I have to admit that I didn't watch this animated version of the Engelbert Humperdinck (the original composer, not the modern-day singer) opera in all seriousness. That's because I was thoroughly creeped out by the animatronic puppets used in the story, which are the most disturbing I've ever seen. Thus despite the music and the staging, I could take none of this seriously, and instead was left feeling uneasy throughout. The bad dubbing over the top doesn't help much either. This truly is the stuff of nightmares and I've been unable to stop thinking about it afterwards.

I first watched this film as a child in the 80's. I loved it and a few weeks ago heard something that reminded me of this story. I rented it from NetFlix and watched it last night.Although they film quality is poor, it was a great film for it's time and this movie still entertains me today. My daughter also watched this film and I saw the same emotions in her that I remember feeling as I watched it as a child. Fear of the wicked witch, the amazement in her eyes when she saw the witch's house and the giggles at the little bear and goose. It just took me back to a time long ago when those little things made me happy and I'm glad I was able to find this film to share it with her.The story is timeless, the film is excellent and I just love it! Great for all ages!

I found the other comments to be enlightening, especially with regard to the hurry-up conclusion.However, I know for a fact that the boys' choir used in this movie was no a European choir, but the Apollo Boys Choir, originally of Palm Beach, Florida, that moved to Dallas, Texas until its director, Coleman Cooper, retired. It is unfortunately no longer in operation. During the Depression, the choir toured the United States in limousines, not buses, and sang for President Roosevelt at the Hot Springs resort where he escaped the pressures of Washington DC. The choir accompanist, Mr. Bert Hallack, is a resident of Palm Beach.One famous former chorister of this choir is George Bragg, who founded the Texas Boys Boys (of Fort Worth).

This film has always been one of my top favorite childhood films. "Hansel and Gretel" was not always easily accessible to kids. Although it had sporadic television showings back in the days of black and white televisions, kids normally had to wait about every three years for it to be theatrically re-released to see it. I remember seeing it once on television back in the days before we had color television sets and then seeing it several years later on the big screen (in all of its Technicolor splendor) and it captivated me by being the definitive version of the famous tale. I liked it so much that when they re-released it some years later I went to see it again! After the mid-seventies it more or less disappeared and it seemed to have become a forgotten film (shown occasionally on early cable T.V.). However, in the early eighties I was surprised to see it on VHS through a company called Media Home Entertainment. Sadly, their print had a terrible mono soundtrack making the film inaudible and the scene where the the stars form in the heavens (after the Sandman floated away) looked like it was set in the daytime instead of at night-time. Later, in the eighties a no-frills video company released the same print with a marginally better soundtrack. When HBO showed it in the early nineties, they showed a restored quality print. One with perfect sound and with the stars in the heavens forming in the evening (keeping to the evening setting of Hansel and Gretel asleep under a tree in the forest). Not long afterward, that restored version was put on to VHS by Vestron and I was delighted. Too bad that Vestron didn't hold on to the rights long enough to put out a DVD edition of the film. It has since fallen into the hands of another company and they've evidently used a not exactly perfect VHS print of the film as the master source for their DVD presentation of "Hansel and Gretel". The evidence of VHS decay are sporadically obvious during the film. It's annoying that the company probably had the means to give us "the" perfectly restored version of the film on DVD, but instead decided to gyp us with a low-budget video to DVD transfer of it. I hope that another company will obtain the rights to this film and put a good copy of it on the market soon. "Hansel and Gretel" must have been a pretty big hit in its day (1954). There was a comic book and a record album of this film. I know that the two times that I saw it in the theaters it played to packed movie houses. Let's hope to see a restored DVD edition of it the near future!