. This cartoon tells the story from the wolf's point of view and makes the pigs out to be the villains.
  • The fourth was The Three Little Bops (1957), featuring the pigs as a jazz band, who refused to let the inept trumpet-playing wolf join until after he died and went to Hell, whereupon his playing markedly improved, directed by Friz Freleng.
• In 1953, Tex Avery directed a Droopy cartoon, "The Three Little Pups". In it, the pigs are replaced with dogs and the wolf is a Southern-accented dog catcher trying to catch Droopy and his brothers, Snoopy and Loopy, to put in the dog pound. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio.
• In 1980, the book with Erik Blegvad illustrations was made. In 1988, Weston Woods Studios created a short film based on the book.
• In 2023, the winner of the Doric Film Festival, Spirit of the Festival Award was Aaron Gale (note: misspelled in citation) for his animated version of the 'Three Wee Grumphies' (Doric for three little pigs) with all characters speaking the North-east Scotland dialect, and amusing twist in the tale, which features the wolf's mother.^[15]
• Home on the Range features a short called A Dairy Tale, where the character Mrs. Caloway tries to tell the story itself, but is constantly interrupted by other characters, who tell the story in their own ways.