I believe it was set in Russia, where wolves were pretty abundant there in the post'war years & still greatly feared by the Russians.While it gives great credence to the impression that wolves were demonized in the past & angelified in the present. A few ironies to this would be, for example, the sitcom called The Munsters, where Grampa(the vampire) changed himself into a wolf & was nicer than he was in human form. Not that this goes very for, but the wolf was nabbed by a dog catcher & gave him no trouble. The way wolves were viewed then, you'd expect to wonder who was trying to catch who. This suggests a view of wolves ahead of its time. On tne other hand, I had to do a double take when I saw Beauty & the Beast to discern if the pack hunting canids terrorizing Belle, her father & the beast were supposed to be wolves, because their viciousness towards humans seemed a little retro. I was of the impression that it was common assumption that wolves were harmless to humans. Since that time, some incidences forced an altering of that assumption to an acceptance of the fact that wolves should be treated with caution & respect, like any other potentially dangerous animals. In some ways real wolves are more ferocious & deadly than the drooling, snarling villain of this miniclassic of 1946. He worked by himself & was only shown picking on a duck, a cat, a bird, & a boy, who are all less than half his size. He didn't team up w/ others of his kind & terrorize horses, cattle, or moose who are way more than twice his size
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