Gingerbread House: Difference between revisions

The Gingerbread House is a stock location in fairy stories. It's where [[Hansel and Gretel (Literature)|Hansel and Gretel]] were nearly eaten by the witch. It's the chocolate palace in ''[[Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Literature)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]''. It is, simply put, a building made of food, usually sweets but other variations do exist.

* Partial example: In one ''[[Sailor Moon (Manga)|Sailor Moon]]'' [[Non-Serial Movie]], the [[Mooks]] of the big bad cast an illusion over the senshi that causes them to see the playground they were fighting in as a gingerbread house.

* During an episode of ''[[MAR (Manga)|MAR]]'', the team (specifically, Princess Snow) fights against an ugly little girl whose signature ARM is the Gingerbread House - a house of sweets. Eating it makes her grow to sumo-like proportions, gaining superhuman strength and toughness in the process. And of course, as she grows bigger, her voice grows deeper and thicker. (Also, she turns into a [[Gonk]].)

* One such house plays into the backstory of Hansel and Gretel in ''[[Otogi Juushi Akazukin (Anime)|Otogi Juushi Akazukin]]''.

* The titular character of ''[[Toriko (Manga)|Toriko]]'' lives in one, which he does eat, as well as the neighboring animals. It must be periodically rebuilt, much to the dismay of the architect.

* [[Candy Land (Tabletop Game)|Candy Land]]

* ''[[Monica's Gang (Comic Book)|Monica's Gang]]'': Jimmy and Maggy find the fabled house and Maggy, being a [[Big Eater]], started eating it. Fearing the witch, Jimmy tried to discourage her. In the end, they left without knowing that the witch isn't so bad as the tale suggested and Hansel and Gretel are actually her grandchildren.

* ''[[Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs]]'' (both the book and the movie) features a house made of Jello.

* Shrek and Fiona stayed in one for the honeymoon in the beginning of ''[[Shrek (Animation)|Shrek]] 2''.

* ''[[Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Film)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]'': See ''Literature'', below.

* In ''[[Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Literature)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]'' the book (and the second movie adaptation) shows why having a house made of sweets (in this case, chocolate) could be a very bad idea, especially in a hot environment. This happens when Wonka has a chocolate palace built for a prince in India, and it quickly melts after construction.

* In T.H. White's ''[[The Once and Future King (Literature)|The Sword in the Stone]]'', Morgan Le Fey's house is a feast of food. Unlike most examples, this is a test. As in many folkloric accounts of Fairyland, if the boys eat anything, [[Food Chains|they will be trapped]].

* A gingerbread cottage appears in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]]'', although we're told the Confectionery School of Architecture never really caught on, even amongst witches (outside high-magic areas like the Forest of Skund, the walls go soggy). "Black" Allis Demmurge (in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]'') is also described as living in a gingerbread cottage (although ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'' claims that once she'd gone really peculiar, she "turned people into gingerbread and lived in a cottage made of frogs"). References are also made in a couple of books to health-conscious witches experimenting with crispbread, but that proved even less popular.

* Fairly common in ''[[Xanth (Literature)|Xanth]]'' books. Lots of food grows on trees, and Bink's family lives in a cottage made from cottage cheese.

* The titular fruit in ''[[James and The Giant Peach]]'' qualifies, being a home for the anthropomorphic insects with whom James interacts.

* ''[[Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs]]'' (both the book and the movie) features a house made of Jello.

* The fairy-tale inspired ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV)|Once Upon a Time]]'' has a Hansel & Gretel episode complete with the expected Candy-House, though it's unclear whether the structure itself is edible. It's just as likely that the bright colors outside and similarly pastel pastries inside are all part of the trap.

* [[Insane Clown Posse (Music)|Violent J]]'s song "Candyland" has this.

* [[Older Than Radio]]: The witch's gingerbread house from "[[Hansel and Gretel (Literature)|Hansel and Gretel]]" by [[The Brothers Grimm (Creator)|The Brothers Grimm]], 1812, is the [[Trope Codifier]].

* The radio version of ''[[Little Britain (TV)|Little Britain]]'' had a sketch about a group of builders constructing a gingerbread house for a witch, and discussing various building materials, etc.

* ''[[Katamari Damacy (Video Game)|We Heart Katamari]]'' has a gingerbread house level where you have to roll up as many sweets as possible for two fans: Hansel and Gretel.

* ''[[Saga Frontier (Video Game)|Saga Frontier]]'': Kylin's Paradise is a giant refuge for children made out of gingerbread cookies and candy treats.

* A witch with a gingerbread house shows up in ''[[King's Quest I Quest for The Crown (Video Game)|King's Quest I Quest for The Crown]]''. If Sir Graham tries to eat from the house, she'll turn him into [[Incredibly Lame Pun|a Graham cracker]].

* The closest its brother game ''[[Space Quest (Video Game)|Space Quest]]'' gets is a reference to ''[[Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Literature)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]'' during the 6th game, and an [[Easter Egg]] if you use the otherwise-useless tongue icon on one of the Xenon ruins.

* [[EPICMEALTIME (Web Video)|EPICMEALTIME]] made one that is made '''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rUEpmbdZLw OF MEAT AND CHEEZ WHIZ]!'''

* ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]'' had a building made out of cheese ([[Running Gag|and, no, it wasn't just a building ''covered'' in cheese]]).

* In ''[[Rocko's Modern Life (Animation)|Rocko's Modern Life]]'', when Rocko tells Filburt the story of [[Hansel and Gretel (Literature)|Hansel and Gretel]] ([[Derailed Fairy Tale|or at least tries to]]), he changes the gingerbread house to one made of healthy snacks, but Heffer changes it to a house of pizza. They argue back and forth until Filburt declares that the house be made of fishsticks.

* In one [[Chuck Jones]] ''[[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]]'' short, Jerry hides inside a huge wheel of swiss cheese and sculpts out a home inside.

* On ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'', the Neptunians working for Robot Santa Claus beg for food despite living in gingerbread houses because "it's either food or shelter, not both."

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'' featured, in a warped version of "Hansel and Gretel," a gingerbread house. Homer starts eating it, of course, prompting it to collapse. The witch yells "You fool! That was a load-bearing candy cane!"

* Sugarcube Corner in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' has the gingerbread house look going for it, though if it's actually edible is anypony's guess.

* ''[[Garfield and Friends (Animation)|Garfield and Friends]]'': Garfield told Nermal a version of the tale, but have to soften it for Nermal. Instead of pushing the witch into the oven, Hansel and Gretel reported her to the City Hall for building a house with lower quality materials. The house had to be demolished, which created job opportunities as a demolishing area, one of those taken by Hansel and Gretel's Dad. As Nermal felt sorry for the witch, Garfield added she opened a daycare.

* Titans Tower became a gingerbread house in the ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]'' episode "Mother Mae-Eye."