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{{Short description|German fairy tale}}
{{Redirect|Hansel|other uses|Hansel (disambiguation)|and|Hansel and Gretel (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox folk tale
|Folk_Tale_Name = Hansel and Gretel
|Image_Name     = Hansel-and-gretel-rackham.jpg
|Image_Caption  = The witch welcomes Hansel and Gretel into her hut. Illustration by [[Arthur Rackham]], 1909.
|Aarne-Thompson Grouping = ATU 327A
|AKA            =
|Mythology      =
|Region         = [[Germany|German]]
|Published_In   = [[Kinder- und Hausmärchen]], by [[the Brothers Grimm]]
|Related        =
}}
"'''Hansel and Gretel'''" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|æ|n|s|əl|,_|ˈ|h|ɛ|n|-|...|ˈ|ɡ|r|ɛ|t|əl}}; {{langx|de|Hänsel und Gretel}} {{IPA|de|ˈhɛnzl̩ ʔʊnt ˈɡʁeːtl̩|}}){{efn|In German, the names are diminutives of {{lang|de|Johannes}} (John) and {{lang|de|Margarete}} (Margaret).}} is a German [[fairy tale]] collected by the [[Brothers Grimm]] and published in 1812 as part of ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales]]'' (KHM 15).{{Sfn|Harries|2015|p=225}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Hansel and Gretel|url=http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm015.html|last=Ashliman|first=D. L.|author-link=D. L. Ashliman|date=2011|website=University of Pittsburgh}}</ref>

Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a [[forest]] and fall into the hands of a [[Witchcraft|witch]] who lives in a house made of [[bread]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Heiner|first=Heidi Anne|date=2021|title=''Hansel & Gretel Annotations''|url=https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/h-r/hansel-gretel/hansel-gretel-annotations.html|publisher=Sur La Lune}}</ref> [[cake]], and [[sugar]]. The witch, who has [[Human cannibalism|cannibalistic]] intentions, intends to fatten Hansel before eventually eating him. However, Gretel saves her brother by pushing the witch into her own oven, killing the witch. The children then escape with the witch's treasure.{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|p=121}}

Set in [[medieval Germany]], "Hansel and Gretel" has been adapted into various media, including the opera {{lang|de|[[Hansel and Gretel (opera)|Hänsel und Gretel]]|italic=yes}} by [[Engelbert Humperdinck (composer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]], which was first performed in 1893.{{sfn|Opie|Opie|1974|p=236}}{{Sfn|Harries|2015|p=227}}

== Origin ==
=== Sources ===
Although [[Jacob Grimm|Jacob]] and [[Wilhelm Grimm]] credited "various tales from [[Hesse]]" (the region where they lived) as their source, scholars have argued that the brothers heard the story in 1809 from the family of Wilhelm's friend and future wife, Dortchen Wild, and partly from other sources.<ref>{{harvnb|Opie|Opie|1974|p=236}}; {{harvnb|Goldberg|2000|p=42}}; {{harvnb|Harries|2015|p=225}}; {{harvnb|Zipes|2013|p=121}}</ref> A handwritten note in the Grimms' personal copy of the first edition reveals that in 1813 Wild contributed to the children's verse answer to the witch, "The wind, the wind,/ The heavenly child," which rhymes in German: "Der Wind, der Wind,/ Das himmlische Kind."<ref name=":0" />

According to folklorist [[Jack Zipes]], the tale emerged in the [[Late Middle Ages]] Germany (1250–1500). Shortly after this period, close written variants like Martin Montanus' ''Garten Gesellschaft'' (1590) began to appear.{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|p=121}} Scholar Christine Goldberg argues that the episode of the paths marked with stones and crumbs, already found in the French "[[Finette Cendron]]" and "[[Hop-o'-My-Thumb]]" (1697), represents "an elaboration of the motif of the thread that [[Ariadne]] gives [[Theseus]] to use to get out of the [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[labyrinth]]".{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|p=439}} A house made of confectionery is also found in a 14th-century manuscript about the [[Cockaigne|Land of Cockayne]].{{sfn|Opie|Opie|1974|p=236}}

=== Editions ===
[[File:Maerchenbrunnen Berlin Friedrichshain 10.jpg|thumb|208x208px|Sculpture of Hansel on the duck by [[Ignatius Taschner]]. ''Märchenbrunnen'', Berlin.]]
From the pre-publication manuscript of 1810 (''Das Brüderchen und das Schwesterchen'') to the sixth edition of ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales|Kinder- und Hausmärchen]]'' (''Grimm's Fairy Tales'') in 1850, the [[Brothers Grimm]] made several alterations to the story, which progressively gained in length, psychological motivation, and visual imagery,{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|p=438}} but also became more Christian in tone, shifting the blame for abandonment from a mother to a stepmother associated with the witch.{{Sfn|Harries|2015|p=225}}{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|p=121}}

