The Nutcracker (1995) (V)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Directors:

Toshiyuki Hiruma
Takashi Masunaga

Release Date:

31 July 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Plot Keywords:

Anime | Nutcracker

Cast

Tony Ail	...	(voice)
Nathan Aswell	...	(voice)
Chera Bailey	...	(voice) (as Cheralynn Bailey)
Kathleen Barr	...	(voice)
Lillian Carlson	...	(voice) (as Lilliam Carlson)
Gary Chalk	...	(voice)
Ian James Corlett	...	(voice) (as Ian Corlett)
Michael Donovan	...	(voice)
Kent Gallie	...	(voice)
Phil Hayes	...	(voice)
Roger Kelly	...	(voice)
Ellen Kennedy	...	(voice)
Terry Klassen	...	(voice)
Joanne Lee	...	(voice)
Andrea Libman	...	(voice) (as Andrean Libman)
Tom McBeath	...	(voice)
Lois McClean	...	(voice)
Scott McNeil	...	(voice)
Jesse Moss	...	(voice)
Douglas Newell	...	(voice) (as Doug Newell)
Richard Newman	...	(voice)
Crystaleen O'Bray	...	(voice)
Doug Parker	...	(voice)
Gerard Plunkett	...	(voice)
Susan Schiff	...	(voice) (as Susan Sciff)
Raouel Shane	...	(voice)
Scott Swanson	...	(voice)
Venus Terzo	...	(voice)
Stevie Vallance	...	(voice) (as Louise Vallance)
Wanda Wilkinson	...	(voice)
Dale Wilson	...	(voice)

Runtime:

47 min

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | USA:Not Rated | Germany:o.Al. | Spain:T | UK:U | New Zealand:G | Iceland:L

Company:

Cayre Brothers

A simple holiday story that can easily win its place as a cherished Christmas classic for children!

In the span of three years in which Jetlag Productions was GoodTimes Entertainment's primary and only low-budget animation division, the company managed to produce a total of three Christmas-themed animated adventures: "A Christmas Carol" in 1994, "Magic Gift of the Snowman" in 1995 and finally, "The Nutcracker" in the same year. If I were to categorize or list them from best to worst, I'd give the honor of best to "Magic Gift of the Snowman," with its touching (and original) themes and sweet songs, and worst, "A Christmas Carol" as a rather disappointing adaptation of Charles Dickens' Christmas story, with overall mediocre songs and not much ingenuity. That said, "The Nutcracker" comes as the middle child, being a rather sweet and well done holiday story. It doesn't have any particular strengths, but each element is strong enough to make together a very decent animated holiday treat, especially for children.

The tale of "The Nutcracker" is not easy to summarize in a short number of lines, with its jumping from reality to fantasy, and from the present to the past; it is based on E. T. Hoffmann's classic story of the nutcracker that came to life. One Christmas eve, little Marie and her brother Fritz receive a visit from their godfather Drosselmeyer. As a present, he awards them with a somewhat ugly nutcracker shaped as a royal soldier. Though Fritz is quickly bored with the gift, particularly after breaking its jaw, Marie is enchanted by it and saves it from Fritz's careless hands. Her godfather's gift does not end there, because he also shares with Marie the sad story of how the nutcracker came to be. The tragic story only strengthens the bond between the wooden nutcracker as the girl and she is slowly brought into a magical holiday adventure. The wicked seven-headed Mouse King makes an appearance and attempts to steal all of Marie's Christmas candy, but nutcracker, with the help of a weapon from one of Fritz' toy soldiers, is able to fight against the king and his many warriors. Nutcracker then takes Marie into his kingdom through a magic wardrobe. She is made the princess of the enchanted winter-land, only to return home unsure of whether her adventure had been a dream or a reality. Though her family is sure to doubt the existence of the Mouse King and the Marzipan castle, Marie is equally sure that her adventures are not the product of her dreams or imagination, and godfather Drosselmeyer does not doubt her word in the least bit.

Overall, Jetlag Productions scores with their adaptation of "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," managing to deliver a cherish-able holiday classic that is, up to their standards, nicely crafted. Surely the quality of animation would disappoint anyone expecting a Christmas spectacle similar to "The Nutcracker Suite" segment in Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1940), but for what it is Jetlag has done much worse. The characters are well-designed, using a rather soft palette of warm, smooth colors, avoiding over-saturation and an overall unappealing outlook. The voice acting is as bad and corny as can be expected from this particular producer. The same voices can be linked to a number of Jetlag Productions' titles, none of which have grand voice acting as one of their strengths. The songs are overall very nice; beginning with "Season Of Love," this song is surely to be cherished as a more than enjoyable retelling of the story to a very pleasant tune; "Dance Through The Night" could have been more magical, but is also a very nice song accompanying Marie's first visit to Candy Town. Finally, "A Dream Come True" concludes Marie's adventures as her dream of happiness next to her new friend, the nutcracker, comes true. "The Nutcracker" is a very enjoyable low-budget animated adventure, and consumer's expectations should not exceed what one would usually expect for this price. Highly recommended!