Hansel and Gretel

This was the first full-length stop-motion feature made in the United States. In spite of other comments posted here Mybergh's "Hansel and Gretel" was filmed entirely in New York City.

The film was done sequentially and as funding for the production dried up and the release date drew nearer the animators were forced to speed things up. The animation becomes quite hurried and sloppy near the end and if you look closely you will notice that both the angels from the Dream Pantomime and the Revived Gingerbread Children are only multiple castings of both Hansel and Gretel redressed. There simply was no time to do original sculptures for these characters.

This was to be the first in a series of full-length stop motion features by Mybergh's production team, but despite it doing exceptional business in Germany it failed to ignite at the box office in the United States. According to members of the Mybergh Estate most of the original elements are still intact and we can only hope that someone will take it upon themselves to do a proper restoration of this amazing film to replace the shoddy, amateur DVD edition that is currently available. Anna Russell's vocal performance as Rosina Rubylips is one that is unlikely to ever be equaled and Evalds Dajevskis' set designs definitive.