In the original edition of the tale, the woodcutter's wife is the children's biological mother,<ref name="Grimm-1812firsted">{{harvp|Zipes|2014|pp=}} tr. "Hansel and Gretel (The Complete First Edition)", pp. 43–48; {{harvp|Zipes|2013}} tr., pp. 122–126; {{cite wikisource |year=1812 |plaintitle=[[Kinder- und Haus-Märchen]] |wslanguage=de |wslink=Hänsel_und_Gretel_(1812)#Seite_49 |volume=1 |chapter=15. Hänsel und Grethel |pages=49–58 |edition=1 |publisher=Realschulbuchhandlung |editor=Brüder Grimm}}</ref> but she was also called "stepmother" from the 4th edition (1840).{{sfn|Zipes|2013|pp=121–122}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Goldberg|2008|p=438|ps=: "in the fourth edition, the woodcutter's wife (who had been the children's own mother) was first called a stepmother."}}</ref> The Brothers Grimm indeed introduced the word "stepmother", but retained "mother" in some passages. Even their final version in the 7th edition (1857) remains unclear about her role, for it refers to the woodcutter's wife twice as "the mother" and once as "the stepmother".<ref name=":0" />

The sequence where the duck helps them across the river is also a later addition. In some later versions, the mother died from unknown causes, left the family, or remained with the husband at the end of the story.{{sfn|Tatar|2002|p=45|ps=}} In the 1810 pre-publication manuscript, the children were called "Little Brother" and "Little Sister", then named Hänsel and Gretel in the first edition (1812).{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|p=438}} Wilhelm Grimm also adulterated the text with Alsatian dialects, "re-appropriated" from [[August Stöber]]'s Alsatian version (1842) to give the tale a more "folksy" tone.{{sfn|Zipes|2013|pp=121–122}}{{efn|Zipes words it as "re-appropriated" because Ströber's Alsatian informant who provided "Das Eierkuchenhäuslein (The Little House of Pancakes)" had probably read Grimm's "Hansel and Gretel".}}

Goldberg notes that although "there is no doubt that the Grimms' ''Hänsel und Gretel'' was pieced together, it was, however, pieced together from traditional elements," and its previous narrators themselves had been "piecing this little tale together with other traditional motifs for centuries."{{Sfn|Goldberg|2000|p=51}} For instance, the duck helping the children cross the river may be the remnant of an old traditional motif in the folktale complex that the Grimms reintroduced in later editions.{{Sfn|Goldberg|2000|p=51}}

==Plot==
[[File:Hänsel und Gretel2.jpg|thumb|256x256px|Hansel and Gretel meeting the witch, by [[Alexander Zick]]]] Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor [[Lumberjack|woodcutter]]. When a [[famine]] settles over the land, the woodcutter's [[Stepmother|second wife]] tells him to [[Child abandonment|take the children into the woods and leave them there to fend for themselves]]. The woodcutter opposes the plan, but his wife repeats her demands until he reluctantly agrees. They are unaware that in the children's bedroom, Hansel and Gretel have overheard them. After the parents have gone to bed, Hansel sneaks out of the house and gathers as many shiny white [[pebble]]s as he can, then returns to his room, reassuring Gretel that [[God]] will not forsake them.

The next day, the children's stepmother gives them small pieces of [[bread]] before she and their father take them into the woods. As the family walks deeper, Hansel leaves a trail of white pebbles. After their parents abandon them, the children stay in the woods until night falls and the moonlight reveals the white pebbles shining in the dark. The children then safely follow the trail back home, much to their stepmother's rage. Once again, provisions become scarce, and the stepmother angrily orders her husband to take the children further into the woods and leave them there. Hansel attempts to gather more pebbles, but finds his stepmother has locked the door.

[[File:1903 Ludwig Richter.jpg|thumb|left|Illustration by [[Ludwig Richter]], 1842]]
The following morning, the children's stepmother gives them smaller pieces of bread before she and their father take them back into the woods. As the family treks, Hansel leaves a trail of [[bread crumbs]] for him and Gretel to follow back home. However, after they are once again abandoned, the children find that the [[bird]]s have eaten the crumbs, and they are lost in the woods. After three days of wandering, the children follow a [[Columbidae|dove]] to a clearing in the woods, and discover a [[cottage]] with bread walls, a [[cake]] roof, and [[sugar]] windows. Hungry and tired, the children begin to eat the house, when the door opens and the elderly woman who lives there emerges and takes the children inside, giving them delicious food to eat and soft beds to sleep in. What the children do not know is that their kind hostess is an evil [[Witchcraft|witch]] who had built the bread house to lure them inside so she can [[Child cannibalism|cook and eat them]].

