Part of the "Cannon Movie Tales" series, nine feature films based on classic fairy tales that were produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus for the Cannon Group in the mid 1980s. All of the films featured well-known actors from the U.S. and U.K. and were shot on-location in Israel. Although the series was originally conceived to have sixteen films, production stopped at nine when Rumpelstiltskin (1987) flopped at the box office, and the remaining films were sent directly to video. Despite their commercial failure, the Movie Tales garnered a cult following after the Disney Channel began airing them as "Storybook Cinema" in 1988. The nine films in the series are: O Príncipe Encantado (1986), A Bela Adormecida (1987), The Emperor's New Clothes (1987), A Princesa e o Gnomo (1987), Branca de Neve e os Sete Anões (1987), A Bela e a Fera (1987), João e Maria (1987), O Gato de Botas (1988), and Chapeuzinho Vermelho (1987).
To save money, the Cannon Movie Tales films were shot two or three at a time. Hansel and Gretel was shot simultaneously with A Bela Adormecida (1987). This wasn't the best of situations in that often the two crews would be competing for the limited equipment, costumes, and sets.
Nicola Stapleton, who played Gretel, was actually 12 years old at the time of filming, one year older than Hugh Pollard, who as Hansel was playing her older brother. There was a lot of playful competition between the two young stars over such things as who could remember their lines better.
Cloris Leachman hates cigarette smoke and had to wear a lot of prosthetic make-up for her part as the witch. Due to frequent on-set smoking by crew members, the smoke would get into her mask and irritate her. She begged them not to smoke near her, which they begrudgingly tried to remember.
Was originally to be filmed in Budapest, Hungary.