The Nutcracker Prince (1990)

An adaption of the classic tale of a girl's dreams turned reality when her new toy turns out to be a young man placed under a curse.

Director:

Paul Schibli

Writers:

E.T.A. Hoffmann (story), Patricia Watson

Stars:

Kiefer Sutherland, Megan Follows, Mike MacDonald

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Nutcracker Prince (voice)
Megan Follows	...	Clara (voice)
Mike MacDonald	...	Mouseking (voice)
Peter O'Toole	...	Pantaloon (voice)
Phyllis Diller	...	Mousequeen (voice)
Peter Boretski	...	Uncle Drosselmeier (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Len Carlson	...	King / Mouse / Court Attendant / Band Member #2 / Spectator / Soldier (voice)
Marvin Goldhar	...	Mr. Schaeffer / Mouse / Guest #3 / First Guard / Soldier / Band Member #1 / Contestant / Spectator (voice)
Lynne Gorman	...	Trudy (voice)
Keith Hampshire	...	Mouse / Guest / Second Guard / Contestant / Spectator / Soldier (voice)
Elizabeth Hanna	...	Marie / Mrs. Schaeffer / Doll / Guest #4 / Spectator (voice) (as Liz Hanna)
George Merner	...	Dr. Stahlbaum (voice)
Stephanie Morgenstern	...	Louise (voice)
Christopher Owens	...	Erik (voice)
Susan Roman	...	Mouse / Mrs. Miller / Guest #1 / Doll / Spectator (voice)

Storyline

Clara is on the verge of gowing up with dreams of traveling the world in the grand ballet. Then, during the anual Christmas party, the mysterious family friend, Drosselmeier, tells her a story about a young man named Hans who rescued a princess under a spell by the Mouse Queen and her whining son. As punishment for his good deed, the Mouse Queen managed to transform Hans into a nutcracker (prince of the dolls) before her death; the same nutcracker Drosselmeier had gives to Clara that day. When midnight comes, Clara finds herself trapped in the middle of a battle between the mice and her toys being lead by the confused nutcracker. If the prince of the dolls can defeat the Mouse King and win the hand of a fair maiden, it can break the curse upon him. However, Clara must chose between the dreamworld of her new companion and his adventures or her real world where the dreams and adventures of growing up still await her.

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Plot Keywords:

nutcracker | dream | mouse | curse | toy | 

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Taglines:

Join us in a classic tale of adventure, romance, bravery and a really mean mouse.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

De notenkraker

Box Office

Gross:

$1,781,694 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lacewood Productions, Hinton Animation Studios, Ontario Film Development Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the fact that Clara and her brother call Drosselmeier "uncle", he is actually not related to them. Hans, the Nutcracker, is his nephew.

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Goofs

During the battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Clara takes off her slipper and throws it at the Mouse King, in order to stop him from killing the Nutcracker. Moments later, however, she is seen backing up and both slippers are on her feet.

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Quotes

Nutcracker: The last thing I remember is Princess Pirlipat and...
Marie: We're having a crisis and you're talking about some Princess? You are the Prince of the Dolls, aren't you?
Nutcracker: No, I'm just a...
[catches sight of himself in Marie's mirror and gasps]
Trudy: Please, Nutcracker. There's no one else.
Nutcracker: But I've never fought a...
Trudy: Please!

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Connections

Version of Nutcracker on Ice (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Save This Dance"
Written by Kevin Gillis and Jack Lenz
Sung by Megan Follows
Recorded and Mixed by Sounds Interchange, Scott Boyling

User Reviews

A Nutcracker film straight out of my childhood

The Nutcracker is another Christmas story I love besides L. Frank Baum's "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus." This film (that is based on the story by German author E.T.A. Hoffman), was straight out of my childhood.

The story starts at Christmas Eve, at the Stahlbaum household, Karl & Ingird Stahlbaum are enjoying the new tree with their three children: Louise,Clara and Fritz. After opening their presents, guests start to arrive for the Christmas party. One guest in particular is Uncle Drosselmeir, who gives the family an intricate toy castle, and gives Clara a Nutcracker. Ah, but it is not just any Nutcracker, Uncle Drosselmeir warns her. Uncle Drosselmeir tells her that the Nutcracker used to be a human boy and his nephew named Hans, and but after Hans broke a spell the Mouse Queen had placed over a princess, he had been cursed by the Mouse Queen to become a Nutcracker Prince. At first it all seems to be just another fairy story to Clara. And though she does enjoy a good fairy story,they are just that...stories. That night, after everyone has gone to bed, Clara steals downstairs to dance with her new Nutcracker. But suddenly the Mouse King appears, intent on extracting the revenge on the Nutcracker Hans, for toppling a statue on his tail, when Hans was turned to a nutcracker and collapse. And right then, before Clara's eyes,the Nutcracker comes to life, thus starting a strange dream-like war between dolls and mice. And that's all I could tell you folks, you will have to see the film for yourself how it ends.

My family used to rent the film on video for Christmas; I had watched it, and I love it. Of course, years later I was lucky to found (and bought) a copy of the film at a used Record/CD/VHS/DVD shop. I still watch the film near Christmas, and I still love this wonderfully animated film after all these years. As I said many times, I don't have a favorite scene, because I love the WHOLE film - from beginning to end; but I love Clara, her kitten Pavlova and the budding romance between her and her Nutcracker Prince. I also love the music from Tchaikovsky's ballet rendition that is used at throughout the film as the main instrumental soundtrack, and as I always say I love a film with a good soundtrack.