User reviews

"Hansel And Gretel" is the best 'movie tale' Cannon Films produced. This version of the story is taken from the Hunperdinck opera, but its's still a recognizable rendition. The cast is fine, Hugh Pollard as Hansel, Nicola Stapleton as Gretel, David Warner and Emily Richard as the parents. But the REAL treat here is Cloris Leachman, as Grizelda, the Witch. This veteran actress is simply terrific, whether coaxing the children inside her gingerbread house, or threatening them with death. She also sings well, something she has rarely done in films. The production is tasteful, as are the new songs, adapted from the opera. A bit tense at times for young kids, "Hansel And Gretel" is nevertheless, a classic!

I LOVED this film as a kid. I would dream of the gingerbread house yet have nightmares about the witch. Me and my sister's watched it loads then it just seemed to disappear from TV.

I recently found it on Netflix and watched it with my kids - aged 2, 3 & 5. I was excited to rewatch it and to also see their reactions as I do with all of my childhood favourites. Firstly, as the film got going, I was thinking "is that the bird from 90s Eastenders?". Sadly, I was also thinking "what is this bag of s***?!?"

However much I found myself disliking this film as an adult I couldn't help notice my kids all being transfixed to the screen as I must have been when I was their age. Suddenly I found myself enjoying the film again but as a parent both sharing a memory and making one new ones for little minds at the same time.

Whether child or adult, by the end of the movie I was craving some gingerbread and being badgered by the kids to make a gingerbread house. Roll on Xmas and their Aldi special!

I first saw this movie in 1988 and recently in 2002 I wished I could watch it again. Fourteen years on, I still remember this film.

Everyone plays their part well. It is a fantastic story which can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. The songs are great, the scenery is lovely and when you see the witch's house and garden, I think you'll agree that they are excellent.

I don't need to go into detail about the story. We all know it unless we've been living in a cave for years. Even though you know what the film's conclusion is going to be before you see it, it doesn't detract from the enjoyment.

Check this movie out. However, you'll have a hard time doing that because I haven't spotted it on TV, cable or at a video store since I first saw it. Perhaps someone will release it onto DVD one day.

Maybe a little overrated. Mayde not a 6.8. But still a good movie. It has good acting. It is kind of scary. But come on it is not really scary. It has a good story line. It is a good movie. I give it 6 out of 10.

Being a lover of '80s cinema, as well as an appreciator of all things Cannon and Golan-Globus, I was happily surprised to discover that Cannon had made a series of movies about fairy tales that I was unaware of. I managed to get my hands on this one, my first of hopefully many Cannon Movie Tales. The story is the simple one of Hansel and Gretel, padded out enough to make a movie.

It starts with the worst family ever. The mom sits at home bitching while the wussy dad (David Warner) lets himself be pushed around and underpaid for the wood he cuts without putting up a fight. The two kids are deeply stupid, singing and dancing around like morons who have no understanding of how messed up their situation is. Maybe this is some subtle propaganda for helping the underprivileged and mentally challenged. The mom gets mad at the kids and sends them off into the woods. Soon the dad returns home having finally sacked up and gotten his money. But now the kids are lost and come upon the candy house of a witch named Griselda (a barely recognizable Cloris Leachman in a nice makeup job). Once the kids get lost, the story gets good. There are spooky woods, creepy gingerbread statues, and a scary witch. It's quite a bit of fun and a nice change of pace from today's over-polished kids films.

Despite this being from Cannon, there are no guns anywhere. Nor is there any machismo or heaving bosoms. There are some terrible songs and an often sad story told in the most upbeat manner possible. Also, the most unsettling happy ending ever. It's a good time, though. I will definitely seek out more Cannon Movie Tales and recommend you do the same.

Cloris Leachman has a great time camping it up as the wicked witch who wants to devour poor Hansel and Gretel who have gotten lost in the woods and found her gingerbread house.

The production design is better than expected for a cheap Cannon film and the effects are charming. Some of the songs are easy to hum as well even if many of them were taken from the classic opera based on the story.

I remember renting this movie before at my local blockbuster and it is by far the best adaptation of the Grimm Brothers tale and with music from the Opera itself and usually i watch this around Christmas time or something, plus Cloris Leachman is remarkable as the Witch compared to Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz and David Warner is also brilliant as Hansel and Gretel's father and the songs from the Opera are outstanding, brilliant, amazing and this movie will make you laugh, it will make you cry and put a smile on your face to this classic Cannon-Fairy Tale movie.

The Cannon Movie Tales adaptations of famous fairy tales is an interesting little series, and while there are some faring better than others and a few that are less than brilliant, others are well done and charming. Hansel and Gretel is one of the finer examples of the latter, and gets my vote as the best of the series.

