Hänsel und Gretel (2005)

Hansel and Gretel are playing hide-and-seek in the forest, and a narrator introduces the story. The siblings live with their father, a poor woodcutter, and their stepmother in a little house in the woods, where they do not even have the bare necessities of life. They have run out of food and have to sell their few pieces of furniture because the forest farmer does not want to pay their father for his wood. As their hardship grows worse by the day, the stepmother persuades their father to abandon the children in the forest. The next morning, the family goes into the forest together and leaves the children in a dark place. Clever Hansel has scattered pebbles so they can find their way back, because the children know they are to be abandoned: they were still awake when their parents discussed it. When dusk falls and their parents still have not returned, the children follow the trail of pebbles back by the light of the full moon. They eventually arrive home, but only their father welcomes them back. Their mother is angry and finds the pebbles in Hansel’s pocket. That evening, Hansel wants to collect pebbles again, since the parents intend to make them lose their way once more. But while he is gathering them, his stepmother catches him, sends him to his room, and angrily snatches the pebbles from his hand. The next morning, the family goes into the forest again, and this time Hansel scatters breadcrumbs along the way, using the bread their mother gave the children. The crumbs are eaten by birds, however. The children lose their way in the forest and eventually fall asleep in a pile of leaves beneath a rock. The next morning, a brightly colored bird sings, and the siblings follow it. They cross a dilapidated bridge that collapses behind them and come upon a gingerbread house. The woman who lives there, a witch, invites the children in for a meal. Despite Gretel’s misgivings, Hansel insists they accept the invitation. In the morning, the witch locks Hansel in a cage. Gretel has to work hard and wonders why Hansel gets such good food when he can work much better than she can. Eventually she discovers that other children had been there before them and were eaten by the witch. She tells Hansel what she has learned. When the weak-sighted witch asks him to let her feel his finger to see whether he is fat enough yet, he holds out a gnawed bone. Gretel tries to get help but cannot find a way out of the forest. Only on the appointed day for the slaughter does she manage, by trickery, to shove the witch into the oven, first snatching the key to Hansel’s cage from her. After freeing Hansel, the children find a chest full of treasure in the witch’s room and take some of it with them. Laden with it, they find their way back to their father with the help of some forest animals. He is delighted by their arrival and promises never to abandon them in the forest again. They display their treasure before his astonished eyes. The narrator tells us that the stepmother has since died.