The Cannon Group, 1987
Starring David Warner, Hugh Pollard, Nicola Stapleton, Cloris Leachman
Directed by Len Talan
Music by Englebert Humperdink; Lyrics by Enid Futterman and Nancy Weems
Here's another entry in the Cannon Movie Tales, a series of film fairy tales B-picture specialists The Cannon Group made between 1986 and 1989. Given the original story is already pretty spooky, I thought this would be a great way to transition into the horror musicals I have planned for the rest of the month. How does this adaptation of the Grimm's Fairy Tale about the two children lured by a witch in the woods looks now? Let's start with the children and their father in the village and find out...
The Story: Hansel (Pollard) and Gretel (Stapleton) live just outside the village in the woods with their father (Warner) and mother (Emily Richard). The family is very poor, thanks to a famine and the father's inability to bully his clients into giving him the money they owe. The frustrated mother is at the end of her rope, especially after the children accidentally let the family cow in and knock over a big pitcher of milk. To get them out of her hair, she sends them to pick berries. Hansel drops bread crumbs, but birds eat the crumbs, and they end up lost.
As they search for their way home, the duo discover a tempting house made of gingerbread and candy in the middle of the woods. A little old woman (Leachman) invites them in and offers them lots of food. Hansel thinks they've found heaven...at least until they discover that the woman is a witch, and she wants to turn them both into gingerbread, too!
The Song and Dance: This may be one of the most straightforward adaptations of this story I've ever seen, and it's all the better for it. Using the lush music from the opera keeps the score from sounding as tinny as the other films in the series, and some of the cinematography in the woods isn't bad. Leachman has a wonderful time chewing the scenery to atoms as the witch, the kids are a lot of fun, and Warner and Howard aren't bad as the beleaguered parents.
I really like how this movie plays the mother. Most versions of Hansel and Gretel stick to later retellings with a stepmother who insists on leaving the kids alone in the woods. Here, the mother isn't hateful and does love her children. She's just fed up with their naughty behavior, especially after the incident with the milk.
Favorite Number: David Warner doesn't do too badly by the jaunty opening, "Oh What a Day." Two puppeteers and their friends introduce the kids and townspeople to "Punch and Judy's Dance" in the village. The kids have an adorable reprise later at the cottage, dancing and playing when they're supposed to be looking after the milk and the cow. Leachman entices the kids with "Sugar and Spice" after they've discovered her candy home.
What I Don't Like: Although the cheap production isn't as obvious here as in other Cannon Movie Tales, it does occasionally bleed through. The finale, with the pink stuff gushing out of the candy house after they destroy the witch, is especially weird. As per the original story, the movie can occasionally get more than a little grotesque, with the scary witch turning ducks into gingerbread.
The Big Finale: One of the best Cannon Movie Tales. Show this to elementary school-age kids who love fairy tales and are up to dealing with the fairly scary witch.
Home Media: The DVD is wildly out of print and expensive (and early prints cut out a lot of the scary stuff), but it's pretty easy to find in full on streaming.
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