Hansel and Gretel

In a small, isolated village, a family of four is living a life of poverty and desperation. The father, a woodcutter, struggles to provide for his family, while the mother, a stern and unforgiving woman, adds to the family's misery with her constant scolding and lack of affection. The children, Hansel and Gretel, live in constant fear of their mother's wrath and yearn for a love and acceptance that seems to be lacking in their home. The situation becomes dire when the father's hunting trips become less successful, and the family's pantry is nearly empty. One day, the stepmother convinces the father to take the children deep into the forest and leave them there, citing the need to conserve food for her and the father. The father reluctantly agrees, but Hansel and Gretel overhear the plan and try to come up with a way to prevent it. Hansel, who has a fascination with numbers, remembers a way to find their way back home. That night, before setting out into the forest, Hansel and Gretel stuff their pockets with breadcrumbs, hoping to follow the trail and find their way back home. However, as they journey deeper into the forest, the birds eat the breadcrumbs, leaving the children lost and alone. As night begins to fall, the siblings find themselves separated, and Hansel can't see his sister anywhere. In a panic, Hansel follows the sound of a stream and ends up at a house made entirely of gingerbread and candy. A witch answers the door, offering him sweets and telling him to eat as much as he wants. Hansel, tempted by the treats, fails to notice that the witch is secretly weighing him down, intending to eat him once he's gained enough weight. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, young Gretel tries to find her brother, but the trees seem to close in on her, and she becomes increasingly disoriented. Back at the gingerbread house, the witch feeds Hansel sweets and uses him to gain weight, intending to cook and eat him. However, Hansel manages to outsmart the witch by telling her that he wants to wash his hands before eating any more sweets. The witch, unaware of Hansel's plan, takes him to the oven to weigh and clean him, revealing a hidden door with a key to escape. Hansel manages to lock the witch inside and uses the key to open the door and escape. As night begins to fall, Hansel searches for his sister, but the forest seems to have changed, and he becomes lost once again. Just as Hansel starts to lose hope, he hears a faint cry for help. He rushes towards the sound and finds Gretel, who has managed to survive and is now facing the same fate as her brother. Upon finding Hansel and realizing they're trapped, the sister and brother concoct a plan to outsmart the witch once and for all. Gretel, knowing the witch's desire for fat children to eat, pretends to be willing to trade her own brother for the witch's treasure. The witch, thinking she's won, traps Gretel and Hansel in the oven, intending to kill them. However, Hansel and Gretel outwit the witch by pushing her into the oven and closing the doors behind her. After locking her inside, the brother and sister escape from the gingerbread house and start searching for their way back home. Finally, after many hours of searching, Hansel and Gretel find their way back to their village, where they discover that the path they took to get there is marked with breadcrumbs left behind by their own hand. Their stepmother is punished for abandoning them in the forest, and the family finally finds the forgiveness and love they had been searching for. Hansel and Gretel return home to a warm and welcoming family, where they're cherished and cared for.