The crazy, hyperactive fuzzy critter. It’s an animation cliché started by Ice Age, and Hoodwinked snatches it for its few laughs. The story concept, character design, and voice acting are superb in Hoodwinked. Everything else, namely the comedy outside of that spastic little squirrel, falls flat.

The majority of the film is a twisted version of Little Red Riding Hood. In this version, after the wolf appears to try and munch on Hood, it turns into a domestic disturbance crime scene (with one of the charges being “attempt to eat”). It’s a great concept, and each of the characters gets their chance to tell their version of the story.

The four views on the incident are told in parallel, each one affecting the other in some way. The mixing of the stories provides a few smirks and not much else. Some grating musical numbers don’t help. The final 15-minutes are the film’s brightest moments when it breaks away from the story telling and becomes a nice little kids adventure.

As an independent feature, the animation is likely to draw a few glances for its lower-than-usual quality. It’s hard to fault the film for it though, and it does have a charm and design it call its own. It rarely hinders the on-screen action.

Sadly, the script and jokes that go nowhere can’t be ignored. There’s a lot of potential in some of the characters, and you almost hope more time was spent with a few of them. With the credits, this one barely breaks the 80-minute mark, and there’s no time to become involved or entertained.

As a completely computer generated film, this movie is a gorgeous piece of work on DVD. The only problems come with noticeable compression artifacts. The stunning clarity and wonderful color more than make up for any transferring issues.

Audio is slightly disappointing, rarely using the rear speakers. Bass if fine, and some small moments of separation in the stereo channels are noticeable. Otherwise, the full effect of 5.1 rarely makes itself known.

Extras are not plentiful, and the kids won’t stay around to watch many of them. Five deleted scenes offer optional commentary to explain their deletion, and one of them is a storyboard. A music video features unbearably low quality animation, while a full commentary runs over the film with the writers and directors discussing their work. Finally, a 13-minute feature on the making of the film covers the basics.

Director Cory Williams would go on from Hoodwinked to write Doogal. Doogal would end up on IMDB’s list of “worst movies based on rating at number 48. At least Hoodwinked was a huge financial success, and the open ending almost assuredly will lead to a sequel. Doogal on the other hand will hopefully end up in a pit where it will never be seen again.