The story of Three Little Pigs and its themes have appeared in literature and other forms of art. This page provides a small discussion of some of the better known treatments by authors and other artists. Novels produced by romance publishers are not listed on this page, but can be found on Romance Novels: Fairy Tale Romances at Three Little Pigs.
Fisher, David. "USA v. Wolf: Deposition of Mr. Wolf." Legally Correct Fairy Tales. New York: Warner, 1996.
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SHORT STORY
Garner, James Finn. "The Three Little Pigs." Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life and Times. New York: Hungry Minds Inc, 1994.
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SHORT STORY
Maguire, Gregory. "The Three Little Penguins and the Big Bad Walrus." Leaping Beauty: And Other Animal Fairy Tales. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
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SHORT STORY
Marcantonio, Patricia Santos. "The Three Chicharrones." Red Ridin' in the Hood: and Other Cuentos. Renato Alarcao, illustrator. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2005.
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SHORT STORY: From the publisher: "Eleven classic tales are retold with an injection of Latino culture, providing a twist on the traditional forms while sustaining a freshness all their own."
Mayer, Gloria Gilbert and Thomas Mayer. "The Three Little Pigs." Goldilocks on Management: 27 Revisionist Fairy Tales for Serious Managers. New York: American Management Association, 1999.
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SHORT STORY
Rabe, Jean. "Trading Fours With the Moldy Figs." Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City. Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers, eds. New York: DAW, 2004.
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SHORT STORY
Shepard, Lupita. "Wolf at the Door." Twice Upon A Time. Denise Little, ed. New York: DAW Books, 1999.
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SHORT STORY
Walker, Barbara. "Three Little Pinks." Feminist Fairy Tales. San Francisco: Harper, 1996.
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SHORT STORY
Dahl, Roald. "The Three Little Pigs." Revolting Rhymes. New York: Puffin Books, 1982.
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You can read the poem on line at Roald Dahl's Three Little Pigs.
Hay, Sara Henderson. "The Builders." Story Hour. Fayetteville, AS: University of Arkansas Press, 1998.
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Pastan, Linda. "A Dangerous Time." Carnival Evening: New and Selected Poems, 1968-1998. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1998.
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Sansom, Clive. "Wolf." Return to Magic. London: Leslie Frewin, 1969.
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I have listed primarily classical compositions of music using the themes of this fairy tale in either ballet, opera or some other musical style. I have also provided links to popular recordings of the music when available at Amazon.com. The advantage to these links is that you can listen to samples of the music at no charge.
Three Little Pigs (1933). Burt Gillett, director. Walt Disney, producer.
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ANIMATED SHORT: This is first of four theatrical cartoon featuring the three pigs and the wolf from Walt Disney. The famous animated short from Disney, featuring the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
The Big Bad Wolf (1934). Burt Gillett, director. Walt Disney, producer.
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ANIMATED SHORT: This is second of four theatrical cartoon featuring the three pigs and the wolf from Walt Disney. "The two foolish little pigs escort Red Riding Hood on a short cut through the woods, against the advice of their bricklayer brother. When they encounter the wolf, Red runs ahead to granny's house and the pigs run home. The wolf gets to granny's house first and scares her into a closet, then dresses as granny. Alerted by his brothers, the smart pig arrives just as granny has pulled Red into the closet with her and takes care of the wolf with the help of some hot coals and popcorn."(IMDB.com)
Three Little Wolves (1936). David Hand, director. Walt Disney, producer.
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ANIMATED SHORT: This is third of four theatrical cartoon featuring the three pigs and the wolf from Walt Disney. "The two foolish little pigs think crying "wolf" on their brother is great sport. Then the real wolf comes around, with his three little wolves. He dresses as Little Bo Peep, with his sons as the sheep, and they lure the pigs into the wolf den. This time, when the pigs blow the wolf alert horn, their brother ignores it. But they get the wolf to demonstrate his lung power with the horn, and their brother comes running to demonstrate his wolf pacifier. "(IMDB.com)
The Practical Pig (1939). Dick Rickard, director. Walt Disney, producer.
ANIMATED SHORT: This is the fourth and final theatrical cartoon featuring the three pigs and the wolf from Walt Disney. "Two of the Three Little Pigs are caught by the Big Bad Wolf while swimming. But when the wolf tries to get the third, he is captured by the third pig who uses his new lie detector to get the information about his two brothers from the wolf....." (IMDB.com)
The Wolf's Pardon (1947). Eddie Donnelly, director.
ANIMATED SHORT: "In the last 10 years, much has changed in the world of Mother Goose. Little Boy Blue is now a hot jazz trumpeter; Little Tommy Tucker is a crooner; Tom Tom the Piper's Son is a cop; and the Big Bad Wolf is about to be paroled. He visits the three little pigs, but they're bigger than him now and run a construction company. Finally, he goes after Little Red Riding Hood; as expected, she's all grown up now, and as he approaches from behind, she's playing the piano, singing beautifully, and looks great until she turns around, wearing glasses, buck teeth, and looking just plain ugly. She's also man crazy, and chases after the wolf, who finally escapes into a soda shoppe where he's smothered with kisses from all the girls there." (IMDB.com)
The Turn-Tale Wolf (1952). Robert McKimson, director.
