Tim Burton’s Long-Lost 1983 Halloween Special Just Popped Up On YouTube, Is Creepy As Shit
It's an eerie adaptation of Hansel and Gretel, and you can watch it here in full.
On Halloween in 1983, a half-hour Japan-influenced adaptation of Hansel and Gretel aired on the Disney Channel. Created the year before on a shoestring budget of $116,000, it was creepy, bizarre, occasionally violent, and filled with gothic whimsy. It was one of Tim Burton’s very first films, and it disappeared immediately.
Very little evidence can be found online of Hansel and Gretel, and the mystery that surrounds it has acquired something of a mythical status — helped in part thanks to Burton’s celebrated filmography, which includes legendary cult favourites like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands. In 2009, Tim Burton screened clips from the elusive film at the Museum of Modern Art; in 2011, it enjoyed a series of screenings at the LA County Museum of art. But for these and other limited runs, the film has been impossible for the public to find in the three decades since — until last night, when it popped up on YouTube.
“For all you obscure media fans, here is one of legendary filmmaker Tim Burton’s early efforts in collaboration with the Disney Channel, that aired only once on Halloween night in 1983,” reads the YouTube description. “After the initial airing, Disney Channel execs were so distraught by the frightening subject matter that they never allowed the film to be shown again. Thankfully, someone managed to tape it that night.”
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Sweet dreams, everyone.
