The Nutcracker - Looking Back

   Just as decorated Christmas trees, Santa on his sleigh, and nativity scenes are immortal staples of the Christmas season, the Nutcracker decoration has always been a holiday staple in my family household. As far back as my early elementary school years, it was a tradition to receive a new nutcracker every Christmas, and over thirty years later, my nutcracker collection surpasses any other holiday decoration I own. 

Of course, the original 1816 Nutcracker story from Author E. T. A. Hoffmann is a long-standing favorite of mine, and I’ve always held it to the same high standards of other Christmas favorites in the vein of “A Christmas Carol” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. Originally the book was titled “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, but now days it’s simply referred to as “The Nutcracker”. Back when I was just a little kid, I had a hard cover book of “The Nutcracker”, with illustrations by David Delamare, and I had my parents read it to me every Christmas season. It was a story that made my imagination come to life, and seemed to contain everything I enjoyed. It had action, beauty, wonder, sword fighting, journeys into magical worlds, and memorable characters. So, for this Christmas, I wanted to discuss the legacy of “The Nutcracker”, how it’s been reshaped over the years, and discuss it’s many different adaptions. 

   It’s the story of a girl named Marie, who’s favorite Christmas Toy comes in the form of a Nutcracker, which was a gift from her mysterious Godfather … an inventor who goes by the name of Drosselmeyer. Despite the Nutcrackers ugly features, she can’t help but look at it, and see a special person who’s brave and selfless. Through her Godfather, she learns the tragic story behind the Nutcracker, that he was once a handsome Prince, and cursed into the form of the wooden figure. 

One magical Christmas Eve, her Nutcracker comes to life, and protects her from his ruthless enemy … the seven-headed Mouse King. After vanquishing his enemy, the Nutcracker takes Marie to his home … a magical Christmas Forest which he refers to as the Kingdom of Dolls. While there, she meets a number of colorful characters, including Mother Ginger, and the beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy. After spending time with the Nutcracker, she promises that she would love him always, regardless of how he looks. This naturally lifts his curse, transforming him into a human Prince again, and Marie in turn is crowned Queen of his Kingdom. The story has gone through a number of changes and alterations over the years, with arguably the most famous adaption being Authored by Alexandre Dumas, in which the lead girl Marie was changed to Clara.        

   The real legacy of “The Nutcracker” took shape in 1892, when the famed Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky took Alexander Dumas’s adaption of the story, and simplified the premise to serve as the narrative of his world-famous Nutcracker ballet. 

Even if you’ve never seen the ballet, your probably still familiar with the music, as that too has become a staple of the holiday season. Back when I was a kid, I had the privilege of seeing the Ballet performed live, and the imagery on the stage was forever ingrained in my mind. The most striking image of all happens early on, when the magic of the season first takes shape, and Clara’s Christmas Tree grows into a giant-sized tree. As for the music, I was initially introduced to these famous medleys through Disney’s 1940 animated classic “Fantasia”. While the sequence of “The Nutcracker Suite” doesn’t feature any of the principal characters, it still captures the same spirit of the Ballet, as it features fantastical creatures and elements that dance and move with the same grace and spirit as Ballet dancers. 

The final scene with the fairies skating on the ice always got me in the winter, holiday mood, despite the lack of any Nutcracker on screen. Every now and then around Christmas, I like to watch this segment, along with “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” sequence from the 1999 sequel “Fantasia 2000”. While the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale of “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” is a completely different entity all together, it still has a similar look and feel to “The Nutcracker”, and just has that same magic touch. Back to back, they make for a perfect holiday package, and neither even had to mention Christmas.     

Naturally, a source material as rich as this would be a prime target for various Christmas specials and movies. I won’t go over every single one of them, but I’ll definitely touch on the specials that have impacted me as a viewer, as well as the ones popular enough to mention …

“The Nutcracker Prince” (1990) 

The first Nutcracker Christmas special I ever watched, and subsequently my personal introduction to the source material, was a 1990 animated movie titled “The Nutcracker Prince”. It was a Canadian production, distributed in America by Warner Brothers, and stared Kiefer Sutherland as our titular Nutcracker. This version mostly followed the narrative of the original 1816 story, with some slight alterations, and the lead girl once again is Clara from the Ballet adaption, as opposed to Marie from the book. Also, the evil Mouse King in this version didn’t have Seven Heads like in the original book, and his design was very Don Bluth-esk. With that said, he was still menacing, and there was one scene with him near the climax that scared me senseless as a kid. Upon its release, the film was a box office flop, and received largely negative reviews from critics. 

Objectively speaking, both the animation and storytelling were admittedly on par with a TV production, and it didn’t really feel like a theatrical experience. Regardless, it still engaged me as a kid, and I certainly have my nostalgic ties to the film years later. Over time, it’s actually grown an audience that’s found general favor with it. I can’t say it’s quite good enough to be branded as an underrated classic, but considering the many adaptions that have followed … this still remains one of the better film adaptions of “The Nutcracker”.    