The next morning, the witch locks Hansel in a [[stable]] and enslaves Gretel. The witch feeds Hansel regularly to fatten him up, but serves Gretel nothing but [[crab]] shells. The witch then tries to touch Hansel's finger to see how fat he has become, but he cleverly offers a thin bone he found in the cage. As the witch's [[Visual impairment|eyes are too weak]] to notice the deception, she is fooled into thinking Hansel is still too thin for her to eat. After four weeks of this, the witch grows impatient and decides to eat Hansel anyway.

She prepares the [[oven]] for Hansel, and then decides she is hungry enough to eat Gretel, too. She coaxes Gretel to the open oven and asks her to lean over in front of it to see if the fire is hot enough. Gretel, sensing the witch's intent, pretends she does not understand what the witch means. Frustrated, the witch demonstrates, and Gretel instantly shoves her into the hot oven, slams and bolts the door shut, leaving the witch to burn to death. Gretel frees Hansel from the stable, and the pair discovers [[box]]es full of [[pearl]]s and [[Gemstone|precious stones]]. Putting the [[Jewellery|jewels]] into their pockets, the children set off for home. A white [[duck]] (or [[swan]] in some versions) ferries them across an expanse of water, and at home they find only their father; his wife had died from an unknown cause. The children's father had spent all his days missing them and is delighted to see them safe and sound.

With the witch's [[wealth]], the children and their father live happily afterwards.

== Variants ==
[[File:Hansel and Gretel Kubel.jpg|thumb|Otto Kubel (1868 – 1951)]]
Folklorists [[Iona and Peter Opie]] indicate that "Hansel and Gretel" belongs to a group of European tales especially popular in the Baltic regions, about children outwitting [[ogre]]s into whose hands they have involuntarily fallen.{{Sfn|Opie|Opie|1974|p=236}}

=== ATU 327A tales ===
"Hansel and Gretel" is the prototype for the fairy tales of the type [[Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index|Aarne–Thompson–Uther]] (ATU) 327A. In particular, Gretel's pretence of not understanding how to test the oven ("Show Me How") is characteristic of 327A, although it also appears traditionally in other sub-types of ATU 327.{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|pp=439–440}} As argued by [[Stith Thompson]], the simplicity of the tale may explain its spread into several traditions all over the world.{{Sfn|Thompson|1977|pp=36–37}}

A closely similar version is "[[Finette Cendron]]", published by [[Madame d'Aulnoy|Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy]] in 1697, which depicts an impoverished king and queen deliberately losing their three daughters three times in the wilderness. The cleverest of the girls, Finette, initially manages to bring them home following a line of thread she unwound as they travelled. On the second journey, she leaves a trail of ashes, and on the third, a trail of peas, but these are eaten by pigeons. The little girls then go to the mansion of a [[hag]], who lives with her husband, the [[ogre]]. Finette heats the oven and asks the ogre to test it with his tongue, so that he falls in and is incinerated. Thereafter, Finette cuts off the hag's head. The sisters remain in the ogre's house, and the rest of the tale relates the story of ''[[Cinderella]]''.{{sfn|Opie|Opie|1974|p=236}}{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|p=439}}

In the Russian ''[[Vasilisa the Beautiful]]'', the stepmother likewise sends her hated stepdaughter into the forest to borrow a light from her sister, who turns out to be [[Baba Yaga]], a cannibalistic witch. Besides highlighting the endangerment of children (as well as their own cleverness), the tales have in common a preoccupation with eating and with hurting children: the mother or stepmother wants to avoid hunger, and the witch lures children to eat her house of [[candy]] so that she can then eat them.<ref name="Tatar54">{{harvnb|Tatar|2002|p=54}}</ref>

In a variant from [[Flanders]], ''The Sugar-Candy House'', siblings Jan and Jannette get lost in the woods and sight a hut made of confectionery in the distance. When they approach, a giant wolf named Garon jumps out of the window and chases them to a riverbank. Sister and brother ask a pair of ducks to help them cross the river and escape the wolf. Garon threatens the ducks to carry him over, to no avail; he then tries to cross by swimming. He sinks and surfaces three times, but disappears in the water on the fourth try. The story seems to contain the "child/wind" rhyming scheme of the German tale.<ref>Bosschère, Jean de. ''Folk tales of Flanders''. New York: Dodd, Mead. 1918. pp. 91-94.</ref>

In a [[Sweden|Swedish]] fairy tale, ''Stugan, hwars tak bestod af bara ostar'' ("The Cottage Whose Roof Was Made Entirely of Cheese") the brother is the hero who deceives the witch and locks her up in the oven.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hyltén-Cavallius |first1=Gunnar |last2=Stephens |first2=George |title=Svenska folk-sagor och äfventyr : efter muntlig öfverlemning samlade och utgifna |date=1844 |publisher=A. Bohlin |location=Stockholm |pages=16 - 18 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57357/57357-h/57357-h.htm#B_Stugan_hvars_tak_bestod_af_bara_ostar |access-date=10 October 2025}}</ref> It was translated in to French as ''La Cabane au Toit de Fromage'' ("The Hut with the Roof made of Cheese").<ref>Guerber, Hélène Adeline. ''Contes et légendes''. 1ere partie.  New York, Cincinnati [etc.] American Book Company. 1895. pp. 64-67.</ref>

