Hansel et Gretel

The Cannon Movie Tales adaptations of famous fairy tales is an interesting little series, and while there are some faring better than others and a few that are less than brilliant, others are well done and charming. Hansel and Gretel is one of the finer examples of the latter, and gets my vote as the best of the series.

It's not without its flaws, all of the films in the series do, some bigger and more serious than others. The low-budget does show in the less than inspiring and too-fancy-dress-like costumes and the witch's death underwhelms, instead of being nail-biting like in the story the way it's done here causes some unintentional humour.

Visually, however, on the most part Hansel and Gretel is actually one of the better-looking Cannon Movie Tales films. It's lovingly photographed and has charming, colourful settings and a fantastically realised Witch's House, its delicious to look at, but at the same time quite nightmarish, design being one of the standout set designs of the Cannon Movie Tales films. The songs, adapted from Humperdinck's wonderful opera, are simply lovely and are beautifully adapted, with the best performed being Sugar and Spice and the most effective melodically being A Fairy Song. The script is filled with fun and charm, and also with a real sense of dread in the second half, while the story adaptation-wise follows the Grimm story fairly closely while expanding on some parts, though actually it's closer to the story of the opera.

The storytelling is whimsical and charming, while also witty and poignant, the Witch and her scenes also effectively induces nightmares without distorting the tone (the Witch scenes are quite dark) and are pretty tastefully handled. The film's nicely directed, and the performances are solid with the standout being Cloris Leachman as the Witch. Her make-up is excellent, and Leachman clearly has a ball without over-compensating too much and is genuinely frightening. Hugh Pollard and Nicola Stapleton are appealing as Hansel and Gretel and David Warner does bring a touching degree to a character who could easily have been portrayed as an idiot going by how he was written.

Overall, a winner from the Cannon Movie Tales series and my vote for their best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

When I was a child,"Hansel And Gretel" used to scare me to death,particularly the bone the unfortunate boy showed to the witch.

The Grimm brothers ' widely known fairy tale has undergone some changes and,as far as the parents are concerned ,for the best.David Warner portrays a meek woodcutter who seems a little under her wife 's (Emily Richard)thumb who has sometimes cruel words -but the fairy tales are often cruel- when she tells her children going to bed that they should not awake .

The fairy tale revolves round a familiar topic: the fear of starving ,which was not only in fairy tales ("Tom Thumb " is another example ,which shows analogies with "H and G" :the candies ,cannibalism).

In this food shortage ,all is temptation:on a small scale ,the baker's shop,and on a larger one,the witch's house.But too much pastry and sweets makes you sick.

The second part is ,IMHO,less successful: the children remain true to form ,but I do think that Cloris Leachman overacts and makes her character more ludicrous than really scary .Enough is enough!The same can be said of the final "fireworks".

All and all ,it is an enjoyable show for the whole family.

Two very interesting variations on the same theme (strictly for adults and teenagers):

"Whoever slew Auntie Roo?"(1971) Curtis Harrington.

"Les Amants Criminels " (1999) François Ozon.

I remember this being on the Disney Channel in the late 80's and mid 90's. It is the most terrifying version of the story that you will ever see. Based on the Brothers Grimm story, it follows two children named Hansel(Hugh Pollard) and Gretel(Nicola Stapelton). Theyb are sent out into the forest to pick berries and they stray from the "safe" woods and enter the forbidden North Woods were they meet a witch named Griselda (Cloris Leachman). They think they have found shelter, but have really landed in the liar of an evil witch who likes to eat children.

The opening is not faithful to the Brothers Grimm story, but it is forgivable, because of the terrifying last half, Cloris Leachman's performance, Nicola and Hugh as the two children, and some nice sets and music numbers.

Keep this one away from children under age 7.

I think this is a great movie from the Cannon Theatre... but you might want to keep it away from extremely young kids. it scared me so badly that even today, at 19, I have to fast forward through scenes. There are things that just scar you ... ya know? Grizelda the Witch was more terrifying than the Witch of the West in "Wizard of Oz". All around, a very good farie tale, but not my favorite out of the series.

This is another of the beautiful Cannon Movie Tales,that aired on the Disney Channel starting in the late 80's and on ito mid-90's.This one is beautifully photographed.The songs are adapted from the opera so they are not new but are still beautiful.I saw this at about 7:00 on a Friday night on The Disney Channel.I fell in love with it and could not find it anywhere.Luckely,Amazon had a copy.It has not lost its charm.Cloris Leachman is the most evil witch ever filmed.She gave me the creeps.This film is ideal for family viewing.Little children will be frightened so make shure you are there for a person to lean on.