The Big Bad Wolf

The following is taken from the Memoirs written by the Big Bad Wolf.

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Around 1812, the Brothers Grimm approached my grandfather Cornelius Wolf to play the part of the Wolf in several stories, such as The Wolf and the Man, The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats, and later Little Red Riding Hood. In their first story version, they had the wolf eat Little Red Riding Hood. My grandfather detested this idea. He found the Idea of eating the little girl so disgusting. However, the Brothers Grimm went through with the story. People who saw the story coined the term Big Bad Wolf. My grandfather was unhappy with the term because it was not in his nature. He was a kind, sincere wolf, after all, he had a wife and two little pups to raise. But because of the label bestowed upon him, he was seen as the Big Bad Wolf. Whenever he went out in public others would point at him, still, others would move their children in close or into their homes. The Brothers Grimm tried to correct this reputation he had been given by creating a second version. In the second version, he did not eat Little Red Riding Hood only harassed and threatened to eat her. In the end, it did not change anything, people still saw my grandfather as the Big Bad Wolf.

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A century later I was trying to follow in my grandfather's footsteps and break into the story/movie industry. My big break came in 1933 when I got a call from the Walt Disney Company. They wanted me to play the Wolf in their new movie about The Three Little Pigs. And later in 1934 to remake Little Red Riding Hood. I was thrilled to be asked. By this time views had changed about the wolves used in stories, people saw the wolves as just bad guys, villains, and bullies. I embraced the Big Bad Wolf label with glee. I wanted to be the villain, the bad guy. However, I too had no desire to “actually” eat a little girl or pigs. I was not too fond of the flavor of humans or pork. I was assured by the producers at the studio I would not have to do either. Besides, it is a messy process.

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Production started in the latter part of 1932 and the Motion Picture was released on May 27, 1933. I took on the Big Bad Wolf roll with gusto. I threw myself into the part. Even when the cameras stopped filming I would stay in character on the sets and walking around the studios' grounds. The looks I would get especially from the females, wow! I was in my early twenties, and it turned out the She Wolf's really like the bad Wolf types. I had no shortage of dates for the weekends.

With that said it wasn’t all peaches and cream. There were problems in production and on the set. I had a few good arguments with the director over wardrobe. I thought I looked ridiculous in the red baggy pants with green suspenders. But in the end, the director convinced me to go with it. The outfit was not the easiest to run in and the suspenders kept breaking and of course, the pants would fall which always created a big laugh on the set. The top hat was not made of the best material and would fall apart sometimes. I think we used seven new hats. I also argued over my name in the movie, mine was Zeke. Didn’t like it but I had to go with it. They also were thinking of Br’er Wolf but that was nixed. Br’er was later used for the Fox, Bear, and Rabbit in Song of the South in 1946.

Here are some behind-the-scenes fun facts. The wind used to blow the houses down did not come from me. There was a large wind machine (a very large fan), out of view behind me. The wind kept blowing the top hat off too, so the wardrobe people had to tape it to my head. Also, when they blew down the house made of sticks some of the flying wood pieces injured the lighting crew on the set. We had to shut down production for two days for that incident. In the scene where I dress up as the Fuller Brush Man at the brick house the pig grabs the brush and hits my foot and my head with it, that wasn’t me that was a stunt double. He took the lumps, not me. The scene at the end where I come down the chimney into the boiling pot of water was also the stunt double. I wasn’t going to burn my rear end.

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The three actors who played the Three Little Pigs were great pigs to work with. Their names in the screenplay were Fifer Pig, Fiddler Pig, and Practical Pig. Their real names were Chuck, Frank (or Frankie as he liked to be called), and Paul. They were fun to work with but could be very stubborn when it came to their dialogue. They argued a lot with the director over words and how to say them. I also found out never to play poker with them, they work together and cheat. I lost a good deal of money to them.

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Once the movie was released it quickly became a sensation to the public. I as well as the Three Pigs were overnight stars. The parties we all got invited to were wild. The Three Pigs, those guys were party animals for sure and the She Pigs couldn’t keep their hoofs off of them, the things I saw them do…well that’s all I will say about that.

 A few months later I started production on Little Red Riding Hood. The making of that didn’t go any smoother. Production was concerned that the concept of Red Riding Hood meeting the Big Bad Wolf on her own was not going to go over well with the audience, so they decided to bring the Three Pigs back into the story as well. However, I did get top billing for the title of the movie, Big Bad Wolf with Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Pigs, and Grandma. One problem I had was the girl who played Red Riding Hood (her name was Sally Cofield), was so darn cute. It became difficult for me to try, and act mean to her. Those little eyes looking back at me just made my heart melt. In the scene where I am dressed as Grandma and come out from under the covers with a menacing laugh at Red Riding Hood, I think it took about twenty takes to get it right. With those sweet eyes looking back at me I just couldn’t get the menacing laugh right. Acting can be tough at times.

But we continued and wrapped up production quickly, and by late 1933, early 1934 Big Bad Wolf with Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Pigs and Grandma was released.

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I went on to star in many other movies as the menacing predatory antagonist. But by then I was generally typecast as the Big Bad Wolf. Unlike my grandfather, I reveled in the stardom of the character. I became the Big Bad Wolf.