In the first [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] variant of "The Orphaned Children", the brother pushes the witch into the oven.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ocasio |first1=Rafael |title=Folk stories from the hills of Puerto Rico = Cuentos folklóricos de las montañas de Puerto Rico |date=2021 |location=New Brunswick |isbn=978-1978823013 |pages=175–176}}</ref>

''Pandekagehuset'' ("Pancake House") is a Danish variant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Winther |first1=Mathias |title=Danske Folkeeventyr |date=1823 |publisher=Wahlske Boghandings forlag |location=Copenhagen |pages=1 - 6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GsxPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=11 October 2025}}</ref>

A Jamaican variant, "The Children and the Witch," was collected in Mandeville.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beckwith |first1=Martha |title=Jamaica Anansi Stories |date=1924 |publisher=American Folk-Lore Society |location=New York |pages=146 - 147 |url=https://archive.org/details/jamaicaanansisto00beck/page/146/mode/2up |access-date=11 October 2025}}</ref>

A variant was collected in America by the folklorist James Taylor Adams.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Adams |first1=James |title=James Taylor Adams Collection |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127005903/http://www.ferrum.edu/applit/texts/babes.htm |publisher=Blue Ridge Institute of Ferrum College |access-date=11 October 2025}}</ref>

Other folk tales of ATU 327A type include the French "[[The Lost Children (fairy tale)|The Lost Children]]", published by Antoinette Bon in 1887,{{sfn|Delarue|1956|p=365}}{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|pp=146, 150}} or the [[Moravia]]n "Old Gruel", edited by Maria Kosch in 1899.{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|pp=146, 150}}

=== The Children and the Ogre (ATU 327) ===
Structural comparisons can also be made with other tales of ATU 327 type ("The Children and the Ogre"), which is not a simple fairy tale type but rather a "folktale complex with interconnected subdivisions" depicting a child (or children) falling under the power of an ogre, then escaping by their clever tricks.{{Sfn|Goldberg|2000|pp=43|p=}}

In ATU 327B ("The Brothers and the Ogre"), a group of siblings comes to the house of an ogre, who intends to kill them in their beds, but the youngest of the children exchanges the visitors with the ogre's offspring, and the villain kills his own children by mistake. The ogre chases them, but the siblings eventually manage to come back home safely.{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|p=441}} [[Stith Thompson]] points out the remarkable similarity of the tales types ATU 327A and ATU 327B and concludes that "it is quite impossible to disentangle the two tales".{{Sfn|Thompson|1977|p=37}}

ATU 327C ("The Devil [Witch] Carries the Hero Home in a Sack") depicts a witch or an ogre catching a boy in a sack. As the villain's daughter is preparing to kill him, the boy asks her to show him how he should arrange himself; when she does so, he kills her. Later on, he kills the witch and goes back home with her treasure. In ATU 327D ("The Kiddlekaddlekar"), children are discovered by an ogre in his house. He intends to hang them, but the girl pretends not to understand how to do it, so the ogre hangs himself to show her. He promises his kiddlekaddlekar (a magic cart) and treasure in exchange for his liberation; they set him free, but the ogre chases them. The children eventually manage to kill him and escape safely. In ATU 327F ("The Witch and the Fisher Boy"), a witch lures a boy and catches him. When the witch's daughter tries to bake the child, he pushes her into the oven. The witch then returns home and eats her own daughter. She eventually tries to fell the tree in which the boy is hiding, but birds fly away with him.{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|p=441}}

=== Further comparisons ===
The initial episode, which depicts children deliberately lost in the forest by their unloving parents, can be compared with many previous stories: Montanus's "The Little Earth-Cow" (1557), [[Giambattista Basile|Basile]]'s "Ninnillo and Nennella" (1635), Madame d'Aulnoy's "Finette Cendron" (1697), or [[Charles Perrault|Perrault]]'s "[[Hop-o'-My-Thumb]]" (1697). The motif of the trail that fails to lead the protagonists back home is also common to "Ninnillo and Nennella", "Finette Cendron" and "Hop-o'-My-Thumb",{{Sfn|Goldberg|2000|p=44}} and the Brothers Grimm identified the latter as a parallel story.<ref name="Tatar72">{{harvnb|Tatar|2002|p=72}}</ref>

