The Three Little Pigs

"The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house that made of bricks. The printed versions of this fable date back to the 1840s, but the story is thought to be much older. The earliest version takes place in Dartmoor with three pixies and a fox before its best known version appears in ''English Fairy Tales'' by Joseph Jacobs in 1890, with Jacobs crediting James Halliwell-Phillipps as the source.

The phrases used in the story, and the various morals drawn from it, have become embedded in Western culture. Many versions of ''The Three Little Pigs'' have been recreated and modified over the years, sometimes making the wolf a kind character. It is a type B124 folktale in the Thompson Motif Index.

Traditional versions

"The Three Little Pigs" was included in ''The Nursery Rhymes of England'' (London and New York, c.1886), by James Halliwell-Phillipps. The story in its arguably best-known form appeared in ''English Fairy Tales'' by Joseph Jacobs, first published on June 19, 1890, and crediting Halliwell as his source. The earliest published version of the story is from Dartmoor, Devon, England in 1853, and has three little pixies and a fox in place of the three pigs and a wolf. The first pixy had a wooden house:

The story begins with the title characters being sent out into the world by their mother, to "seek out their fortune". The first little pig builds a house of straw, but a wolf blows it down and devours him. The second little pig builds a house of sticks, which the wolf also blows down, though with more blows and the second little pig is also devoured. Each exchange between wolf and pig features ringing proverbial phrases, namely:

The third little pig builds a house of bricks, which the wolf fails to blow down. He then attempts to trick the pig out of the house by asking to meet him at several places at specific times, but he is outwitted each time since the pig gets to those places earlier than the wolf. Finally, the infuriated wolf resolves to come down the chimney, whereupon the pig who owns the brick house lights a pot of water on the fireplace. The wolf falls in and is fatally boiled, avenging the death of the final pig's brothers. After cooking the wolf, the pig proceeds to eat the meat for dinner.

Other versions

In some versions, the first and second little pigs are not eaten by the wolf after he demolishes their homes but instead runs to their brother's/sister's house, who originally had to take care of the two other pigs and build a brick house in a few versions. Most of these versions omit any attempts by the wolf to meet the third pig out of the house after his failed attempt to blow the house in. After the wolf goes down the chimney he either dies like in the original, runs away and never returns to eat the three little pigs or in some versions the wolf faints after trying to blow down the brick house and all three of the pigs survive in either case.

The story uses the literary rule of three, expressed in this case as a "contrasting three", as the third pig's brick house turns out to be the only one which is adequate to withstand the wolf.
Variations of the tale appeared in ''Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings'' in 1881. The story also made an appearance in '' Nights with Uncle Remus'' in 1883, both by Joel Chandler Harris, in which the pigs were replaced by Brer Rabbit. Andrew Lang included it in '' The Green Fairy Book'', published in 1892, but did not cite his source. In contrast to Jacobs's version, which left the pigs nameless, Lang's retelling cast the pigs as Browny, Whitey, and Blacky. It also set itself apart by exploring each pig's character and detailing the interaction between them. The antagonist of this version is a fox, not a wolf. The pigs' houses are made either of mud, cabbage, or brick. Blacky, the third pig, rescues his brother and sister from the fox's den after the fox has been defeated.

Later adaptations

Animated shorts

*Three Little Pigs, a 1933 ''Silly Symphony'' cartoon, was produced by Walt Disney. The production cast the title characters as ''Fifer Pig'', ''Fiddler Pig'', and ''Practical Pig''. The first two are depicted as both frivolous and arrogant. The story has been somewhat softened. The first two pigs still get their houses blown down, but escape from the wolf. Also, the wolf is not boiled to death but simply burns himself and runs away. Three sequels soon followed respectively as a result of the short film's popularity:
**The first of them was ''The Big Bad Wolf'', also directed by Burt Gillett and first released on April 14, 1934.
**In 1936, a second cartoon starring the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf followed, with a story based on ''The Boy Who Cried Wolf''. This short was entitled '' Three Little Wolves'' and introduced the Big Bad Wolf's three pup sons, all of whom just as eager for a taste of the pigs as their father.
**A third cartoon ''The Practical Pig

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