The Nutcracker (1993)

On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie (Cohen) falls asleep after a party at her home and dreams herself (or does she?) into a fantastic world where toys become larger than life. Her ... See full summary »

Director:

Emile Ardolino

Writer:

Susan Cooper (narration)

Stars:

Darci Kistler, Damian Woetzel, Kyra Nichols

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Darci Kistler	...	The Sugarplum Fairy
Damian Woetzel	...	The Sugarplum Fairy's Cavalier
Kyra Nichols	...	Dewdrop
Wendy Whelan	...	Coffee
Margaret Tracey	...	Marzipan
Gen Horiuchi	...	Tea
Tom Gold	...	Candy Cane
Lourdes López	...	Hot Chocolate
Nilas Martins	...	Hot Chocolate
William Otto	...	Mother Ginger
Peter Reznick	...	Fritz
Karin von Aroldingen	...	Grandparent
Edward Bigelow	...	Grandparent
Heather Watts	...	Frau Stahlbaum
Robert LaFosse	...	Dr. Stahlbaum

Storyline

On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie (Cohen) falls asleep after a party at her home and dreams herself (or does she?) into a fantastic world where toys become larger than life. Her beloved Nutcracker (Culkin) comes to life and defends her from the Mouse King, then is turned into a Prince after Marie saves his life.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas movie | christmas | little girl | lifting male in air | lifting female in air | 

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Taglines:

The joy of the New York City Ballet in an exciting family holiday motion picture.

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Genres:

Family | Fantasy | Music

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,119,994

Company Credits

Production Co:

Krasnow Productions, Arnon Milchan Productions, Elektra Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original 1954 Act II "Arabian" choreographed solo dance role was originally, and always, performed by a male dance performer. In the revised 1965 Act II "Arabian" segment, Balanchine switched the male solo dance role to a female solo dance role. Why? Because, Balanchine wanted to give the fathers bringing their children to a performance some eye candy.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, Macaulay Culkin is listed as playing Drosselmeier's nephew, but he is not listed as playing either The Nutcracker or The Prince.

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Connections

Version of Casse-Noisette Circus (2000)

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Soundtracks

The Nutcracker: Sugarplum Fairy
(uncredited)
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The New York City Ballet Orchestra (with chorus) conducted by David Zinman

User Reviews

Beautiful, despite Culkin casting

I'm not a ballet expert, but I love this production. It's interesting to dissect because there are two camps for this very famous 110 year-old ballet: those who like it as a children's story and those who like it as an adult's. It's been staged both ways in the past as others have already mentioned. This version allows the kids to be front and center, but it has some stellar, sophisticated moments in it as well: the Act 1 finale dance of the snowflakes is a stellar moment of beauty and style, with its ice-blue lighting and costuming and multi-racial Corps De ballet. In Act 2, there's no contest: amongst the innocent dances of the sweets, 'Arabian Coffee' soloist Wendy Whelan sexily attacks the stage in cat-like fashion. The pink-and-purple lighting and floating cinematography and the dancer's serpent-like movements do not resemble any other moment in this already polished film, and one can't help but think that director Emile Ardolino deliberately planned it that way. (It's like watching Ann Reinking or Carol Haney on the Broadway stage.) As far as the smirking Macaulay Culkin is concerned, his presence didn't bother me since he was the right age at the time of filming (and did have some ballet background) and frankly, he smirks in most films he's in. What're you gonna do?