Finally, ATU 327 tales share a similar structure with ATU 313 ("[[Sweetheart Roland]]", "[[Foundling-Bird]]", "Okerlo") in that one or more protagonists (specifically children in ATU 327) come into the domain of a malevolent supernatural figure and escape from it.{{Sfn|Goldberg|2008|p=441}} [[Folklore studies|Folklorist]] [[Joseph Jacobs]], commenting on his reconstructed proto-form of the tale ("Johnnie and Grizzle"), noticed the "contamination" of the tale with the story of "[[The Master Maid]]", later classified as ATU 313.{{Sfn|Jacobs|1916|p=|pp=255–256}} ATU 327A tales are also often combined with stories of ATU 450 ("Little Brother and Sister"), in which children run away from an abusive stepmother.{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|p=121}}

== Analysis ==
According to folklorist Jack Zipes, the tale celebrates the symbolic order of the [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]] home, seen as a haven protected from the dangerous characters that threaten the lives of children outside. At the same time, it systematically denigrates the adult female characters, which are seemingly intertwined between each other.{{Sfn|Harries|2015|p=227}}{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|p=122}} The death of the mother or stepmother soon after the children kill the witch suggests that they may be metaphorically the same woman.<ref name="Max64">{{harvnb|Lüthi|1970|p=64}}</ref> Zipes also argues that the theme of child abandonment and abuse may explain the importance of the tale in the European oral and literary tradition. Due to famines and lack of [[birth control]], it was common in medieval Europe to abandon unwanted children in front of churches or in the forest. The death of the mother during childbirth sometimes led to tensions after remarriage, and Zipes proposes that it may have played a role in the emergence of the [[Motif-Index of Folk-Literature|motif]] of the wicked stepmother.{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|p=122}}

Linguist and folklorist [[Edward Vajda]] has proposed that these stories represent the remnant of a [[coming-of-age]], [[rite of passage]] tale extant in [[Proto-Indo-European society]].{{sfn|Vajda|2010|ps=}}{{sfn|Vajda|2011|ps=}} Psychologist [[Bruno Bettelheim]] argues that the central motif revolves around dependence, oral greed, and destructive desires that children must learn to overcome, after they arrive home "purged of their oral fixations". Others have stressed the satisfying psychological effects of the children vanquishing the witch or realizing the death of their wicked stepmother.{{Sfn|Harries|2015|p=227}}

== Cultural legacy ==
[[File:Haensel und Gretel 1822-Michelides.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Staatsoper Wien 2015]]

===Stage and musical theatre===
The fairy tale has spawned a multitude of adaptations for the stage, with one of the most notable being [[Engelbert Humperdinck (composer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]]'s opera [[Hansel and Gretel (opera)|''Hänsel und Gretel'']].<ref name="putnam">{{cite book |last1=Upton |first1=George P. |author-link1=George Putnam Upton |title=The Standard Operas - Their Plots, Their Music, and Their Composers |date=2011 |publisher=Plain Label Books |isbn=978-1-60303-367-1 |pages=125–129 }}</ref> It is primarily based upon the Grimm's version. However, it omits the deliberate abandonment of the children,{{sfn|Opie|Opie|1974|p=236}}{{Sfn|Harries|2015|p=227}} and is notable for kickstarting the adaptations depicting the witch's [[Gingerbread house|house as being made of gingerbread]] and confectionary instead of plain bread.

A contemporary reimagining of the story, [[Mátti Kovler]]'s musical fairytale Ami & Tami, was produced in Israel and the United States and subsequently released as a symphonic album.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/02/28/composer-matti-kovler-realizes-dream-reviving-fairy-tale-opera-boston/0FGujeCykZ3Hjn2ieKqNvJ/story.html|title=Composer Matti Kovler realizes dream of reviving fairy-tale opera in Boston |website=The Boston Globe |language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/boston-goes-into-the-woods-with-israeli-opera-ami-and-tami/|title=Boston goes into the woods with Israeli opera 'Ami and Tami' |last=Schwartz|first=Penny|website=Times of Israel |language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-31}}</ref>

=== Literature ===
Several writers have drawn inspiration from the tale, such as [[Robert Coover]] in "The Gingerbread House" (''Pricksongs and Descants'', 1969), [[Anne Sexton]] in ''Transformations'' (1971), [[Garrison Keillor]] in "My Stepmother, Myself" in "Happy to Be Here" (1982), and [[Emma Donoghue]] in "A Tale of the Cottage" (''[[Kissing the Witch]]'', 1997).{{Sfn|Harries|2015|p=227}} [[Adam Gidwitz]]'s 2010 children's book ''A Tale Dark & Grimm'' and its sequels ''In a Glass Grimmly'' (2012), and ''The Grimm Conclusion'' (2013) are loosely based on the tale and show the siblings meeting characters from other fairy tales.
[[Terry Pratchett]] mentions gingerbread cottages in several of his books, mainly where a witch had turned wicked and 'started to cackle', with the gingerbread house being a stage in a person's increasing levels of insanity. In ''[[The Light Fantastic]]'', the wizard [[Rincewind]] and [[List of Discworld characters#Twoflower|Twoflower]] are led by a gnome into one such building after the death of the witch and warned to be careful of the doormat, as it is made of candy floss. In 2014, [[Neil Gaiman]] wrote an expanded retelling of "Hansel and Gretel", with illustrations by [[Lorenzo Mattotti]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gaiman|first=Neil|date=2014|title=Hansel & Gretel|url=https://www.toon-books.com/hansel-and-gretel.html|publisher=[[Toon Books]]}}</ref>

