- published: 19 Jun 2013
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The Nutcracker (Russian: Щелкунчик, transcribed as Schelkunchik) is a 1973 Soviet/Russian animated film from the Soyuzmultfilm studio directed by Boris Stepantsev and based partly on Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, but more closely on E.T.A. Hoffmann's novelette The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, the story which inspired the ballet.
Ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who himself starred in his own classic TV edition of The Nutcracker in 1977, included the 1973 animated film as part of his PBS series Stories from my Childhood, of which he was the executive producer. For the U.S. telecast, narration spoken by Shirley MacLaine was added. There is no dialogue in the original film, except for a few "chipmunk"-like squeals when the mice vanish. The music is taken from several of Tchaikovsky's compositions aside from The Nutcracker, including Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.
During the opening credits, a mouse soldier is climbing around a Christmas tree with a light.
The first scene is a Christmas party where numerous children are celebrating. The female protagonist, an unnamed girl who works as a maid, watches the household children frolicking around. A boy begins using a nutcracker to crack nuts, but he is quite brutal with it and eventually leaves the nutcracker with a nut stuck in its mouth. When the party is over late at night, the girl comes down to the hall for cleaning, but the night is full with magic, which manifests firstly in the maid's broom animating and dancing with her. She eventually finds the nutcracker on the floor. When she kisses him, he comes to life and is devastated when he sees what he has become.
Actors: Eduard Artemev (composer), Matt Curtis (miscellaneous crew), Andrey Konchalovskiy (writer), Nathan Lane (actor), Judith M. Brown (miscellaneous crew), Jean Bourne (miscellaneous crew), John Turturro (actor), Shirley Henderson (actress), Jason Harris (actor), Ferenc Elek (actor), Andrey Konchalovskiy (director), Richard E. Grant (actor), Andrey Konchalovskiy (producer), János Papp (miscellaneous crew), Sean Oliver (miscellaneous crew),
Plot: 1920s Vienna. Nine-year-old Mary lives in a home filled with lovely things and loneliness. Bothered by bratty brother Max and neglected by well intentioned, but distracted, parents, she yearns for companionship and adventure. On Christmas Eve, Mary's beloved Uncle Albert arrives with the gift of a wooden nutcracker doll. Later that night, Mary's imagination brings the doll to life. Introducing himself as "NC," he takes her on a wondrous journey through a stunning dimension where toys assume human form and everything appears ten times larger. But danger lurks. An army of toothy rat creatures, led by the flamboyant Rat King and his devious mother, has unleashed a plot to overthrow humanity. When NC is captured and placed under a paralytic spell, Mary, Max and a spirited band of toy sidekicks must rescue him from the Rat King's clutches and thwart his wicked plans to 'ratify' the world.
Keywords: 3-dimensional, 3d-in-title, christmas, christmas-eve, critically-bashed, number-in-titleActors: Denis Caïozzi (director), Nathalie Léger (actress), Bernice Coppetiers (actress), Francesco Nappa (actor), Chris Roelandt (actor), Paola Cantalupo (actress), Nicholas Kahn (actor), Jean-Christophe Maillot (miscellaneous crew), Pascal Molat (actor), Gaelan Morlotti (actor),
Genres: Music,Actors: Kevin Kline (actor), Arnon Milchan (producer), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (composer), Macaulay Culkin (actor), Macaulay Culkin (actor), Amy Schatz (producer), Nicholas Wolfert (miscellaneous crew), George Balanchine (miscellaneous crew), Jonathan Shoemaker (miscellaneous crew), Girish Bhargava (editor), Shauna Beal (miscellaneous crew), Catherine Tatge (producer), Emile Ardolino (director), J. Max Ruschak (miscellaneous crew), Merrill Brockway (producer),
Plot: 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.
Keywords: animal, ballet, boy-prince, carrying-someone, character-name-in-title, child-heroine, christmas, classical-music, fairy, independent-filmActors: Rudolf Nureyev (writer), Rudolf Nureyev (writer), E.T.A. Hoffmann (writer), Rudolf Nureyev (miscellaneous crew), Rudolf Nureyev (director), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (composer), Marius Petipa (writer), Patrice Bart (actor), Laurent Hilaire (actor), Laurent Hilaire (actor), Elisabeth Maurin (actress), Nicholas Georgiadis (costume designer), Jocelyne Genet (actress), Valerie Colin (actress), Fabienne Cerutti (actress),
Genres: Music,Actors: Rudolf Nureyev (miscellaneous crew), Rudolf Nureyev (actor), E.T.A. Hoffmann (writer), Rudolf Nureyev (writer), Rudolf Nureyev (actor), John Vernon (director), Wayne Sleep (actor), Wayne Sleep (actor), Leslie Edwards (actor), Lesley Collier (actress), Monica Mason (actress), Gerd Larsen (actress), Gerd Larsen (actress), Vasili I. Vaynonen (miscellaneous crew), Georgina Parkinson (actress),
Genres: Music,Actors: Eddie Albert (actor), Charlotte Flemming (costume designer), E.T.A. Hoffmann (writer), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (composer), Eddie Albert (actor), Anneliese Schönnenbeck (editor), Marius Petipa (miscellaneous crew), Heinz Liesendahl (director), Kurt Jacob (writer), Kurt Jacob (miscellaneous crew), Edward Villella (actor), Edward Villella (actor), Margot Werner (actress), Lev Ivanov (miscellaneous crew), Hannes Winkler (actor),
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