This is an excellent Ray Harryhausen claymation short of the classic fairy tale - the animation is superb, even though Gretel looks about 1000 times more manly than the rosy-cheeked Hansel, and it looks like the gingerbread house is made out of actual Mother's brand cookies. But check out the expressions of glee when the case of treasure is found - it's astonishingly expressive, and typical of Harryhausen's ability to create genuine emotional content with just a few dabs of clay. Harryhausen was obviously a master of the art, even in 1951, and this is a great acquisition for any Harryhausen fans. This short is included in the $1 "Terror Attack 2-Pack" with THE SCREAMING SKULL and A BUCKET OF BLOOD - and is worth getting just for the short alone, even with the inclusion of the two classic horror movies.
2 Reviews
A kinder, gentler version of "Hansel and Gretel"
planktonrules10 February 2019
This is one of Ray Harryhausen's first films...a short fairy tale based on the familiar story. It features very nice stop-motion filmwork and is in vivid color.
The story itself is not quite the awful version I'd learned as a kid. That version included a nasty step-mother and father who simply didn't want to be bothered with the kids so he abandoned them in the forest to die. In this nice version, the family is poor and hungry but there's no step-mother...and the father would never think about abandoning them! Instead, the pair just wander off on their own. And, of course they meet a nasty witch...a blue one at that!
Overall, this is a very nice little film and you can see that even at this young age, Harryhausen was quite gifted. My only quibble is that instead of the characters talking, it's all done by the narrator...making it a much duller film in the process. Still, it's well worth while and apart from pushing the old witch into an over (that's pretty much in all versions), it's pretty kid-friendly.
The story itself is not quite the awful version I'd learned as a kid. That version included a nasty step-mother and father who simply didn't want to be bothered with the kids so he abandoned them in the forest to die. In this nice version, the family is poor and hungry but there's no step-mother...and the father would never think about abandoning them! Instead, the pair just wander off on their own. And, of course they meet a nasty witch...a blue one at that!
Overall, this is a very nice little film and you can see that even at this young age, Harryhausen was quite gifted. My only quibble is that instead of the characters talking, it's all done by the narrator...making it a much duller film in the process. Still, it's well worth while and apart from pushing the old witch into an over (that's pretty much in all versions), it's pretty kid-friendly.
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