"You can't top pigs with pigs."

[Mr. Semaj]

To build up on the sequel discussion, let's bring up a different moment in Disney history. A time when Uncle Walt WAS making sequels, which he would later use as an example for why he always chose to move on after making one original film.

The Three Little Pigs is obviously the most superior of the cartoons, but the animation for the pigs got noticeably richer as they went on. The Practical Pig, even with its somewhat unimaginative title, has some of the smoothest and roundest animation from any Disney cartoon ever made.

[FleischerFan]

But none of the subsequent stories has that classic ring to it like the original (which also featured the first of many classic Disney songs to come).

Walt was opposed to making sequels to his feature length pictures (the wisdom of which all of the Disney "cheapquels" continue to prove over and over again). But he was not opposed to reusing characters that became hits with the public through either the shorts or the features. To name only a few of the many:

The 3 Little Pigs and especially the Big Bad Wolf lived on in Disney comics.

Scamp, spawned by Lady & the Tramp, had a very healthy run as a newspaper strip and in the comics.

Jiminy Cricket & Tinkerbelle have served as animated spokescreatures for the Disney organization in perpetuity.

Even Cleo & Figaro from "Pinocchio" made appearances in Minnie Mouse short cartoons produced after Pinocchio's release.

This trend continued with Timon & Pumba from "Lion King" and, of course, the Roger Rabbit short cartoons.

[Duck Dodgers]

In order :

"The Three Little Pigs" : a masterpiece!


"The Three Little Wolves" : one of the funniest Disney cartoons

"The Practical Pig" : a good entry. It was the vehicle for a new series, devoted to the three little pigs, but it was not well received by the audience so the project was abandoned. Too bad. I would have loved to see more cartoons with Billy Bletcher as the wolf.

"The Big Bad Wolf" : it have the name of one of my favorite cartoon characters ever, but it is nothing special. A real turkey.

[Timber Wolf]

My favorite is The Practical Pig. It has very good animation (by Fred Moore?), it looks like the 40's Disney cartoons with some WB style and the story is funny (especially the ending).