Rugrats, Different Cultures, and Little Red Riding Hood

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Comic Published: 8/2/1998, Writer: Scott Gray, Artist: Kyle Baker

In this 1998 social cartoon, writer Scott Gray and artist Kyle Baker discuss the different versions of the famous fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. In this comic based on the hit 90’s television show, “Rugrats” Tommy’s grandparents, Minka and Boris, try to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but both remember very different details of the story. This is a perfect example of how the same story can exist in many different cultures with the same basic storyline with different details. Stories such as “The Tale of the Tiger Woman” and “Tsélané and the Marimo” have the same basic story line as the western versions of LRRH (ex. Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” or the Brothers Grimm’s “Little Red Cap”) but different villains. Just like how the grandparent’s in this comic cannot decide whether the villain was a wolf or a goat, there are also different types of trickster characters in each respective telling of LRRH. In “The Tale of the Tiger Woman”, there is no wolf, instead an ancient tiger witch who could turn into a woman. In “Tsélané and the Marimo” the antagonist is the Marimo, a cannibal. The different antagonists in each respective story represent the different treats that exist in different places and cultures. Tigers or cannibals wouldn’t be a problem in Germany or France when the Brothers Grimm or Perrault wrote their respective versions, but wolves were. Likewise, wolves wouldn’t be as much of a problem in China or South Africa, but tigers or cannibals would, and reflect the respective cultures.

I really like this cartoon because, as a child I grew up watching “Rugrats” so seeing this picture when looking for comics gave me a sense of nostalgia. Besides loving the show as a kid, I also love looking at how different cultures view and perceive things. I also love drawing comparisons, seeing how humans from vastly different places think differently or similarly.


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