Hansel and Gretel

“Hansel and Gretel,” by the Brothers Grimm, tells the story of a poor woodworker who has two children named Hansel and Gretel. When a famine hit, it became very hard for the man to provide food for his family. One night the children’s stepmother told the man that he needed to leave his children out in the woods to be killed by the wild animals so they could have enough food for the two of them. The man did not want but the stepmother convinced him to do it. In the next room Hansel and Gretel good here what their parents were saying, so Hansel went outside and collected rocks. The next morning, their stepmother gave them each a piece of bread and told them to wait to eat until they were in the woods. While they were walking, Hansel left a trail of the rocks that he had picked up the night before. Once nighttime fell, the children were able to see the rocks shimmer in the moonlight and find they’re way home. The stepmother made the father leave them in woods again but this time she locked the door so Hansel could not collect rocks. So on the way into the woods, Hansel left a trail of his bread but the birds had eaten all of the crumbs. When night hit, the kids tried to get back home but got lost in the woods. The next day, they approached a house made out of bread and candy. They started eating the house when the owner of the house stepped out. She invited them in and gave them lots of food. While they were sleeping, the old lady took Hansel and locked him up. She told Gretel to get some water so she could cook Hansel. The next day, the old lady told Gretel to climb into the oven and see if it was warm to cook Hansel but Gretel said she did not know how to get in the oven. The old lady walked over and started to show her when Gretel pushed the old lady into the oven. Gretel freed Hansel and they started to look around the house and found lots of treasure. On their way home, they had the help of ducks to cross the river and when they reached home their father was so excited to see them.

In 1987, MGM released a movie titled “Hansel and Gretel,” which is based on the Brothers Grimm story. The movie has the same plot, with differences that make it more entertaining for the watching audience. At the beginning of the movie, the father and two children are seen at the market and the father is having an argument with the baker about how much money the baker gave him. When they went home the wife became very upset with the husband for the lack of money he had brought home and told him the next day he was to go back and get more. The next day the father had left to get more money and children were doing their chores. A neighbor had come up to their house and given them leftover eggs and milk. The mom was so overjoyed that she made custard and went to pick berries to put on top. At that time, Hansel had been feeding the donkey but left the gate open and the donkey got loose, went into the house, and ate the custard. When the mom came back she got so upset that she sent the children to go get the berries. Once they were in the woods, they got lost and stumbled upon a house made out of gingerbread and candy. The old lady invited them inside and fed them lots of food. At night, Gretel woke up to a noise and when she went to go find out what it was she saw that the old lady actually a witch. The witch locked up Hansel and put Gretel under a spell to be her slave. Right before the witch cooked Hansel, Gretel took the witch’s staff and switched the witch with Hansel and cooked the witch. Hansel and Gretel walked away with treasure and when they got back home they’re parents were extremely happy to see them.

I think the directors made the changes to the movie to make it more appealing to the audience. Having an angry mother that sent her kids into the woods could be seen as more relatable than a stepmother who purposely left her children in the woods to be eaten. Having a house made of gingerbread can be seen as more appealing to children rather than a house made out of bread.