I saw Lotte Reiniger's "Hansel and Gretel" as a boy, perhaps 8 yrs old, and remember being really impressed with it. It was like a piece of artwork magically moving. The animation style was unique to me then, and to this day I have still never seen anything quite like it. Black silhouette characters (all painstakingly scissor-cut by creator Reiniger) move against lovely backgrounds reminiscent of the style of the classic fairy-tale illustrator Arthur Rackham. It was thoroughly enchanting.
This was a short film by the creator of the earlier "Adventures of Prince Achmed," which was arguably the first full-length animated film (1929). I have no idea whether "Hansel and Gretel" is available in DVD or VHS, but I'd love to see it again.
