Hansel and Gretel (2002 film)

"Hansel and Gretel" is a 2002 film version of the children's story. It stars Jacob Smith and Taylor Momsen as the title characters. This version has some interesing twists to it. It includes the Sand Man, played by Howie Mandel. The children, Hansel and Gretel, also have a stepmother that leads them into the forest. The movie was not advertised very much.

Plot

The movie begins in a modern home with two kids about to go to bed during a thunderstorm. They ask their father to read them a story to help them feel better about the storm. The dad finds a dusty, old book and decides to read that story. Throughout the movie they stop and go back to the original bedroom, where they are reading the story.

Hansel and Gretel are living with their father and step-mother in a very tiny home. They are very poor. They know their stepmother is evil, but the father doesn't know it.The next day the stepmother takes the kids for a walk (they have no choice because she is armed) in the scary forest. Once they get far enough into the forest, the stepmother abandons them.

Afterwards, Hansel and Gretel went looking for food and were tricked into going to an ogre's house. They got caught and were then saved by the Sand Man. They also let a fairy free, which they befriend. Throughout the story the Sand Man and the fairy are always bickering which causes problems at times.

One night when the Sand Man goes out to do his job, and the fairy goes out for one reason or another, Hansel and Gretel wander off to a house made of candy and chocolate. The lady that lives there invites them in and they eat some delicious food and then go to bed. They wake up the next morning and find the house is just an empty shack with an old lady in it. A raven comes to the window to tell them that the old lady is actually a witch. The witch walks into the room and begins making Gretel cook and Hansel eat. She does this because she's going to eat Hansel and wants him nice and fat. Hansel gains about sixty pounds. Because of certain principles, they break a mirror and the witch becomes ugly. The Sand Man and the fairy walk in and help Hansel and Gretel get the witch into her cauldron and they cook her, killing her. The Sand Man and the fairy take Hansel and Gretel home back to their father and they don't worry about the stepmother. But what ended up happening to her was she went to the ogre's house and makes him cook and clean for her.

They return to the bedroom of the two kids and their father, and the dad opens the closet to check for monsters for one of the kids. When he opens the closet, the Sand Man and the fairy say hello to the kids, but the father doesn't see them. They explain to the children why the father can't see them and the kids go to bed, ending the film.

Cast

* Jacob Smith as Hansel
* Taylor Momsen as Gretel
* Alana Austin as Wood Faerie
* Gerald McRaney as Father
* Delta Burke as Step-mother
* Lynn Redgrave as Woman and Witch
* Dakota Fanning as Katie

External links

*