Nutcracker: The Motion Picture

“	Christmas long ago was the memory of a dream that seemed never to end. But somewhere in the middle of that dream, I always did wake up, just in time to attend the Christmas party.	”
— Adult Clara's opening lines

Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (also known onscreen as Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker or simply Nutcracker) is a 1986 theatrical Christmas film, based on the 1983-2014 stage version of The Nutcracker by Kent Stowell and Maurice Sendak. It was produced by Hyperion Pictures, The Kusher-Locke Company, and Pacific Northwest Ballet and originally released in movie theaters by Atlantic Releasing Corporation on November 26, 1986. The film received mostly positive reviews.

Synopsis[]

Herr Drosselmeyer, a clockmaker and toymaker, is in his workshop. Suddenly getting an idea, he begins building on an intricate mechanical project resembling a cross between a model castle, a music box, and a toy theatre. After it is apparently completed, he falls asleep at his work table. The toy theatre stage opens; the rest of the film is implied to take place on this stage. Clara, a girl on the verge of adolescence, is asleep in her bedroom, dreaming of dancing with a prince before being interrupted by her younger brother Fritz, who summons a giant rat to bite her hand. She wakes up from the dream in terror. But when she goes to her family's Christmas party and sees Fritz playing with a hand puppet rat that strongly resembles the one in the dream, she becomes very uneasy.

Clara, her family, and all their guests dance at the Christmas party. Drosselmeyer, who is a friend of the family, enters the room and gives toys to the children. He also entertains them, especially Clara, by displaying the castle he was creating at the film's start, including moving figurines of a ballerina and a sword dancer. The guests are entertained by a trio of masquerade dancers, but Clara is noticeably uncomfortable around Drosselmeyer, who keeps looking at her. Suddenly, a nutcracker drops off the Christmas tree. Clara is amused by the nutcracker and dances happily around the room, but Fritz snatches it away and damages it with a toy sword. Drosselmeyer mends the nutcracker with a handkerchief. As the guests depart, Clara and Fritz are sent off to bed.

Near midnight, Clara goes downstairs to find her nutcracker. As the clock strikes twelve, the Christmas tree gets bigger and all the toy soldiers, as well as the nutcracker, come to life and battle the mice. A seven-headed Mouse King appears through a hole in the floor and grows to giant size. When the mice overpower the soldiers and the Nutcracker himself is threatened, Clara throws her slipper at the Mouse King, changing him into an ordinary mouse. What remains of the giant Mouse King is his coat and his crown. The Nutcracker crawls in the sleeve after the fleeing mouse and Clara follows him, becoming an adult as she wanders through the coat's passageways. She emerges from the coat onto a wintry pavilion, where she finds the Nutcracker transformed into a handsome prince. They dance romantically, and as they depart the snow falls and the snow fairies appear to dance the "Waltz of the Snowflakes".

Clara and the Prince sail away to a castle where they are welcomed by the Prince's Royal Court. There, the Prince and the jealous, one-eyed Pasha, who strongly resembles Drosselmeyer, develop a rivalry over Clara. Under the Pasha's direction, the members of the court perform divertissements, and Clara performs the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". She and the Prince dance a romantic "Pas de Deux". At the end, she and the Prince, locked in each other's arms, are magically levitated by the Pasha after bidding farewell to the Court. Suddenly the Pasha waves his hand, and Clara and her Prince are separated and begin to free-fall. Before they can hit the ground, the Prince turns back into a nutcracker and Clara (a young girl again) is jolted awake from what has turned out to be a dream.

Notes[]

Much like the 1924 silent film version of Peter Pan, the film stays faithful to the original stage version by PNB while incorporating special effects and blue screen shots for certain moments. The only thing made for the film version was newly-added narration by Clara as an adult.

Accolades[]

At the 9th annual Young Artists Awards, the film was nominated for Best Family Motion Picture – Drama, but lost to Over The Top.