===Film and television===
* ''[[Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy]]'', a 1954 [[Stop motion|stop-motion]] animated theatrical feature film directed by John Paul and released by [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]].
* ''[[Bewitched Bunny]]'', a 1954 [[Bugs Bunny]] cartoon directed by [[Chuck Jones]], is a parody of Hansel and Gretel, and the debut of the [[Witch Hazel (Looney Tunes)|Witch Hazel]] character.
* The ''[[Bewitched]]'' episode "Hansel and Gretel in Samanthaland" has Tabitha Stephens magically switching places with Hansel and Gretel, and her mother, Samantha, entering the fairy tale to rescue her from the child-eating witch. The episode features [[Bobo Lewis]] as the stepmother, [[Billie Hayes]] as the witch, and [[Richard X. Slattery]] as a policeman.
* ''Hansel and Gretel'', a 1975 short film by American Filmmaker Tom Davenport that received the CINE Golden Eagle Award.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hansel and Gretel: An Appalachian Version |url=https://www.folkstreams.net/films/hansel-and-gretel-an-appalachian-version |website=Folkstreams |access-date=20 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
* A 1983 episode of [[Shelley Duvall]]'s ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]'' starred [[Ricky Schroder]] as Hansel and [[Joan Collins]] as the stepmother/witch.
* The story was adapted into a ''[[Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics]]'' episode; while mostly faithful to the source material, it depicts the witch as transforming into a scary winged skeletal monster before the protagonists trick her into flying into her burning oven and sealing her in it.
* ''[[Hansel and Gretel (1983 TV special)|Hansel and Gretel]]'', a 1983 TV special directed by [[Tim Burton]].
* [[Hansel and Gretel (1987 film)|''Hansel and Gretel'']], a 1987 American/Israeli musical film directed by Len Talan with [[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]], [[Cloris Leachman]], [[Hugh Pollard (actor)|Hugh Pollard]] and Nicola Stapleton. Part of the 1980s film series [[Cannon Movie Tales]].
* Elements from the story were used in the 1994 horror film ''[[Wes Craven's New Nightmare]]'' for its climax.
* A ''[[Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child]]'' episode puts a [[Latin Americans|Latin American]] spin on the fairy tale and renames the protagonists "Hanselito" and "Gretelita". This adaptation features the voices of [[Cheech Marin]] as the Father, [[Liz Torres]] as the Stepmother, and [[Rosie Perez]] as the Witch.
* Elements from the story were used in the 1999 black comedy film ''[[Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.avclub.com/freeway-ii-confessions-of-a-trickbaby-1798195843 | title=Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby | website=[[The A.V. Club]] | date=29 March 2002 }}</ref>
* This story is adapted in a 1999 episode of the animated series ''[[Simsala Grimm]]''. In this version, the witch turns Doc Croc into a bear, but after being pushed in the oven, the spell is broken and the gingerbread house explodes, revealing the treasure that Hansel and Gretel, together with Yoyo and Doc Croc, are picking.
* In ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy]]'' episode segment "Nursery Crimes", Grim transports Billy and Mandy into an enchanted book to make them play the eponymous "Hansel and Gretel" in his own telling, which goes awry with the duo [[Fairy tale parody|deviating from the plot and interacting with other fairy tale characters instead]].
* In 2012, the German broadcaster [[Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg|RBB]] released an episode "Hänsel und Gretel" as part of its series ''Der rbb macht Familienzeit''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hänsel und Gretel {{!}} Der rbb macht Familienzeit – YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Jbb1Y4jfw| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/q6Jbb1Y4jfw| archive-date=2021-10-30|access-date=2020-08-26|website=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* ''[[Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters]]'' (2013) by [[Tommy Wirkola]] with [[Jeremy Renner]] and [[Gemma Arterton]], (USA, Germany). The film follows the adventures of Hansel and Gretel, who have become adults.
* ''[[Gretel & Hansel]]'', a 2020 American horror film directed by [[Oz Perkins]] in which Gretel is a teenager while Hansel is still a little boy.
* ''[[Secret Magic Control Agency]]'' (2021) is an animated retelling of the fairy tale by incorporating comedy and family genres.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Milligan|first=Mercedes|date=2019-11-01|title=Wizart Reveals 'Hansel and Gretel' Poster Art Ahead of AFM|url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/features/wizart-reveals-hansel-and-gretel-poster-art-ahead-of-afm/|access-date=2020-11-07|website=Animation Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''[[A Tale Dark & Grimm]]'' (2021) is a [[Netflix]] computer-animated series based on the novel of the same name by [[Adam Gidwitz]], which, in turn, is a loose retelling of the story mixed with other Grimm fairy tales.
* ''[[The Grimm Variations]]'' (2024) is a Netflix anime series that features a retelling of the story, featuring elements of science fiction.

