Babes in the Woods
| Babes in the Woods | |
|---|---|
| Silly Symphonies series | |
| Directed by | Burt Gillett |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Voices by |
Pinto Colvig Lucille La Verne |
| Music by | Bert Lewis |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 8 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Bugs in Love |
| Followed by | Santa's Workshop |
Babes in the Woods is a 1932 Silly Symphonies animated film.
It is a re-working of the British folk tale Babes in the Wood, with some material incorporated from Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, and the addition of a village of friendly elves (a feature not traditionally present in either tale), and a happier ending.
"Once upon a time, a story was told about fairies, goblins, and witches of old. They haunted the forests and meadows and dells, and this is the legend the storybooks tell: Oh, don't you remember a long time ago? When two little babes, whose names I don't know. They wandered away on a fine summers day, and were lost in a wood, I've heard people say."
Hansel and Gretel stumble on a clearing in the woods where elves are going about their business. The elves are friendly to the children. Until a witch comes and takes them away on her broom to her gingerbread house, where she turns nasty on them, turning Hansel into a spider ("Lotus and cider! I'll change you into a spider!"), a yowling child-turned-cat to stone ("Fe, fi, bone! I'll change you to stone!"), and tries to turn Gretel into a rat ("Why, you little brat! I'll change you into a rat!") when an elf's arrow stops her. While the elves are fighting the witch, Hansel and Gretel free the other children who have been imprisoned and transformed into animals (lizards/newts, rats, spiders, cats, and bats) by the witch. Finally, the witch falls from her broom and lands in a cauldron containing a brew that turns living things to stone, and becomes a large rock, which would be known as the Witch Rock.
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Wikipedia