Ensemble[]

Actor(s)/actress(es)	Character(s)
Hugh Bigney	Herr Drosselmeier The Pasha
Vanessa Sharp	Clara (young)
Patricia Barker	Clara (dream) Ballerina Doll
Wade Walthall	Nutcracker Prince
Maia Rosal	Mrs. Stahlbaum Peacock
Carey Homme	Mr. Stahlbaum Moor
Russell Burnett	Fritz
Jacob Rice	Fighting Nutcracker Dervish
Martha Boyle Ann Renhard Jennifer Homans	Adults at the Party Snowflakes Waltz of the Flowers
Laura Schwenk Dianne Brace Lisa Stolzy Elizabeth McCarthy	Adults at the Party Snowflakes Moors Waltz of the Flowers
Benjamin Houk	Adult at the Party Mouse Captain Dervish
Beatrice & Benjamin Bassett	Adults at the Party Grandparents
Christian Cederlund Gerard Ebitz	Adults at the Party Moors
Sterling Kekoa	Adult at the Party Commedia
Gregory Draper	Adult at the Party
Jeffery N. Bullock	Chinese Tiger
Whitney Onishi Cary Stidham Emily Penhollow Joseph Carver Natalie Ryder Elizabeth Parham Gloria Rivera Andrew Wilson Stacy Emerald Vera Parham Amanda Thomas Jason Takamaru	Children at the Party
Alex Gardner	Child at the Party Boy on the Bed
Courtland Weaver	Sword Dancer Dervish
Alejandra Bronfman	Pas de Trois Commedia
Kevin Kaiser Reid Olson	Pas de Trois Moors
Kyra Lit	Dream Mouse
Deborah Inkster	Mother Mouse
Chaundra Bigney	Baby Mouse
Bridget Alsdorf	Baby Mouse Servant Child
Todd Brown Christopher Smidt Carolyn Stoklosa Margaret Farmer Anne Wescott	Fighting Mice Observers
Robert La Turner Karenna Marenych	Fighting Mice
Erik Cederlund Jeffrey Plourde	Fighting Mice Slaves
Marianne Chikos Sarah Frederick Laara Estelle Eugenia Georvasilis Catherine Mee Moen Ashley Sherwood Betsy Fenton Amy Ritter Gabrielle Gardner	Toy Soldiers Observers
Rebecca Dunne Michele Blie Christa Halby	Toy Soldiers Servant Children
Tracy Carboneau Joey-Lynn Mann Charina Dimaano Erin Sokol Heather Now Nicole Fiset	Toy Soldiers Scrim Mice
Freedom Ozog Christina Nicolaidis Christine Lebar	Toy Soldiers Toy Theatre
Elizabeth Christianson Lindsay Clothier Sarah Coan Hannah Burdge Rebecca Osman Noelle Scroeder	Toy Soldiers
Lee Johnson Nicole Wolgamott	Toy Soldiers Chinese Girls
Rana Standal	Toy Soldier Infantry Soldier
Carol Anderson Lose Vaillant	Snowflakes
Irene Damestoy Amy Greene Susan Gladstone Stephanie Irwin Julie Tobiason Clara Wilson	Snowflakes Waltz of the Flowers
Carron Donaldson	Snowflake Commedia Waltz of the Flowers
Angela Sterling	Snowflake Observer
Rebecca Brown Kippy Clark Christine Elias Abby Hall Heather Hollenbeck Jennifer Kader Sun Lee Mandi Lyons-Hansen Michelle McRae Sara Pritchard Jennifer Taylor Kyoto Terada	Servant Children
Kara Chin Jamie Geier Mari London Caroline Newman Jennifer Paterson	Toy Theatre
Erica Fischbach	Moor
Julie Harris (voice)	Clara's Voice
Rachel Harrison Jennifer Owen	Chinese Girls
Lucinda Hughey Kay Preston Heidi Vierthaler	Waltz of the Flowers
Jennifer Porter Tryon Woods	Observers

External links[]

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