===Computer programming===
Hansel and Gretel's trail of breadcrumbs inspired the name of the navigation element ''[[Breadcrumb (navigation)|breadcrumbs]]'' that allows users to keep track of their locations within programs or documents.<ref name="Mark Levene">[{{GBurl|mDI72_9-bw0C|p=221}} Page 221] in: {{cite book |doi=10.1002/9780470874233.ch7 |chapter=Navigating the Web |title=An Introduction to Search Engines and Web Navigation |date=2010 |pages=209–271 |isbn=978-0-470-52684-2 |first1=Mark |last1=Levene }}</ref>

===Video games===
* ''Hansel & Gretel and the Enchanted Castle'' (1995) by [[Terraglyph Interactive Studios]] is an adventure and hidden object game. The player controls Hansel, tasked with finding Prin, a forest imp, who holds the key to saving Gretel from the witch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/hansel-gretel-and-the-enchanted-castle|title = Hansel & Gretel and the Enchanted Castle for Windows (1995)}}</ref>
* ''[[Gretel and Hansel]]'' (2009) by Mako Pudding is a browser adventure game. Popular on [[Newgrounds]] for its gruesome reimagining of the story, it features hand-painted watercolor backgrounds and characters animated by Flash.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/515322|title=Gretel and Hansel}}</ref>
* ''Fearful Tales: Hansel and Gretel Collector's Edition'' (2013) by [[Eipix Entertainment]] is a HOPA (hidden object puzzle adventure) game. The player, as Hansel and Gretel's mother, searches the witch's lair for clues.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/8148/fearful-tales-hansel-and-gretel-ce/|title=Fearful Tales: Hansel and Gretel Collector's Edition for iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac & PC! Big Fish is the #1 place for the best FREE games}}</ref>
* In the online role-playing game [[Poptropica]], the ''Candy Crazed'' mini-quest (2021) includes a short retelling of the story. The player is summoned to the witch's castle to free the children, who have been imprisoned after eating some of the candy residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poptropica.com/blog/2021/05/candy-crazed-mini-quest-now-live|title=The Candy Crazed Mini Quest is NOW LIVE!! 🍬🏰 &#124; poptropica|date=9 May 2024 }}</ref>

===Hoax===
In 1963, German children' book author and humorist {{ill|Hans Traxler|de}} published a book  ''[[The Truth About Hansel and Gretel]]'' which described how an amateur archaeologist Georg Ossegg uncovered evidence of the story about Hansel and Gretel was based on real events, just as Schliemann discovered the city of [[Troy]] from Ancient Greek legends. The book had immediately became a bestseller and was discussed is scientific circles, but in several months Traxler confessed it was a hoax. From time to time, the book has been discussed in popular culture.

==See also==
{{Portal|Children's literature|Germany|Fantasy}}
* "[[Brother and Sister]]"
* [[Child cannibalism]]
* "[[Esben and the Witch]]"
* [[Gingerbread house]]
* "[[Hop-o'-My-Thumb]]" (French fairy tale by [[Charles Perrault]])
* "[[The Hut in the Forest]]"
* "[[Ivasyk-Telesyk]]"
* "[[Jorinde and Joringel]]"
* "[[Molly Whuppie]]"
* "[[The Restaurant of Many Orders]]" (Japanese short story by [[Kenji Miyazawa]])
* "[[Thirteenth (fairy tale)|Thirteenth]]"

