The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf who originated as a villain in several precautionary folkloric stories, including Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids, and Peter and the Wolf. In each of these stories, he is always attempting to catch and eat the protagonists of the stories, but is defeated or killed in each one. As such, he is often a regular character in productions based on these tales as well as their spin-off material. Arguably the most famous version of the Wolf is the Disney character Zeke Midas Wolf, first seen in the 1933 Silly Symphony Three Little Pigs; Zeke would go on to appear in a few more animated shorts against the Pigs, and later starred in comic book stories alongside his son, Li'l Bad Wolf (who is actually a nice wolf in spite of the name). Other interpretations sometimes cast the Wolf as a good guy, such as in the Shrek films.
Due to the many different interpretations of the Big Bad Wolf, he, like Santa Claus and Rudolph, differs in portrayal in each of the Christmas specials that he appears in.
Appearances in Christmas specials
MGM
Rankin/Bass
The Wolf as he appeared in Rudolph's Shiny New Year.
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year - The Big Bad Wolf makes a very brief, silent cameo as one of the residents of the Island of 1023. Rudolph is shown asking him if he has seen Happy the Baby New Year anywhere, but he answers that he has not.
Chuck Jones Productions
- Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper - This special's version of the character is named Alexander Graham Wolf (after Alexander Graham Bell) and bares a noticeable resemblance to Wile E. Coyote.
Disney
- Mickey's Christmas Carol - Disney's version, Zeke Wolf, makes a brief cameo at the very beginning of this animated adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Ironically, he is working as a Salvation Army Santa, and is noticeably standing right near his usual targets, the Three Little Pigs, who are caroling nearby.