Nutcracker Fantasy

As someone who adores the Nutcracker story and the ballet and admires the voice cast and stop-motion animation, Nutcracker Fantasy was a real treat. A lot of work and care clearly went into the visuals because they look absolutely fabulous, a tad stiff here and there but the animation is modelled beautifully, the colours are wonderfully dark and sumptuous and the backgrounds are exquisitely designed and exude a beautiful and eerie quality.

Tchaikovsky's music is timeless and what there is of it in Nutcracker Fantasy matches the visuals splendidly and is appropriate to the mood of every scene it appears. There is a very clever hybrid of some of the divertissements(including Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy) incorporated in a colourful sequence involving sprites and figurines, and I for one enjoyed the ballet sequences with their nimble choreography and the dream-like strangeness they gave. Other parts of the soundtrack don't fare so much, the use of 70s synthesised music feels out of place and tonally at odds with Tchaikovsky's music, it also causes some tone shifts that are both jarring and awkward(a complaint that some people here have as well). A few songs were written for the film and they are decent if a little too upbeat, Christopher Lee even gets a chance to sing and he actually has got a good singing voice.

Narratively the story in Nutcracker Fantasy is based somewhat loosely on the original story(notably having a Mouse Queen in Morphia as the primary villain) but the original story itself is whimsical, magical, poignant and dark- people may not recognise the Nutcracker as having a darker elements but in Hoffmann's telling the Mouse King is more villainous and sadistic than he is often portrayed as- and Nutcracker Fantasy has all of those elements. While there are differences in the details, though the Princess Mary story is oddly reminiscent of that of Princess Pirlipat in the original(a part that is often omitted, though it's included in The Nutcracker Prince), but the spirit remains. And there are some truly memorable scenes, the most notable one being the genuinely scary opening Ragman sequence, it gave me nightmares as a child and still gives me the creeps now, though in a thrilling kind of way.

The characters are very engaging, Clara is an immensely charming heroine, Queen Morphia is a very menacingly memorable villain and Drosselmeyer is wonderfully mysterious. The voice acting is terrific, with a brilliant Christopher Lee in multiple roles being particularly notable. Clara is voiced as a child by Melissa Gilbert with spirit and charm and with sincerity as an adult in a narrator kind of role by Michele Lee. Morphia is voiced with sinister relish by Jo Anne Worley and there is also a dashing Roddy MacDowell as Franz and Eva Gabor is at her most mysterious as Queen of Time. All in all, has an uneven soundtrack but Nutcracker Fantasy is a little gem. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The stop-motion animation by Sanrio Studios is really lovely in "Nutcracker Fantasy" and reminds me a lot of the Rankin-Bass specials, though the characters are even prettier and more well animated. That being said, the story itself is confusing and I cannot see most children enjoying or even understanding it. I know I struggled to figure out the story.

Much of the problem is that many of the characters are from "The Nutcracker" but the story itself isn't. Instead, it's just baffling. My advice is that if you do watch it, bring up the Wikipedia article for this animation and read along as you watch. Otherwise, you're likely to just feel baffled as I did.

I first saw this film as a young'n, when it was perhaps shown on the Disney Channel or somewhere else. I remembered the stop motion; I remembered Drosselmeyer disappearing into the darkness while chanting "Tick tock tee"; I remembered a two-headed mouse queen talking to her son; I remembered a girl getting her feet stuck on the steps. Those were all I remembered as an adult, but nonetheless I also remembered liking it when I was a kid. So recently, when I was on a Nutcracker high and wanted to watch various interpretations of the story, I remembered this one and found it online. After watching it for the first time as an adult...I found that, amazingly enough, it still held up. In fact, I loved it even more.

The plot of the film is basically a mix of the original Nutcracker short story, and elements of the ballet. A young girl, Clara, is visiting her Uncle Drosselmeyer and Aunt Gerda. She comes across a Nutcracker owned by Drosselmeyer, and immediately takes a liking to it. During the night, however, mice attempt to steal the Nutcracker away, and when Clara pursues them, she encounters the two-headed mouse queen Morphia. The Nutcracker comes to life, fighting off the mice before Clara passes out. When she awakens, she wonders if it was all a dream. Investigating the scene, she finds Drosselmeyer running into the clock, into which she pursues him, leading her into the kingdom of the dolls, where Princess Mary has been turned into an unconscious mouse by Morphia. Clara and Franz, the handsome captain of the guard, work together to attempt to break the spell...and from here begins a chain of events that will bring the two closer together, right up to the film's climax.