It's not without its flaws, all of the films in the series do, some bigger and more serious than others. The low-budget does show in the less than inspiring and too-fancy-dress-like costumes and the witch's death underwhelms, instead of being nail-biting like in the story the way it's done here causes some unintentional humour.

Visually, however, on the most part Hansel and Gretel is actually one of the better-looking Cannon Movie Tales films. It's lovingly photographed and has charming, colourful settings and a fantastically realised Witch's House, its delicious to look at, but at the same time quite nightmarish, design being one of the standout set designs of the Cannon Movie Tales films. The songs, adapted from Humperdinck's wonderful opera, are simply lovely and are beautifully adapted, with the best performed being Sugar and Spice and the most effective melodically being A Fairy Song. The script is filled with fun and charm, and also with a real sense of dread in the second half, while the story adaptation-wise follows the Grimm story fairly closely while expanding on some parts, though actually it's closer to the story of the opera.

The storytelling is whimsical and charming, while also witty and poignant, the Witch and her scenes also effectively induces nightmares without distorting the tone (the Witch scenes are quite dark) and are pretty tastefully handled. The film's nicely directed, and the performances are solid with the standout being Cloris Leachman as the Witch. Her make-up is excellent, and Leachman clearly has a ball without over-compensating too much and is genuinely frightening. Hugh Pollard and Nicola Stapleton are appealing as Hansel and Gretel and David Warner does bring a touching degree to a character who could easily have been portrayed as an idiot going by how he was written.

Overall, a winner from the Cannon Movie Tales series and my vote for their best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In the 1980s, Cannon Films made a lot of truly brain-numbing films...films known mostly for explosions, punching and similar non-intellectual and child-unfriendly faire. Because of this, I was really shocked to see that the company made some films based on fairy tales instead of Chuck Norris blowing up 100,000 no-goodnicks! And, the results are surprisingly good for Cannon.

While the credits claim that the film was inspired by the opera "Hansel & Gretel", the story has no operatic singing whatsoever. There are a few annoying songs sung by the children, but they really aren't opera style in the least...which I think is a good thing.

One thing you MIGHT be wondering is whether or not this story is appropriate for kids. Since these sorts of fairy tales have MANY different versions and there is no definitive and true version, the fact that this version is less bloody and child unfriendly isn't a bad thing. In most versions of the story, Hansel and Gretel are children who have been deliberately abandoned in the woods to await death because their parents are evil and poor and either don't want to feed them or cannot afford to do so. But in this one, Hansel and Gretel are just kind of dumb and wander off into the woods and are lost. And, the rest of the story is pretty much what you'd expect...minus the really evil parents.

So is it any good? Yes, though I think the weakest point are the children themselves...as they are (as I said above) a bit annoying. The adult actors, such as David Warner and Cloris Leachman (as the witch) are very good and the story interesting enough to satisfy folks of neatly all ages. I say nearly because teens and the easily jaded probably will find it all a bit silly.

The movie you show here is the correct 1987 film but the movie that plays from your link is of the same title but not correct. That movie claims it was from 1988 but Dakota fanning is in it. She wasn't born till 94. Something is very off here. Please fix this error!

Ok, I own 300 movies of my own and I am 14! So what does that tell you? I have seen a lot of versions of Hansel and Gretel, but I must say that I like this one a lot. It is different from the everyday story that you hear. That is what makes it interesting. I like this a lot. I think that the actors/actresses did their parts very well!! This is a movie that is good for the whole family to see!! Well, that's it.

I found this on Disney plus a few years ago. It was actually pretty good, atleast it wasn't a fever dream like the 1983 Tim Burton television movie.

I know nothing about the production history to this film but it's what you would expect from a Hansel & Grettle story. I don't know who directed it or any of the actors or actresses names, but they do a good job in this movie.

It does feel very 80s in some places, for some reason in one scene it give me Return of the Jedi vibes.

This is one of those films from the identity crisis era of Disney and unlike the Wizard of Oz requel from he prior year, this actually works. 6.9/10.

I can't say much except the ending s*cked. I enjoyed the movie except the last 10-15 minutes. Did the producers/ directors need to add time ?

This is another of the beautiful Cannon Movie Tales,that aired on the Disney Channel starting in the late 80's and on ito mid-90's.This one is beautifully photographed.The songs are adapted from the opera so they are not new but are still beautiful.I saw this at about 7:00 on a Friday night on The Disney Channel.I fell in love with it and could not find it anywhere.Luckely,Amazon had a copy.It has not lost its charm.Cloris Leachman is the most evil witch ever filmed.She gave me the creeps.This film is ideal for family viewing.Little children will be frightened so make shure you are there for a person to lean on.

Hansel (Hugh Pollard) and Gretel (Nicola Stapelton) are the children of poor woodcutter (David Warner) and his wife (Emily Richard). The family faces starvation. The children get lost in the woods and encounter Griselda (Cloris Leachman) who lives in a gingerbread house.

