Compare the original
Grimm tale with the MGM version. What is different in the film? What is
similar? Why did the movie directors make these changes?
NOTE: I’m calling the witch, Witch [as her name] so
the flow will be a little better
First off, Hansel and Gretel only went to the forest
once, but got lost during that one visit. Being there was only one trip to the forest;
the pebbles were completely taken out of the company. Again, with the single
visit to the forest, the fire was also moved around. But at one point, when
Hansel, Gretel, and their father went to the market [this visit was movie
exclusive], Hansel was given a set of flints. The flints seem to be a
replacement for the pebbles, but that may just be consistent with how the dad
made the fire in the fairytale. Also, during the movie exclusive visit, the
baker that swindled the dad out of his payment gave Gretel cookie crumbs to
apologize for screwing over her dad. This change may have been made to
exaggerate the poorness of Hansel and Gretel’s family.
Another
difference between the original fairytale and the movie was the personality of
the mother. (Pardon my language …) In the fairytale, the mother is a total
bitch in her (guestproximate) 15 seconds of fame and was mentioned once when
she was living and once when she had died. But in the movie, the mother came
off as a bitch then became less bitchy then became a caring individual. When
she hurt her children’s feelings, this made her feel remorse, to make her
transition throughout the movie, smoother and not a complete 180ยบ. As mentioned
in class, when the Grimm Brothers lost their mother, they were devastated
because they looked up to her. This adaptation of the movie could be honoring
later versions of the fairytale and make the mother a loving individual and
living at the end of the movie.
The
father was very similar between the fairytale and the movie but enhanced in the
movie to give him some character, because a caring father is boring in a movie.
In the movie, the father went on a journey to look for Hansel and Gretel. The
odd thing is that the MOTHER was the one to suggest finding them.
The
Hansel and Gretel movie actually had time pass, sort of. We saw day and night
pass a few times. Also, as Hansel and Gretel were kidnapped by Witch, the dad
was shown for a few moments at a time. Each time, he looked more and more tired
and ready to pass out. He also looked like he was going to hallucinate.
When Hansel and Gretel first saw Witch’s house, it seems
like it is part of a hallucination, which is probably how Jacob and Wilhelm
envisioned it. As the witch sung to Hansel and Gretel about how she would get
fed, she popped her head out of the candy windows and said brutally honest
things, (not an exact quote), “They will make a good meal”. This has nothing to
do with this blog, but there was a Briar Rose reference, which was really cool
and ironic. Back to the blog, the witch seemed to get high off of excitement,
which again is probably how Jacob and Wilhelm imagined it. So, overall, the
movie seemed to do a great job at bringing Witch to life.
Hansel was adventurous in both the fairytale and the
movie, but Gretel attained more self confidence in the movie. In both versions
of Hansel and Gretel, Hansel told Gretel to shove the Witch into the oven, but
in the movie, it seemed like that Gretel just knew to destroy the Witch’s
looking glass. Even though Hansel implied it, Gretel had a look on her face
that implied she just knew what to do. A movie exclusive scene was when Gretel
switched Hansel and Witch when Hansel was almost killed.
(Grab
Bag Differences) The movie explained why Hansel and Gretel listened to Witch; she
possessed them for a bit. I’m not sure how relevant this is but it looked like
Gretel had a witch hand when she was mixing something for the Witch. The jewels
and gems came from Witch’s scepter NOT her house. In the movie, Witch kidnapped
about 10 other kids, and they were saved by Hansel and Gretel. As Hansel and
Gretel were returning home, they ran into their dad. Any and all changes not
discussed were made to make the movie longer and more entertaining.
This is Witch when she was initially showing Hansel and
Gretel her candy house.
Citation: http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjA0ODUxMzAyNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODM5ODA0NA@@._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg
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