The musical material for Little Fellow was originally composed to accompany a scene from Charlie Chaplin’s silent film The Circus. In the scene, Chaplin’s character finds himself trapped in a cage with a sleeping lion, only to be rescued by the woman he loves. The music follows the scene’s rapid shifts between comedy, tension, and heroism, as it moves between the hapless protagonist, the sleeping lion, the barking dog, and the unexpected hero who saves the day.