The film performed well at the streaming rankings for Netflix reaching the top ten global viewership charts in the first week of its release.

appoints agent Gretel with her disowned brother and con artist Hansel, who the agency believes could contribute with his knowledge and abilities to track down the king.

[5] The creators of the film stated the production had three components: an entertaining story for all audiences, high-quality animation and well-produced visual effects and background.

[6] On 6 November 2019 at the American Film Market, the studio revealed the exclusive poster and preliminary collection of artwork for Secret Magic Control Agency.

New material for the film was presented by Evgenia Markova, an official representative of the international markets MIPCOM, MIPJunior, and MIPTV.

[17] The presentation featured a catalog of the film's international voice acting produced in part through subsidies provided by the Ministry of Economic Development and the REC.

The screenwriters said adapting the classic European fairy tale was complicated, since it had only two settings: a gingerbread house and a dense forest.

[6] In the final version of the script, the main characters turn into children, which allowed the writers to transform some of the darker undertones in the fairy tale into a suitable scenario.

The animators were influenced by Tim Burton's ability to transform horror elements to charming characters featured in films like Corpse Bride.

[22] The siblings' side story reveals that they are torn apart when Gretel becomes a respected student at the Secret Magic Control Agency studying on a government scholarship, while Hansel makes ends meet with deception.

Using the "fun, whimsy, and heart" classical characters Hansel and Gretel as a template, the music melded fantasy with the spy genre.

[34] Hays remarked that the art of composition involves musical vocabulary benchmarks and mindfully orchestrating tunes using acquired muscle memory of playing instruments.

[52] Secret Magic Control Agency managed to become the top rated film in the Netflix platform for two days subsequently after which it went to second in rankings after Sky High was released.

[61] EcranLarge report from France noted "Hansel and Gretel, Secret Agents is shaping up to be another successful cartoon on Netflix, available since March 25.

[65] According to Nielsen ratings, Secret Magic Control Agency is the sixth highest video on demand program watched in United States.

[2] Secret Magic Control Agency opened in the Russian box office in fifth place in its debut on Thursday 18 March 2021.

[73] After the weekend, Secret Magic Control Agency was behind Warner Bros' Tom & Jerry ($8 million) while leading its parallel release animated feature Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon.

[74][71] Due to the high box office revenue of Raya and the Last Dragon ($15 million) that released in early March, Secret Magic Control Agency was sixth in rankings,[75][76][77] and the film descended to seventh place by April.

"[83] Ksenia Reutova for Kinoafisha wrote notes in terms of the pace and action of the script: “From all these scraps, the authors of the animated film manage to weave a canvas that looks quite soundly.

The threads do not stick out, the action does not sag.”[84] Common Sense Media said the film is ideal for siblings who may want to "learn about each other and themselves in the process of working together to save the kingdom".

The film also focuses on character development when "the siblings argue then come to some realizations and a new understanding of each other and their shared history, offers a bit of depth and a nice contrast to the nonstop action.

states: "A royal kidnapping is nothing new, but taking familiar characters like Hansel and Gretel and writing a completely new background story creates a great family film.

"[90] A Netflix review at Blockbuster01.com by Shimato stated the Japanese dub for Gretel by Rie Kugimiya is commendable: "This work is worth seeing by itself," and that "two people who have been estranged for a long time" who must "cooperate [and] inevitably, the lost bond between the brothers and sisters returns" was exemplary character development.

"[92] Corriere della Sera newspaper review observes the heroes Hansel and Gretel begins the story in precarious situations, "they have lost their roots as vanished prisoners of the dark forces of the forest."

The heart of the film however only beats when it accelerates to the spy story plane: that's where in the end the virtues and vices of lively, simpleton pop cinema come to light.

"[93] Isabelle Arnaud from Unification said "Aleksey Tsitsilin's direction is superb" through which the film's staging "does not give the impression that 1h45 has passed."

"[88] Toon Canoe stated the film is a "rollicking spy adventure that gives enough winks and nods to the original to keep the inspiration from feeling like an afterthought."

The review particularly like the "fun denouement with the Brothers Grimm themselves" that was intended to remind the audience the original creators of the fairy tale but also was framed to "hang on a small lampshade on the overall secrecy of the [Secret Magic Control Agency].

"[94] A sequel, titled Secret Magic Control Agency II: Mission Sleeping Beauty, was announced to be in production on May 12, 2023.

The film will be produced by Magic Frame Animation and Creation Entertainment Media; with Tsitsilin returning as director, and Joyce and Corda reprising their roles.