History Literature / HanselAndGretel

The Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse book ''Literature/TimeLordFairyTales'' retells it as "The Gingerbread Trap", crossing the plot over with that of [[spoiler:the Tenth Doctor story "School Reunion"]].

Garrison Keillor {{deconstruct|ion}}s this one, as well as "Literature/SnowWhite" and "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", in his short story "My Stepmother, Myself" in his book ''HappyToBeHere.''

There's a modern retelling set in WWII Poland where Hansel & Gretel are Jewish children; and that's all we're going to say about that.

The Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse book ''Literature/TimeLordFairyTales'' retells it as "The Gingerbread Trap", crossing the plot over with that of [[spoiler: the Tenth Doctor story "School Reunion"]].

The tale may have originated during the medieval period of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_of_1315-1317 Great Famine]] when people were driven to desperate measures. Children were abandoned to fend for themselves, and there were many reported incidents of cannibalism.

* VideoGame/GretelAndHansel
* Film/HanselAndGretel2007
* Film/HanselAndGretel2013
** Film/HanselVsGretel
* Film/HanselAndGretelGetBaked
* Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters

!! "Hansel and Gretel" contains the following tropes:
* AnAesop: Don't be too trusting of strangers.
** Also, strangers immediately offering you goodies and treats the minute they meet you is ''not'' a good sign. It should make you raise suspicions that they want something from you in return.
** Candy laid out in open sight (let alone if they're in a forest far from civilization and in the shape of a ''house'') is a sign that this is a trap.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the first edition of the Grimm tales, there was no stepmother; instead both parents agreed to abandon their children. For the second edition, the Grimms changed the mother into a stepmother and added the father's reluctance to follow his wife's plan. This was part of the Grimms' effort to make the tales more palatable as family entertainment.

* FaceOnAMilkCarton: In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS10E12AboutABoy "About A Boy" (S10, Ep12)]], the witch no longer abducts children because of the Amber Alert system. Instead, she deages adults with a hex bag, fattens them up, and eats them.

* TheSandman: In the theatre version, the Sandman appears to Hansel and Gretel in TheLostWoods, signaling that it is time for the children to sing their evening prayer and go to sleep (though a DreamBallet ensues). The Sandman's morning counterpart, the Dewman, appears to wake them up again with a very similar song as the curtain goes up on the third act.

* TrailOfBreadCrumbs: TropeNamer, TropeMaker ''and'' TropeCodifier, and possible UrExample, together with "Literature/HopOMyThumb".
** Though note that the breadcrumbs ''didn't'' work. The trail of stones is what did.

* WickedStepmother: In the best known versions of the tale, the plan to abandon Hansel and Gretel in the woods is put forward by their stepmother, and the father only complies because of her pressuring. The trope does not appear in the first edition version recorded by the Grimm brothers (and in occasional retellings of the story, such as Paul O Zelinsky's), where the woman is the kids' actual mother, and the father also desires to abandon the children.

* LevelAte

* WickedStepmother: In the best known versions of the tale, the plan to abandon Hansel and Gretel in the woods is put forward by their stepmother, and the father only complies because of her pressuring. The trope does not appear in the first edition version recorded by the Grimm brothers (and in occasional retellings of the story), where the woman is the kids' actual mother, and the father also desires to abandon the children.

A variant appears in the ''VideoGames/DarkParables'' games, in which Hansel must rescue Gretel from the witch, rather than the other way around, and does so by giving her a permanent sleeping potion instead of shoving her in the oven. He aids a goddess in the process of the rescue, and she rewards him by bestowing an unusual blessing on his descendants in perpetuity. Gerda, from ''Literature/TheSnowQueen'', is one of these descendants.

* CompositeCharacter: In some versions of the tale, after killing the witch, the children return home and are happily reunited with their father, when they find out that their wicked (step)mother has died too. This has lead some folklorists to speculate that the wicked (step)mother and the witch are in fact the same character. At least one Russian version has the stepmother and the witch be sisters.

The two siblings then take all of the treasures and valuables from the late witches house and return home. With the stepmother now dead and all the valuables they took from the witch, Hansel and Gretel live prosperously with their father from then on.
Found in many variants across many cultures; [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/hanselgretel/other.html a list of some can be found here]].

Once upon a time, there was a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel. Their father was a widower who had remarried, and the family was having hard times. The stepmother insists they abandon the children in the woods so they will have more food for themselves and their father is spineless enough to go along with it. Hansel overhears the plan and comes up with the idea of leaving a trail so they can find their way back. The first time, he collects and drops white pebbles and they find their way back home. But the second time he is reduced to a TrailOfBreadCrumbs from the bread that was supposed to be their lunch; the birds eat all the crumbs, leaving them stranded.

* HenpeckedHusband: The woodcutter.
* HappilyEverAfter

* TheLostWoods
* MurderByCremation

The two siblings then take all of the treasures and valuables from the late witches house and return home. With the stepmother now dead and all the valuables they took from the witch, Hansel and Gretel prosperously with their father from then on.

The next day, Hansel is in a fattening pen, and Gretel is a servant. It seems that the witch [[ImAHumanitarian eats children, once they are properly prepared]]. Hansel stalls for a while -- the old witch can't see well and pinches his finger to test his plumpness and he is able to trick her by holding out a bone -- but eventually she gets tired of waiting decides to roast him and eat as he is, along with Gretel. She orders Gretel to crawl in to check the oven (intending, of course, to shove her in and cook her as well), but Gretel can tell what she has in mind, and pretends she doesn't know how. When the witch bends over to demonstrate it to her, Gretel [[HoistByHisOwnPetard shoves her in and slams the door]].

* CulturalTranslation: Being a fairy tale, this is often done. A good example of older fairy tale books in Eastern Europe having the witch be BabaYaga.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: In at least one version, Hansel and Gretel are escorted home by a magic duck... who the father then kills and cooks for dinner.
* WickedStepmother: In the best known versions of the tale, the plan to abandon Hansel and Gretel in the woods is put forward by their stepmother, and the father only complies because of her pressuring. The trope does not appear in the first edition version recorded by the Grimm brothers (and in occasional retellings of the story), where the woman is the kids' actual mother, and the father shares the blame for abandoning the children.

The next day, Hansel is in a fattening pen, and Gretel is a servant. It seems that the witch [[ImAHumanitarian eats children, once they are properly prepared]]. Hansel stalls for a while -- the old witch can't see well and pinches his finger to test his plumpness and he is able to trick her by holding out a bone -- but eventually she decides to roast him. She orders Gretel to crawl in to check the oven (intending, of course, to shove her in and cook her as well), but Gretel pretends she doesn't know how. When the witch bends over to do it, Gretel [[HoistByHisOwnPetard shoves her in and slams the door]].

* KillItWithFire

The tale may have originated during the medieval period of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_of_1315-1317 Great Famine]] when people were driven to desperate measures. Children were abandoned to fend for themselves, and there were many reported incidents of cannibalism. Subsequent revisions of the story (such as changing the children's mother into their evil stepmother, and making the father more sympathetic) may have resulted from folk wanting to distance themselves from the true horror of that time.

* WickedStepmother: In most versions of the tale. It's worth mentioning, though, that in the first edition version recorded by the Grimm brothers (and in occasional retellings of the story), she was the kids' actual biological mother, and the father shares the blame for abandoning the children. Apparently some people found that too shocking, [[{{Bowdlerise}} so they changed it]].