Cast:
Mel Blanc .... Big Bad Wolf, Wolf's Son (voice)
ANIMATED SHORT: "The Big Bad Wolf's proper little nephew has learned at school that his uncle was the fiend who blew the Three Little Pigs' houses down and is ashamed that his uncle, flesh of his flesh and blood of his blood, could have committed such a deed. When confronted by his nephew with this information, Big Bad pleads innocent. He tells a quite different story of how he was an innocent, nature-loving kid tormented by Three sadistic Little Pigs, who, upon reading of a 50 dollar bounty for a wolf's tail, chased him home and blew his house down!" (IMDB.com)
Three Little Bops (1957). Friz Freleng, director.
ANIMATED SHORT: "Three hip, Little Pigs are travelling entertainers, moving from straw to wood, to brick nightclubs, playing swinging tunes for high-class, 'with it' crowds, but an uncool Big Bad Wolf keeps intruding on their act with with his 'corny horn' and uses it to blow their nightclubs down when they throw him out- until they are playing in their brick club and the Wolf tries a more drastic, explosive method for destroying the 'House of Bricks'."(IMDB.com)
Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: The Three Little Pigs(1985) (TV). Howard Storm, director.
Amazon.com: Buy the series on DVD.
Cast:
Billy Crystal ... Larry
Valerie Perrine ... Tina
Jeff Goldblum ... The Big Bad Wolf
Stephen Furst ... Peter
Fred Willard ... Paul
Doris Roberts ... Mama
This television series originally aired on Showtime for six seasons and a total of 27 episodes. To see a full episode list, go to Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre.
"The Three Little Pigs" in Muppet Classic Theater (1994). Jim Henson Studios.
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The six stories included are "The Three Little Pigs," "King Midas," "Rumplestiltskin," "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," "The Elves & The Shoemaker," and "The Emperor's New Clothes."
Robinette, Joseph. The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf. Woodstock, IL: Dramatic Publishing Company of Chicago, 1999.
Read more about the play on the Dramatic Publishing website.
FULL-LENGTH PLAY: The Wolf: villain or victim? The Three Pigs: innocent or at fault? The Jurors (Miss Muffet, Bo Peep, Cinderella and Humpty-Dumpty, to name a few): solid citizens or characters with a past? And what about Judge Wise O. Al? Is justice on his side—or does he have a secret to hide? Then there's the media—a reporter, newscaster and town crier. Have they come to accurately report the proceedings—or to turn the courtroom into a media circus? And who is that surprise witness at the end? The answers to these profound questions and even more are revealed once and for all in this rollicking, fun-filled, action-packed trial-of-the-century (of course this century's nearly over, so look for a new trial-of-the-century in a couple of years). Just as he did in the widely produced Trial of Goldilocks, Joseph Robinette examines the guilt, or innocence, of the accused from different points of view and comes up with a surprising, yet eminently satisfying, conclusion in which no one escapes unscathed. And, as a bonus, a lesson or two is learned along the way. It all ends happily ever after, of course, with the newly bonded Wolf and Pigs along with the fairy-tale jury and all the others heading for a post-trial party at the castle of Old King Cole.
Shockey, Marilyn. What's a Wolf to Do?. Woodstock, IL: Dramatic Publishing Company of Chicago.
Read more about the play on the Dramatic Publishing website.
MUSICAL: Everybody needs friends, but Wolfie doesn't have any, because whenever he meets someone he likes, he always tries to eat them. Goldie invites Little Red to go for a walk in the forest, but Mrs. Hood refuses permission, reminding her daughter that she must take a basket of goodies to Granny. Besides, Mrs. Hood doesn't approve of Goldie. That girl is always getting into trouble! As Little Red and her imaginary friend, Roddy, go through the forest to Granny's, Little Red encounters Wolfie, who pretends to be her friend, while secretly plotting to eat her for dinner. Having been warned by Mrs. Hood not to talk to strangers, Little Red refuses to speak to him; but when he offers her a bouquet of flowers, she takes them, since her mother never mentioned taking flowers from a wolf. Further along the path, Little Red meets the singing Pig Sisters, who tell her in story and song their experiences with Wolfie. They warn her to stay away from that wolf! In another part of the forest, the hillbilly Bears leave their porridge in search of honey; and Goldie checks out their cottage. Soon she's running for her life when the Bears come back and discover her asleep. As she runs by Little Red, Goldie quickly tells about her adventure. Suddenly she hears the Bears approaching and sprints away again. The Bears explain to Little Red that they are looking for Goldie because Baby Bear wants to be her friend. But what's a wolf to do? Wrestling with the age-old conflict: whether to have friends or to eat them, Wolfie gives in to his hunger pangs, takes the shortcut to Granny's, swallows her whole and waits for Little Red to arrive. Everyone converges at Granny's house, where the Heimlich maneuver is applied and Granny pops out, good as new. Goldie arrives with her new friends, Baby Bear and his parents, and the Pig Sisters stop by to check on Granny. When Wolfie decides to become a vegetarian and give up eating people and pigs, Little Red agrees to be his first friend and wistfully says goodbye to her imaginary friend, Roddy.
Down the