Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy Hansel and Gretel is a 1954 stop motion animated theatrical feature film released by RKO. The film is based on Engelbert Humperdinck's opera "Hänsel und Gretel", and incorporates music and songs from the opera. It was the first American feature-length animated film not made by Disney since 1941's "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" and the first American feature-length animated film not made with traditional animation. It was released on October 10, 1954 in New York City without a distributor. Producer Michael Myerberg released the film himself. Based on the positive reviews and box office
Romeo und Julia (Sutermeister opera) Romeo und Julia (Sutermeister opera) Erik Levi explains that the opera: "presents a synthesis of Romantic and impressionist elements. It marks a ... return to the conception of opera as a sequence of closed forms, incorporating ... stylistic features related to madrigal, oratorio and pantomime." It was first performed on 13 April 1940, at the Semperoper, Dresden, under the musical direction of Karl Böhm, who also commissioned the work, with Maria Cebotari as Julia, and was a considerable success. It was also performed at Sadler's Wells in London in the mid-50s. Sutermeister's version follows Shakespeare's plot. In the final scene,