March 17th, 2022 
Michael Lyons 
Just when you think there’s no way to re-tell a familiar story, you see something like Three Little Bops. This re-telling of The Three Little Pigs fable with a swingin’ jazz beat is still as infectious and fun sixty-five years after its release. This Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short tells its entire story using music, finding a way to uniquely convey a well-known tale.
The short even opens with the title bouncing across the screen to the music. We meet the Three Little Pigs, a musical group, and when we first see them playing, they’re at the House of Straw club. A be-bopping narration sets the tone: “The Three Little Pigs are still around/ But they’re playing music with a modern sound!”
As the Pigs entertain the club, the Wolf with his trumpet comes in and wants to jam along with them. But he’s not very good at all. He’s thrown out of the club, and to enact revenge, he “blows down” the Straw Inn with his trumpet playing.
The Three Pigs then move to another club, “The Dew Drop Inn” at “The House of Sticks.” The Wolf shows up, again, disrupting the gig with his off-note trumpet playing. He’s once more ejected and “blows down” the stick club with his trumpet.
Remaining undaunted, the Pigs move on to a club made of brick (complete with a sign on the door that reads: “No Wolves Allowed”). When the Wolf realizes that he can’t blow this club down, he decides to blow it up, using dynamite.
Instead, he blows himself down to “the other place.” Ironically, this improves his trumpet playing, and his spirit floats up to finally sit in and jam with the Pigs in the finale.
Warner Bros. legend Friz Freleng directed Three Little Bops and brought to the film not just his keen sense of staging, particularly for the short’s sight gags, but also a lively pace that proves to be a perfect visual companion to the upbeat music (including that by noted jazz trumpeter Shorty Rogers).
Additionally, the short had a distinct, modern look, indicative of animation at the time, that includes a fun spin on the design of the characters, as each is decked out like a jazz musician of the era.
As a final touch of cool to the proceedings is the brilliant comedian and voice actor Stan Freberg, providing the staccato, rhythmic narration, provided by writer Warren Foster, that blends perfectly with the music.
Debuting on January 5, 1957, Three Little Bops is celebrating its 65th anniversary this year. This is that rare “stand-alone” short that’s so well executed, one wishes it would go on longer and that the characters would’ve become more recurring.
Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald summed up Three Little Bops perfectly in their book, Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies: A Complete Guide to Warner Bros. Cartoons when they wrote: “Man! This is a cartoon to dig like the most!”
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