“Dragnet” crosses into the world of fairy tales as, finally, the alleged true story of what really happened to Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, Granny and the burly Woodsman is revealed in the new computer animated comedy “Hoodwinked.” Told in overlapping flashbacks “Rashomon” style, this movie examines each character’s part in the timeless bedtime story, the crime scene investigation revealing a plot far more insidious than just some four-legged mammal’s quest to devour a girl in a crimson cloak.

Red (Anne Hathaway) is the forest’s best Goody Driver, but when a nefarious thief starts stealing recipes for their own, putting the woodland creatures out of the desert business, she decides to take Granny’s (Glenn Close) prized cookbook up to her mountain home for safekeeping. She’s pursued by the mangy and sarcastic Big, Bad Wolf (Patrick Warburton), a chase that culminates in Granny’s living room; the aging goody guru tied up and left in the closet by an unknown assailant.

Into the mix crashes the axe-wielding Woodsman (James Belushi), an apparently crazed maniac slicing the forests trees to bits all the live-long day. It is up to detective Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers) to solve the case, and before the evening is through he’ll not only figure out what happened in Granny’s living room, but he’ll also unmask the identity of the Goody Bandit once and for all. But each suspect’s story is different, each shedding new light on an old tale, and if the flippant amphibian is going to solve this crime it’s going to take every ounce of his deductive skills to do it.

“Hoodwinked” is a kick. Don’t take that to mean I think this fractured fairy tale of a family animated comedy is perfect, just take that to mean I had a very, very good time. A borderline great time, actually, because when writers Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech hit a laugh it’s an explosive one, so many moments so hysterically absurd I couldn’t help but giggle out loud. The movie made me smile, and even if it (too much of it in all honesty) isn’t as witty or creative as it obviously thinks it is the scenes that are should be more than enough to keep audiences entertained.

Granted, the more jaded viewer out there (of which, I admit, I usually am) will find much to detest. Some of the gags are far too obvious (the Three Pigs are cops, coffee makes a hyperactive chipmunk even more energetic, the Austrian of the piece is a closet yodeler) and the story doesn’t exactly go places you don’t expect (the villain is apparent from the very beginning). While the filmmakers should be lauded for their ingenuity (especially for working on such a miniscule budget), the animation isn’t near as fluid as I felt it needed to be, the fact this is an independent enterprise inherent on almost every frame.

So what? Not every cartoon has to look like it was made by Pixar, after all. What matters again and again is the story and the characters used to tell it, and for all my nitpicking it has to be acknowledged “Hoodwinked” has hit at a corker of a storyline. Turning Little Red Riding Hood into a Sherlock Holmes-ish episode of “CSI” borders on genius, and I imagine youngsters will have a ball fitting the puzzle pieces together as they try to ascertain the identity of the Goody Bandit. While it is definitely slight, that doesn’t make it any less entertaining, and as a start to a new year (although, technically this is a 2005 release, opening in New York and L.A. in time for Oscar consideration) a person could sure do a heck of a lot worse.

For me, bits to cherish include an “O Brother Where Art Thou” Billy Goat (who has more horns for his head than a concert band has for it’s trumpet section), a loopy mine cart ride rivaling “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” a set of silly effervescent borderline genius pop songs written by one of the screenwriters and a geriatric snowboarding snowball fight that puts both James Bond and Vin Diesel to shame. Mix in a loopy undercover critter whose sleuthing skills rival the likes of Bob Woodward and there’s more than enough here to send even the most hard-heartedly cantankerous Neanderthal out of the Cineplex with a rather bemused grin.

Will it resonate past January? Probably not, but I’m not sure it really has to. In a post-“Shrek” world where reverence to fairy tales is a thing for the history books, the movie is definitely sweet and satisfying family entertainment. For a month usually filled with lukewarm leftovers not fit for the local refuse bin, I’ll take something like that any day. In fact, “Hoodwinked” isn’t an entertainment bargain, it’s an entertainment steal.