''Babes in the Woods'' is a 1932

Silly Symphonies ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

film. It is a re-working of the British folk tale ''

Babes in the Wood Babes in the Wood is a traditional English children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents en ...

'', with some material incorporated from ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

'' by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

, and the addition of a village of friendly

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...

(a feature not traditionally present in either tale) and a happier ending. It is the last Disney short to produce with Cinephone synchronized sound system.

Plot

The film opens with birds flying around the "Witch Rock", as a singing voice starts to recount the legend relating to it as told in the storybooks. Hansel and Gretel wander the woods and stumble upon a village of dwarfs. They are welcomed in until a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

comes and takes them away on her broom to her candy house. The witch watches them eat the house and invites them inside the house, which is revealed to be filled with cages and handcuffs, with ugly animals. The witch turns Hansel into a

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

and chains him to a post. She takes a potion from the fireplace, throws it on a noisy cat, and turns the cat into stone. She takes Gretel and tries to turn her into a rat, but Gretel smashes the potion. The witch then locks Gretel beneath the floor. The dwarfs come to the rescue of Hansel and Gretel, and save the children. While the witch is fighting the dwarves, Hansel and Gretel use an antidote to turn the animals back into children. Finally, the witch falls from her broom and into her cauldron from the sky and turns into stone, turning into the Witch Rock.

Home Media

The short was released on December 4, 2001, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics''.

References

External links

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Babes in the Woods
' at disneyshorts.org
Blog de Babes in the Woods
1932 films 1932 short films 1930s color films Silly Symphonies 1930s Disney animated short films 1932 animated films Films directed by Burt Gillett Films produced by Walt Disney Films about witchcraft Films based on fairy tales Films about elves Films based on Hansel and Gretel Animated films about rats {{Disney-animation-film-stub