The dialogue between the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood has its analogies to the Norse Þrymskviða from the Elder Edda; the giant Þrymr had stolen Mjölner, Thor's hammer, and demanded Freyja as his bride for its return.

When the giants note Thor's unladylike eyes, eating, and drinking, Loki explains them as Freyja not having slept, or eaten, or drunk, out of longing for the wedding.

[1] 19th-century Folklorists and cultural anthropologists such as P. Saintyves and Edward Burnett Tylor saw Little Red Riding Hood in terms of solar myths and other naturally occurring cycles, stating that the wolf represents the night swallowing the sun, and the variations in which Little Red Riding Hood is cut out of the wolf's belly represent the dawn.

[3] Ethologist Dr. Valerius Geist of the University of Calgary, Alberta wrote that the fable was likely based on genuine risk of wolf attacks at the time.

In an interview with Melvyn Bragg in the early 1980s, the British actor Laurence Olivier said that Disney's Big Bad Wolf was supposedly based on a widely detested American theatre director and producer called Jed Harris.

When Olivier produced a film version of Shakespeare's Richard III, he based some of his mannerisms on Harris, and his physical appearance on the wolf.

During World War II, a final, propaganda cartoon followed, produced by The National Film Board of Canada: The Thrifty Pig (1941).

In the final two shorts, Practical invents an anti-Wolf contraption to deal with the Wolf, who is shown to be powerless against the marvels of modern technology.

The Wolf made a couple of brief cameo appearances in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, first hiding behind a lamppost in Toontown, and later at the end of the film when all the toons are gathered, wearing a sheep costume and mask which he instantly stripped off to reveal his true wolfish features.

Along with other Disney characters, the Big Bad Wolf appears in the animated opening of the television series The Mickey Mouse Club.

As a walkaround costumed character, Big Bad Wolf appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet-and-greets, parades and shows.

[17] Created by animation director Tex Avery, this variation of the Big Bad Wolf's cartoons included many sexual overtones, violence, and very rapid gags, and never became as successful as the Disney incarnation.

The Avery Wolf was voiced by Bill Thompson (Blitz Wolf), Frank Graham (Dumb-Hounded, Red Hot Riding Hood, The Shooting of Dan McGoo, Swing Shift Cinderella, Northwest Hounded Police),[18][19] Kent Rogers (Red Hot Riding Hood and One Ham's Family),[18][19] Billy Bletcher (The Screwy Truant), Patrick McGeehan (The Screwy Truant and Wild and Woolfy),[18][19] Tex Avery (Wild and Woolfy),[19] Daws Butler (Little Rural Riding Hood),[20] Manuel Paris (Caballero Droopy), Frank Welker (The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, Tom & Jerry Kids, Droopy Master Detective), Lou Scheimer (The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show), Will Ryan (Thanks a Latte),[21] Dave Redl (Web Premiere Toons),[22] John DiMaggio (Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse) and Stephen Stanton (The Tom and Jerry Show).

A similar wolf appeared in the Merrie Melodies short "Bacall to Arms", as a theater patron whose lustful mannerisms echoed that of Avery's character.

The director had left Warner Brothers' employ five years before after a dispute, so it is not certain if this was supposed to be an homage, or if Avery originally had plans to use the wolf on a project that were not realized at the time of his suspension.

In the Soviet animated series Nu Pogodi, the wolf, commonly translated into English as Volk (Russian: Волк), is portrayed as a hooligan who eagerly turns to vandalism, abuses minors, breaks laws and is a heavy smoker.

On the other hand, many of Wolf's attempts to catch Hare are often characterized by uncanny abilities on his part (including figure skating, ballet and waltzing) which demonstrate his more refined side.

In the book Revolting Rhymes, by famous writer Roald dahl, the Big Bad Wolves from "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Three Little Pigs" appear.

In the film adaption, a Wolf (voiced by Dominic West) serves as a storyteller to Little Red Riding Hood's children after incapacitating their intended babysitter Mrs. Hunt.

The Big Bad Wolf was portrayed by Robert Westenberg in the original Broadway cast and Chuck Wagner in the first national tour.

The musical was adapted into a film by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Rob Marshall, where Johnny Depp played the role of the Big Bad Wolf.

In the actual play show Dimension 20's 15th season, the Big Bad Wolf is the manifestation of Death in the world of the Neverafter, who, after meeting with a starving Little Red Riding Hood, allows her to kill him, and eat his flesh, turning her into a werewolf.

The story as told by Alexander T. Wolf from The Three Little Pigs suggests that wolves may not necessarily have to be "Big" and "Bad", but are perhaps misunderstood because what they eat happens to be cute.

Finding the inhabitant deceased, the Alexander T. Wolf decided to eat the body so as not to let good meat go to waste, since the pig was dead anyway.

There is also a version appearing mostly in Bugs Bunny cartoons such as Little Red Riding Rabbit, The Windblown Hare (in which he is voiced by Billy Bletcher and Jim Backus, respectively), and many more.

The only theatrical short subject cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera after they left MGM and formed their own studio, Loopy de Loop is cast as a tuque-topped, kind-hearted wolf who speaks with a bad French Canadian accent, and whose kind-hearted attempts to assist almost always ended up by being rejected by those he sought to help-or something slightly worse.

The animated Shrek film series reversed many conventional roles found in fairy tales, including depicting the Big Bad Wolf (voiced by Aron Warner) from "Little Red Riding Hood" as a friendly, misunderstood cross-dresser (apparently still wearing the girl's Grandmother's clothes) and on good terms with the Three Little Pigs.

In episode 4219, the Big Bad Wolf works in the hair-drying salon after telling Elmo and Telly Monster that he is no longer in the pig-chasing business.

The comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham features a reformed Big Bad Wolf as a major character, commonly referred to as "Bigby".

Due to his unique parentage, his infamous "huff 'n puff" is a form of wind control that has been shown to be powerful enough to smash trees down, blow out an army of flaming animated puppetmen, and Bigby once conjectured that even a brick house would most likely be blown to bits by it.