Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel from Storybook Community School.

Hansel and Gretel is a classic children's tale by the Brothers Grimm. The eponymous protagonists are a brother and sister who get lost in the woods and encounter an evil witch. It has been parodied several times in Muppet productions, with the characters also making appearances in specials and series, as well as being featured in several projects.

Muppet Characters

• Hansel and Gretel have appeared occasionally on Sesame Street since 2005.
  • In Season 36, Hansel was performed by Peter Linz, and Gretel by Noel MacNeal.
  • A Season 37 episode shows that Hansel and Gretel attend Storybook Community School with other famous characters from children's literature and nursery rhymes. Here, Heather Asch performed Hansel to Noel MacNeal's Gretel. In a Healthy Storybook Moment, also from Season 37, Hansel was performed by Matt Vogel and Gretel by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph.
  • Hansel and Gretel also appeared as guests at Little Red Riding Hood's birthday party in Elmo and Abby's Birthday Fun!, and in a Season 43 episode. In both instances, they were performed respectively by Matt Vogel and Stephanie D'Abruzzo.
  • The duo also appear in the 2007 book Abby Cadabby's Rhyme Time.

• Hansel and Gretel appear as characters in a retelling of Cinderella in The Muppets on Puppets. In this sketch, Gretel was portrayed by a cow.

References

• In 1958, following a sojourn in Europe, Jim Henson designed elaborate sets and built puppets for a Hansel and Gretel stage show, working in a more traditional puppetry style. The project was ultimately abandoned.

• The 1965 industrial film Shrinkel and Stretchel spoofed the story, with Taminella Grinderfall as the witch.

• Muppet Magazine issue 15 featured Rizzo and Yolanda as the duo.

• Kermit and Piggy appeared as the brother and sister in Muppet Babies' Classic Children's Tales.

• Dinosaurs: Classic Tales featured a parody, "Hanselsauras and Greteldactyl", featuring Robbie and Charlene Sinclair in the title roles.

• A version of the "Hansel and Gretel" tale featuring Cookie Monster is featured on the 1977 LP The Sesame Street Fairy Tale Album, as well as a 1978 single.

• In December 2006, The Houston Grand Opera presented a new production of "Hansel and Gretel," for which Jim Henson's Creature Shop created a large scale Witch costume/puppet. The show was presented again at the Atlanta Opera in November 2007.

• Elmo and Zoe appear as Hansel and Gretel in the 2008 book Storybook ABCs, eating ice cream with a friendly witch.

• Hansel and Gretel appear in Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book.

• The Fairy Tale is referenced by Elmo in the storybook Ernie and His Merry Monsters.

Trivia

• In an effort to sound more authentic in pronouncing the German name, Peter Linz introduced his character Hansel as "Hunsel" in Season 36 of Sesame Street. Yet, the correct German spelling "Hänsel", with the diacritic "ä" sounding almost identical to an English "a", actually renders Linz's performance linguistically incorrect. Matt Vogel later kept the erroneous pronunciation when taking over the character.

Connections

• Joan Collins played the Stepmother and the Witch in the Faerie Tale Theatre episode.
• Paul Dooley played the woodcutter in the Faerie Tale Theatre episode.