"Nutcracker Fantasy" is a stop-motion animated movie from Japan, but the only version I am really familiar with is the English dub, which had quite a few celebrities putting in their hand. Usually celebrity ensemble dubs can be a mixed bag, but the talent here does an amazing job: Melissa Gilbert is wonderful as Clara; Roddy McDowall is charming as Franz; Eva Gabor does her thing as the Queen of Time; and Christopher Lee, who plays Drosselmeyer as well as a number of side characters, is absolutely splendid (as usual). Overall, the dub cast did a great job (although Gar's voice was at times perhaps too comical when it should have been serious).

Part of what I love about this version is that Clara is a wonderful character. Oftentimes Clara exists in the Nutcracker story simply to be an observer, or to be the obvious love interest. Here, however, Clara is not only a character who actually contributes to the plot (for example, it is she who discovers Morphia's weakness), but her personality is absolutely charming. She's caring, selfless, and has a love that isn't just in words. This is especially true in the film's final act, where she reveals just how willing she is to prove her love for Franz. I currently have a young daughter, and I can't wait until she's old enough to understand this film and can watch it with me, because I would love her to have someone like Clara as a role model for someone her age.

Another thing I love is the music. Obviously, you hear a lot of familiar tunes from Tchaikovsky's ballet, but there are some original songs in here that were haunting and beautiful. The main song, "Dance of the Dolls", is especially wonderful, and perfect for the story (I actually found a copy of it and put it on my iPod - that's how much it stuck with me).

The visuals for the film are also amazing. The animation quality is akin to your average Rankin/Bass stop motion affair, but far smoother (although you do have that odd jerkiness every now and then). Many of the sets, such as the doll castle or the land of happiness, are beautiful to look at. Some of the sequences are memorable, such as the doll attack on the mouse base, while others fit into the surreal world of dreams, such as the candy dancing sequence. Unfortunately, many copies of the English dub have poor video, so that much of the detail in the set designs are lost on the viewer, and you can't really appreciate how much work was put into the project.

Granted, as much as I love this film, I won't deny that it's not for all tastes. Some people don't like the seemingly random ballet dance sequences (although considering this is all from the point of view of a young girl who likes dancing dolls, and she participates in one of the scenes, I could only imagine ballet would fit in her dreams somewhere). Some people are freaked out by the infamous Ragman sequence. I'll also admit the only thing I don't like is the Asian stereotype voice that the English dub gave the Chinese wise man.

That being said, this is perhaps one of my favorite Nutcracker adaptations, if not one of my favorite animated films. It's charming, it's lovely, and it's enduring. If you remember this from your childhood as well, I would definitely recommend seeing it again. It still holds up, even today, and even when you are a child only in heart.

Christopher Lee is mesmerizing as Uncle Drosselmeyer- and Watchmaker, the puppeteer, the minstrel... and he sings too! He's an incredible voice actor and he's complimented very well by a still very young Melissa Gilbert as Clara. The film is crafted most artistically... more so than other traditional stop-animation puppets. Nutcracker Fantasy has beautiful photography... use of lighting, color, sets... very complicated and intricate dolls telling the story... The best scenes are the beginning showing the Ragman turning awake little children into mice and stuffing them in his bag... and the first dialogues between Clara and Drosselmeyer. Although all this is great, I am very disappointed with the 70s techno-pop music mixed in with the original Tchaikovsky. The soundtrack is hideous and almost wrecks many of the scenes... that and the cuts of live ballet dancers which are unnecessary. I would like to see a re-cut of this film and have it available on DVD. If it is cleaned up a bit editting-wise and with the original Tchaikovsky restored... wow this would be totally awesome!!!!!

I'm 16, and i remember seeing this film when i was a little kid, my parents had a copy, i loved this film! the ragman scared the living daylights out of me! and the way the puppets moved was really freaky, lol. but this film, has become one of the most rarest films in the world now! hard to come by, especially in england. i managed to find a copy in dallas, and ordered it the other day. basically the story is of a girl called clara who gets a nutcracker doll from her uncle drosselmeyer (tick tock tee, lol) and she gets some sort of fever, and starts hallucinating several different things, including the doll doing battle with mice, yay! lol. anyway, this film is really really really really great, and should you ever get a chance to watch it, WATCH IT! you will definitely not be disappointed.