Aunt Dete kicked azz!

She had a very "Marlene Dietrich" demeanor in this movie. She sounded and looked like her, anyways.

Unfortunately, there are too many Aunt Detes and Frau Rottenmeirs in this world, and so few Heidis.

I can agree that she is quite a character.

I hated her and Fraulein Rottenmeier. Both bitches although Rottenmeiers worse. Mary Nash played the role very well, she's so believeable as the old witch. Like in The Little Princess.

“TONG PO RAPED ME!”

She isn't quite as bad in the book. She and her mother had taken Heidi in after the parents died, then Dete's mother died and she had to get a job. She brought Heidi to the grandfather because there was no one else to look after her. She was ill-tempered and brash, but not as evil as she's portrayed in the movie. When she came for Heidi to take her to the Sesemanns', the grandfather was home. He allowed Heidi to go after realizing that she would have advantages at the Sesemanns', such as a good education and living with cultured people. However, Heidi's homesickness made her sleepwalk, so in the end Herr Sesemann had her sent home.