Hansel and Gretel

Plot synopsis:
Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter. When a great famine settles over the land, the woodcutter's second, abusive wife decides to take the children into the woods and leave them there to fend for themselves, so that she and her husband do not starve to death, because the kids eat too much. The woodcutter opposes the plan but finally, and reluctantly, submits to his wife's scheme. They were unaware that in the children's bedroom, Hansel and Gretel have overheard them. After the parents have gone to bed, Hansel sneaks out of the house and gathers as many white pebbles as he can, then returns to his room, reassuring Gretel that God will not forsake them.
The next day, the family walk deep into the woods and Hansel lays a trail of white pebbles. After their parents abandon them, the children wait for the moon to rise and then they followed the pebbles back home. They return home safely, much to their stepmother's rage. Once again provisions become scarce and the stepmother angrily orders her husband to take the children further into the woods and leave them there to die. Hansel and Gretel attempt to gather more pebbles, but find the doors locked and find it impossible to escape.
The following morning, the family treks into the woods. Hansel takes a slice of bread and leaves a trail of bread crumbs for them to follow home. However, after they are once again abandoned, they find that the birds have eaten the crumbs and they are lost in the woods. After days of wandering, they follow a beautiful white bird to a clearing in the woods, and discover a large cottage built of gingerbread, cakes, candy and with window panes of clear sugar. Hungry and tired, the children begin to eat the rooftop of the house, when the door opens and a "very old woman" emerges and lures the children inside, with the promise of soft beds and delicious food and a hot bath. They do this without knowing the fact that their hostess is a bloodthirsty Hag who waylays children to cook and eat them.
The next morning, the hag cleans the cage in the garden out from her previous captive. Then she throws Hansel into the cage and forces Gretel into becoming her slave. The hag feeds Hansel regularly to fatten him up, after three weeks Hansel gets nice and fat. On the final night she mutters to her self that he will be good to eat. The next day the witch prepares the oven for Hansel, but decides she is hungry enough to eat Gretel, too. She coaxes Gretel to the open oven and prods her to lean over in front of it to see if the fire is hot enough. Gretel, sensing the hag's intent, pretends she does not understand what she means. Infuriated, the hag demonstrates, and Gretel instantly shoves the hag into the oven, slams and bolts the door shut, leaving "The ungodly creature to be burned to ashes", screaming in pain until she dies. Gretel frees Hansel from the cage and the pair discover a vase full of treasure and precious stones. Putting the jewels into their clothing, the children set off for home. A duck ferries them across an expanse of water and at home they find only their father; his wife died from an unknown cause. Their father had spent all his days lamenting the loss of his children, and is delighted to see them safe and sound. With the hag's wealth, they all live happily ever after.

Tags: psychedelic, fantasy

Review:
A Disney Channel Special. Although some people believe this is a Faerie Tale Theatre Episode, it is not. This wonderfully animated/live action short was only aired on the Disney Channel, along with another Tim Burton short entitled Vincent.The two were placed together as a half hour segment.The Hansel and Gretal story retold.Hansel and Gretal must escape a witch and her remarkable gingerbread house and find their father.It is a Japanese spoof of the story. The short is only about 20 minutes long. What animation there is, is similar to that of A Nightmare Before Christmes. It is mainly live action.I do recommend seeing this special if you can obtain it -- it is one of Tim Burton's odder works. Tim Burton did a Faerie Tale Theatre Episode Entitled Aladdin, and that is also well worth seeing.. Almost everything in my house is... edible!. Two children are lured into the woods and left for dead by their stepmother, who claims she cannot feed them(me, I think it's because she unfairly portions the... slop). They come upon a house made of cake and faces(!), and comfortably eat, even agreeing to come in... only to find that the woman who owns it is a witch.We all know the fairie tale. This follows the structure and, in general, a lot of elements, including ones often changed, like the swan. It does, however, change... some things. Because of(?) the Asian cast, there is martial arts, complete with shurikens. What is meant to fatten Hansel is a gingerbread man. That talks. And demands he eat it. A kid is grabbed by several of the hands attached to the marshmellow bed he was sleeping in – Craftmatic charged extra for that. Both of the wicked women in this are played by the same person, a guy no less, and he eats *all* of the scenery, sugary or otherwise. Yama's performance alone is worth watching this for.Yes, this is disturbing. One of the ingredients here is concentrated nightmare fuel. Before you ask "isn't this a children's film", yes, but it is also a Brother's Grimm tale, and, also rather explicitly, a Burton piece. His trademarks are very present: Gothic, surreal, creative design/visuals, exaggerated features and the like, such as their huge dinner table(I swear, that thing'd seat a dozen people, easily), and the same object can be both creepy and cute. The father is a toymaker, allowing for a lot of wound-up figures, largely gratuitous and confined mostly to the opening sequence(did I mention that one of these eats another? Hey, it's thematically consistent).This is made of both stop motion and live action, and, sadly, you can usually tell where one ends and the other begins. Sets look cardboard-y, some of the props don't feel "real". This is separate from the cleverly done "unreal", imagination-driven atmosphere, which was, of course, intentional. I don't know if the colorful candy is supposed to look as nasty as it does. The two titular characters deliver OK performances... not many actors their age are stellar. Cinematography is good. The 34 and a half minute running time is decently paced. Considering the budget, even for TV, this could have been better – it's probably more that this is Tim's first chance in the chair.I recommend this to anyone curious, though this shouldn't be the director's first work you see. It is memorable, for reasons both positive and negative, and it is currently, legally, free to watch online. 5/10. Burton's Experiment. A good experiment for Tim Burton. I think was an interessant and sweet version of the novel and originally was andepisode for Faerie Tale Theatre. But it's very nice, the gus star Hanse and Gretal are kung fu boys and the witch is a man with a black suit. Very nice, and very funny!!!!