This is an early color short in the Silly Symphonies series produced by the Disney studio. There will be spoilers ahead:
This looks to be an early dry run to see if adaptations of fairy tales were possible. There are echoes of the future in here, most specifically Snow White. The witch in particular resonates with the feature film to come five years later.
The story is a spin on Hansel and Gretal. It would be much better but for a curious decision (and I can't imagine it was an accident, as only the children have this problem). Their eyes are purely pupils, smallish black dots, rather than proper eyes, as with the gnomes and the witch. It gives them dead eyes and hence little personality, which is a mistake when they are technically the leads. It's a pity, because the good animation and other qualities are lessened a bit by dead eyed leads with no character.
The short starts with the two leads finding a group of gnomes and the opening is cute is familiar. The entry of the witch on her broom ends the fun and the gnomes wisely scramble for the safety of their tree homes. Hansel and Gretal are too large to get in and foolishly get on the witch's broom for a ride. She shows them a cottage made of candy and gingerbread and the obvious happens, with a change.
Instead of eating children, the witch changes them into bugs or animals. She changes the boy into a spider, turns a cat into stone, but is interrupted by the gnomes on a rescue mission.
There follows a typical fight sequence found in a lot of Disney shorts from the early 1930s. There's a nice touch with the gnomes riding geese and throwing pumpkins which appear as if by magic in their hands. They basically rout the witch while the boy and the girl restore the other children and ultimately turn the witch into stone.
It's scary and charming by turns, apart from the one glaring flaw. The short is available on the Disney Treasures Silly Symphonies DVD set and it and the set are worth finding. Recommended
This looks to be an early dry run to see if adaptations of fairy tales were possible. There are echoes of the future in here, most specifically Snow White. The witch in particular resonates with the feature film to come five years later.
The story is a spin on Hansel and Gretal. It would be much better but for a curious decision (and I can't imagine it was an accident, as only the children have this problem). Their eyes are purely pupils, smallish black dots, rather than proper eyes, as with the gnomes and the witch. It gives them dead eyes and hence little personality, which is a mistake when they are technically the leads. It's a pity, because the good animation and other qualities are lessened a bit by dead eyed leads with no character.
The short starts with the two leads finding a group of gnomes and the opening is cute is familiar. The entry of the witch on her broom ends the fun and the gnomes wisely scramble for the safety of their tree homes. Hansel and Gretal are too large to get in and foolishly get on the witch's broom for a ride. She shows them a cottage made of candy and gingerbread and the obvious happens, with a change.
Instead of eating children, the witch changes them into bugs or animals. She changes the boy into a spider, turns a cat into stone, but is interrupted by the gnomes on a rescue mission.
There follows a typical fight sequence found in a lot of Disney shorts from the early 1930s. There's a nice touch with the gnomes riding geese and throwing pumpkins which appear as if by magic in their hands. They basically rout the witch while the boy and the girl restore the other children and ultimately turn the witch into stone.
It's scary and charming by turns, apart from the one glaring flaw. The short is available on the Disney Treasures Silly Symphonies DVD set and it and the set are worth finding. Recommended