“The Nutcracker” (1993) 

What followed next for me was a theatrical, live-action movie produced by Warner Brothers, and stared a young Macaulay Culkin in the lead role ... who was naturally still riding the success of his previous Christmas classic “Home Alone”. I remember seeing the advertisements for this movie as a kid, and got really excited that this could be that awesome Nutcracker movie I always wanted. I rented the movie one holiday season … sat down … and was shocked to discover that this theatrical production was little more than a straight-on viewing of the stage show. No joke, what you’re looking at is an admittedly impressive production of the stage show … but not shot in a way that was exciting or interesting. As a comparison, the 2020 film of the musical “Hamilton” was also the straight-forward stage production, but shot, staged and edited in a way that engaged my senses differently from how I'd experience it live in the theater. This 1993 production of “The Nutcracker” by contrast didn't feel any different from when I saw the production live on stage … except it was far less magical, and honestly kind of boring. Still, I suppose if you just want to see a passable stage production of "The Nutcracker" without actually going to the theater, this could possibly give you your fix.    

    There have subsequently been a number of film adaptions over the decades, some of which I haven't seen. This includes the 2004 animated direct to video film titled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", just like the original book. What makes this one worth mentioning is that it featured the late great Leslie Nielson as the Mouse King, and Eric Idle as Drosselmeyer. Of course, there was also the 2010 movie “The Nutcracker in 3D”, also known as "The Untold Story", which I thankfully haven’t seen, as it has a distinct reputation as one of the worst Christmas movies ever made. Just from what I’ve glimpsed of the film, with its Nazi villains, and ugly visual design … I think I’m better off skipping that one. 

   Like any great source material, The Nutcracker has been paired with a number of popular characters and franchises over the years … with varying results in quality. I remember one of the earliest I saw was the 1988 TV movie of “Care Bears Nutcracker Suite”. I only lightly watched “The Care Bears” back when I was a kid, and while I remember watching their Nutcracker Christmas special, I really couldn’t tell you more about it. I suppose it wasn’t horrible, but an average special with nothing really great to offer, and certainly not one that I’d care to re-watch as an adult. I also remember one time during my college years, I was baby sitting my little cousin, and she was watching the 2001 movie of “Barbie in the Nutcracker”. I wasn’t paying much attention, but my ears did perk-up when I noticed that the villainess Mouse King was voiced by one of my favorite vocal talents Tim Curry, which is awesome. There was even “Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale” in 2007 … I didn’t watch that one either, but I can imagine what it was like.     

   My personal favorite of these franchise crossovers came in the form of a short 1999 cartoon staring Mickey Mouse, simply titled “The Nutcracker”. 

I loved Disney and Mickey Mouse cartoons my whole life, and I thankfully discovered this short when I was at just the right young Elementary school age. It’s a straight-forward story variation of the source, just with our favorite Disney characters in the roles, and the tone is obviously very goofy. The jokes in this short are hit and miss, and there’s some moments that make me cringe … but still, seeing Micky Mouse in the role of the Nutcracker is appealing, and there’s just enough charm to the whole set-up. John Cleese is the narrator, and he never fails to bring the laughs. I also like seeing Donald Duck in the role of the evil Mouse King, and Minnie fits right into the role of Marie. The highlight is the energized remix of the classic music, which fits along with the animated action sequences. While not without faults, I’ve always had some reserved fondness for this silly little Mickey Mouse adventure.

"The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" (2018) 

The last special to mention is Disney’s theatrical 2018 movie titled "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms". It strayed away from the originals format, and tried something a little different. This time the focus is all on Clara, who discovers she’s a lost Princess, one destined to rule over the magical Christmas land, and protect it from a surprise villain, who comes in the form of Keira Knightley as The Sugar Plum Fairy. The Nutcracker is more of a side character this time, and even the villainess Mouse King is reduced to an ordinary mouse, who functions as a cute side-kick. It also features Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger, and Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer. The movie was not well received by critics, was a bomb at the box office, and quickly forgotten by the general movie viewers. I freely admit that it was a very by the numbers fantasy adventure, as well as pandering to the Disney Princess crowd, and annoyingly reduces its titular Nutcracker into a side character ... but I also didn’t find anything offensively bad about it either. The performances were committed, the visual design was absorbing, including a well-placed visual call back to “Fantasia”, and there were some imaginative details throughout … enough to keep me engaged, and willing to return for a second viewing. Call it a “guilty pleasure” for sure, and certainly not a good adaption of "The Nutcracker" … but I at least found it a passable little escape.      

   In general, I’ve always viewed the story of the Nutcracker, along with its iconic stage music, to be iconic staples of the Christmas season … but I don’t think it’s ever gotten a really great movie or special to represent it. There have been some okay ones, but nothing that I’d label as a great Christmas classic … which is unfortunate, because the source material is ripe for adapting into a contemporary special or movie. Maybe one day I’ll get that Nutcracker special that will do it’s source material justice … but until then … we still have the iconic Ballet, and a great story that’s well worth re-telling in the Christmas seasons to come.

Thanks for reading my post … and continue to enjoy the stories you Love!