== Footnotes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Delarue |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Delarue |title=The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |year=1956 }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Goldberg|first=Christine|date=2000|title=Gretel's Duck: The Escape from the Ogre in AaTh 327|journal=Fabula|volume=41|issue=1–2|pages=42–51|doi=10.1515/fabl.2000.41.1-2.42|s2cid=163082145}}
* {{Cite book|last=Goldberg|first=Christine|title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales|date=2008|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-04947-7|editor-last=Haase|editor-first=Donald|language=en|chapter=Hansel and Gretel}}
* {{Cite book|last=Jacobs|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Jacobs|url=https://archive.org/details/europasfairybo00jaco|title=European Folk and Fairy Tales|publisher=G. P. Putnam's sons|year=1916}}
* {{cite book |last=Lüthi |first=Max |title=Once Upon A Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales |url=https://archive.org/details/onceupontimeonna0000luth |url-access=registration |publisher=Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. |year=1970 |isbn=9780804425650 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |author-link=Iona Opie |last2=Opie |first2=Peter |author-link2=Peter Opie |year=1974 |title=The Classic Fairy Tales |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-211559-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/classicfairytale00opie_0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Tatar |first=Maria |author-link=Maria Tatar |title=The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales |year=2002 |publisher=BCA |isbn=978-0-393-05163-6 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Stith |title=The Folktale |date=1977 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03537-9 |author-link1=Stith Thompson }}
* {{cite speech |last=Vajda |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Vajda |title=The Classic Russian Fairy Tale: More Than a Bedtime Story |date=2010 |event=The World's Classics |location=[[Western Washington University]]}}
* {{cite speech |last=Vajda|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Vajda |title=The Russian Fairy Tale: Ancient Culture in a Modern Context |date=2011 |event=Center for International Studies International Lecture Series |location=[[Western Washington University]] }}
* {{cite book |last1=Harries |first1=Elizabeth Wanning |chapter=Hansel and Gretel |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199689828.001.0001/acref-9780199689828-e-342 |editor-last1=Zipes |editor-first1=Jack |title=The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-968982-8 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199689828.001.0001 }}
* {{cite book|last=Zipes |first=Jack |author-link=Jack Zipes |chapter=Abandoned Children ATU 327A―Hansel and Gretel |title=The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales: From the Brothers Grimm to Andrew Lang |publisher=[[Hackett Publishing Company]] |year=2013 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0TwJBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 |pages=121ff|isbn=978-1-624-66034-4<!--1624660347-->}}
{{refend}}

===Primary sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Zipes |first=Jack |author-link=Jack Zipes |others=Jacob Grimm; Wilhelm Grimm (orig. eds.); Andrea Dezsö (illustr.) |chapter=Hansel and Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel)|title=The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The Complete First Edition |edition=Revised |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2014 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3CYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |pages=43–48|isbn=978-0-691-17322-1<!--0691173222-->}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal |last1=de Blécourt |first1=Willem |title=On the Origin of Hänsel und Gretel |journal=Fabula |date=April 2008 |volume=49 |issue=1–2 |pages=30–46 |doi=10.1515/FABL.2008.004 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Böhm-Korff |first1=Regina |title=Deutung und Bedeutung von 'Hänsel und Gretel': eine Fallstudie |date=1991 |publisher=P. Lang |isbn=978-3-631-43703-2 |language=de }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Freudenburg |first1=Rachel |title=Illustrating Childhood—'Hansel and Gretel' |journal=Marvels & Tales |date=1998 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=263–318 |jstor=41388498 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gaudreau |first1=Jean |title=Handicap et sentiment d'abandon dans trois contes de fées : Le petit Poucet, Haensel et Gretel, Jean-mon-Hérisson |journal=Enfance |date=1990 |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=395–404 |doi=10.3406/enfan.1990.1957 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Harshbarger |first1=Scott |title=Grimm and Grimmer: 'Hansel and Gretel' and Fairy Tale Nationalism |journal=Style |date=2013 |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=490–508 |jstor=10.5325/style.47.4.490 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Mieder |first1=Wolfgang |title=Hänsel und Gretel: das Märchen in Kunst, Musik, Literatur, Medien und Karikaturen |date=2007 |publisher=Praesens |isbn=978-3-7069-0469-8 |language=de }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Taggart |first1=James M. |title='Hansel and Gretel' in Spain and Mexico |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |date=October 1986 |volume=99 |issue=394 |pages=435 |doi=10.2307/540047 |jstor=540047 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Zipes|first=Jack|author-link=Jack Zipes|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTSAAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|title=Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales, Children, and the Culture Industry|date=1997|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-25296-0|language=en|chapter=The rationalization of abandonment and abuse in fairy tales: The case of Hansel and Gretel}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|Hansel and Gretel}}
{{Commons category|Hansel and Gretel}}{{Project Gutenburg|2591|bullet=no}}
* [https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/hansel_and_gretel Hansel and Gretel] – the original version by the Brothers Grimm
* [https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/h-r/hansel-gretel/hansel-gretel-tale.html ''Annotated Hansel and Gretel''] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116011957/https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/h-r/hansel-gretel/hansel-gretel-tale.html |date=16 January 2024 }})
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jacob-grimm_wilhelm-grimm/household-tales/margaret-hunt|Display Name=The complete set of Grimms' Fairy Tales, including ''{{PAGENAMEBASE}}''|noitalics=true}}
* [https://www.childstories.org/en/hansel-and-gretel-1674.html Illustrations to Hansel and Gretel]

{{Brothers Grimm}}
{{Hansel and Gretel}}

{{Authority control}}

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