Prokofiev, while touring the West in 1938, visited Los Angeles and met Walt Disney. Prokofiev performed the piano version of Peter and the Wolf for "le papa de Mickey Mouse", as Prokofiev described him in a letter to his sons. Disney was impressed, and considered adding an animated version of Peter and the Wolf to Fantasia, which was to be released in 1940. Due to the war, these plans fell through, and it was not until 1946 that Disney released his version of Peter and the Wolf. It is not known if Prokofiev, by that point behind the Iron Curtain, was aware of this.
Plot
In Disney's animated adaptation of Prokofiev's masterpiece, in which every character is represented musically by a different instrument, a young Peter decides to go hunting for the wolf that's been prowling around the village. Along the way, he is joined by his friends Sasha the bird, Sonia the duck and Ivan the cat. All the fun comes to end, however, when the wolf makes an appearance.
Differences from the original
This version makes several changes to the original story, for example:
During the character introduction, the animals are given names: "Sasha" the bird, "Sonia" the duck, and "Ivan" the cat.
As the cartoon begins, Peter and his friends already know there is a wolf nearby, and are preparing to catch him.
The hunters get names at a later point in the story: "Misha", "Yasha" and "Vladimir".
Peter day-dreams of hunting and catching the wolf and exits the garden carrying a wooden "pop-gun" rifle with the purpose of hunting the wolf down.
At the end, in a complete reversal of the original, it turns out that the duck, Sonia, has not been eaten by the wolf..
In other media
An audio recording of this version with expanded narration by Sterling Holloway was released on Disneyland Records. Disney's Peter and the wolf is featured on DVD in Make Mine Music Gold Collection and in It's a Small World of Fun vol 2. It's featured on VHS in Belle's Tales of Friendship, the Disney version of Peter and the Wolf is featured and narrated by Belle instead of Sterling Holloway. This version was featured in House of Mouse. In the ABC television seriesOnce Upon A Time, the character of Red Riding Hood has a boyfriend named Peter, a reference to the character in the 1946 Disney short. In the first season of the series, Peter is killed by the wolf.
