Tanneke is a witch.
Description
Tanneke is a witch from the same circles as the immortal mischief-makers Madam Mim and Witch Hazel. In 2009, Mim brought Hazel news of Tanneke having developed a new cleaning spell, which went “Pollywogs!”; the spell proved to effective, clearing the plates of the plentiful dinner in front of which the two witches were chatting.
Behind the scenes
This Tanneke is mentioned in the 2009 Dutch comic strip Washing-Up.
Her intended identity is a matter of much debate: her name is reminiscent of Tanneke of Tielt, an alleged 17th-century Flemish witch, and of Anneke Tanneke Toverheks (the Magic-witch Anneke Tanneke), a more kid-friendly character from a Dutch nursery rhyme, likely vaguely inspired by the historical figure.
However, the notorious name of Anneke Tanneke Toverheks had, prior to the creation of Washing-Up, been given to no fewer than two separate preexisting Disney witches in Dutch translations: Mammy Bammy, from the Brer Rabbit comics, and Witch Grimhilde as seen in The Golden Christmas Tree (for example, the 1988 Dutch sequel to The Golden Christmas Tree was, in its original version, entitled De Wraak van Anneke Tanneke).
It is worth noting that The Sins of the Sorcery Summit had Hazel and Mim (alongside Magica De Spell) mention Grimhilde-as-Anneke-Tanneke as one of their fellow witches, which would lend credence to the hypothesis that the Tanneke in Washing-Up is indeed intended to be Grimhilde.