In the 80's, Golan-Globus made a lot of these fairy tale films. The house is impressive for them, but I always have an issue with a non-descript woods location. This one is a musical. I do recognize the dad. He's a veteran actor from lots of stuff. It's a little slow in the middle. Suddenly, Cloris Leachman shows up. I had forgotten that she's in this. It could have gone downhill, but Cloris lifts this up.

I watched this film when I was about 6 or 7 and absolutely loved it. I used to rent it along with two other films from the same company, Puss in Boots and Snow White. When I was about 11 the video shop closed down and since then I have been searching for this film. I can still remember the words to the songs and I am now 21! Finally I have found a copy of it and cannot wait til I get it. I'm sure my son will enjoy it as much now as I did then. It is well recommended for children of all ages, although some children may find the witch a little frightening, it just depends on the child. It is a hard film to find but I would recommend looking for it and the other titles I mentioned earlier, it will be a well loved film for children and for adults!

The trailer and the picture that is advertised is a different version of hanzel and gretel. This is seen from the very beginning that it is a totally different version and not the original, like the one that is pictured on the advertisement.

Is this something g that could be sorted as we would like to watch the first edition of hansel and gretel like what is advertised in the picture. Very disappointed with this, as it is not what is shown and what we were expecting when we began watching. 😞

Quite frustrating when you have got the children sat down ready and waiting then can't watch the film that they thought they were going to watch.

okay, this movie is freaking awesome! It's like the best movie ever. I watched it everyday for a week. The story-line is captivating, I laughed and cried. My favorite character was the father, he was funny and smart. I especially liked the song "raise your hands" and I even sing along with my little brother. I like the scene in the town because it was very realistic, the bakers son and the guy who dances with the children made me smile. It made me wish I was in the fairy tale. The witch was also a very good actress, she was scary and very angry sometimes. People should make more movies as exciting as this one!

If you want to see the best movie in the world, you will watch Hansel and Gretel!

I think this is a great movie from the Cannon Theatre... but you might want to keep it away from extremely young kids. it scared me so badly that even today, at 19, I have to fast forward through scenes. There are things that just scar you ... ya know? Grizelda the Witch was more terrifying than the Witch of the West in "Wizard of Oz". All around, a very good farie tale, but not my favorite out of the series.

I have not seen all of the Cannon Movie Tales but so far I like this one best. This fairy tale was always interesting as a kid because of the house made of cookies and candy. Which kid would not love to find that! The candy house really came across as real so well done on the makers there. The story is pretty true adaptation but more elaborated. I'm glad they didn't make the mother so cold as in the original tale where she didn't seem to care about them. Nicola Stapleton was a nice little Snow White and plays the role of Gretl eagerly well but so does Hansel. But the real star is the evil witch, she is so ugly and scary, really I wouldn't want to be trapped in that house with her even not as adult. And all that sugary food shown it makes you want to have pie and cake for real! I think the movie found the perfect balance between scary (the witch) and sweet (thanks to the songs).

A brilliant star turn by Clorris Leachman as the witch. Probably could do with being a bit shorter but an enjoyable watch none the less, some parts of the film are genuinely scary.

I remember this being on the Disney Channel in the late 80's and mid 90's. It is the most terrifying version of the story that you will ever see. Based on the Brothers Grimm story, it follows two children named Hansel(Hugh Pollard) and Gretel(Nicola Stapelton). Theyb are sent out into the forest to pick berries and they stray from the "safe" woods and enter the forbidden North Woods were they meet a witch named Griselda (Cloris Leachman). They think they have found shelter, but have really landed in the liar of an evil witch who likes to eat children.

The opening is not faithful to the Brothers Grimm story, but it is forgivable, because of the terrifying last half, Cloris Leachman's performance, Nicola and Hugh as the two children, and some nice sets and music numbers.

Keep this one away from children under age 7.

From the title you all ready know where this review is going. I suppose I'm biased since I grew up watching this movie. The late Cloris Leachman as the witch is evil and awesome! The late David Warner as the father is likeable and respectable even though Emily Richard is so mean and horrible as the mother, who worries herself into being the film's soft villain, that demands a man stand up for himself and her children show her respect for her care and effort. It all works out in the end, though as you find out she's just a mother in a tight spot who loves her husband and her children.

Cloris Leachman is such a legend in this movie. She's such a believable performing actress as the witch...as far as I'm concerned...witches, if they were real, SHOULD act just like she does in this movie. It's an iconic performance in my opinion. She makes the Wicked Witch of the West run for her money.

The soundtrack is catchy and memorable but it ought to be after 34 years.

This is a movie to show to your kids. Let them watch it alone, too. It'll be a trial for passage.