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Eighty years after premiering, "Three Little Pigs" continues to charm and be a high-water mark for the Disney studio. It tells its story through song and dance from start to finish, and while most of the music is a variation on the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf," what a song to spin an entire body of work out of.
The vibrant, warm colors and pleasing animation go a long way towards making the entire thing work and be the great work of art it is. But it isn't just the look and music that makes the whole thing work and continue to resonant as a goofy little cartoon. It's the clear Depression-era parable being evoked in the story. Only one brother is aware of the dangers around the corner while the other two prefer to dance, ignore the warning signs and lazily go about their frivolous existence. And the Big Bad Wolf's appearance looks like a combination of vagabond and carperbagger.
This subtext of Depression era symbolism would be further explored and built upon into an exploration of WWII imagery, with the Wolf taking on the presence of Germany and the pigs being the Allies. But the film doesn't play out quite so seriously, it's an adorable little cartoon with moments of pitch-black humor (notice the portrait of "Father" in the third pig's home). To say it more simply, "Three Little Pigs" is a masterpiece of the form.
