Fifteen fictional years on, the young Hansel and Gretel of yore are now gun-toting witchhunters in the new film adaptation, Hansel and Gretel Witchhunters, by Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola. Gone is the childish innocence of the pair as they confront witches, armed with machine guns in the new R-rated action feature. Written by the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800's, the well-known children's fairy tale has undergone a radical shift in genre.
Adaptation of children's literature is of course nothing new. Notably, the Harry Potter film series took J.K. Rowling's oeuvre to the big screen - providing a visual representation to the imaginary of the words. While some posit that film adaptation of literature (of any kind) is fraught with the expectations of fans - some of whom prefer that the original not be touched; remakes can indeed be a source for artistic licence upon which to modify and transform genres according to a film maker's creativity.
Can adaptations be seen as an extension of previously published works? Will hansel and gretel be up to the challenge to become a new work of art of its own?
Click here to check out Kirby Ferguson's TEDtalk about human adaption - of 'embracing the remix' of human creativity.
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