The Nutcracker Prince

Ah yes, another version of the Tchaikovsky ballet for me to
review and for you to read. To be honest, I had never heard of this version of the tale and I had only discovered it through a few google searches after I thought I was done reviewing (even though I still have The Nuttiest Nutcracker to review. Hooray(!)). Released back in 1990 by Warner Bros, this wasn't really much of a hit, only making nearly £2 million domestically. Starring the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, Megan Fellows, Peter O'Toole and Phyllis Diller, will this adptation manage to break the mould of terrible animated versions of The Nutcracker, or shouldn't I have touched this & left well enough alone? Let's take a look!

Story: Unlike other adaptations of The Nutcracker book or ballet, this is actually really respectful to both sources. Others like The Nutcracker Sweet or Barbie in the Nutcracker try to put their own twists to the story up to the point that they're unrecognisable and insulting, but this one is easily the most straightforward version I've seen. The changes made are only minor and they still do their best to respect the narrative of both the book and the ballet, telling the story of Clara and her beloved nutcracker. They even dive very deep into the Nutcracker's backstory and how he became cursed by the Mouse Queen before her death and the Mouse King's quest for revenge. But there is one massive problem: the pacing. In this 70 minute movie, 15 minutes of it are devoted to the backstory of Hans, and it doesn't even get to the 40 minute mark for the Nutcracker story to actually get going. This leaves little room to give character or plot development and it overall feels more episodic than a cohesive narrative. It feels really distracting and disjointed throughout, leaving me bored and confused over why they made this structural choice on top of adding pointless filler which leaves us nothing to know about the characters. Oh yeah, and loads of surprisingly dark scenes! Seriously, I know it's supposed to be all whimsical, but it can actually get pretty scary! This is a case of where they should have picked something up from Disney because even if the fairytales they did were based on more episodic narrative stories, they worked their way through it. The same can apply to incorporating Tchaikovsky's music. It feels more shoehorned in than anything else (hey, at least it's not as awful as The Nutcracker Sweet) because that's what you'd expect from a Nutcracker story. I know Disney did the same with Sleeping Beauty, but the way they incorporated Tchaikovsky's score in that helped set the tone and mood in a unique way instead of pointlessly shoving the most popular tunes in the first twenty minutes and incorporating it into an unnecessary musical number. Sure, it is undoubtedly the best retelling of The Nutcracker in animation, but given the other animated versions out there, this isn't really saying much.

Animation: Given that this was Lacewood's first theatrically released animated film, the animation for this is actually really good! The character designs are a bit more stylized than the ones from Disney at the time, but they felt a bit generic for my taste. Funny enough, the scenes in the real world really reminded me of Don Bluth, in particular Anastasia. This can also be shown in the backgrounds, with great attention to detail put in to depict both 19th century Russia and the Kingdom of Dolls. Both look really colourful and the fact that they use watercolours makes it look interesting to watch. The character animation is also pretty creative from the more realistic movements on the people to the cartoonier and over the top movements in the flashbacks. The dance scenes themselves aren't really that entertaining as they do cut corners in the pas de deux number by pausing during different ballet poses. It's definitely not bad, in fact, it's probably the best element of the animation next to the backgrounds. Another thing I'd like to note is that there's a shift in animation style in the flashbacks to a more whacky and cartoony akin to the classic Warner Bro's cartoons. Although it can look a tad rougher than the real world scenes, it is interesting seeing the contrast between the two and especially when they come together when the Mouse King's army attack in Clara's house and when she's sent to The Kingdom of Dolls. However, there are still a few glitches that come with this. Sometimes the relationship between the characters and the backgrounds can feel really awkward, there are times where they loop bits of animation to cut costs, the lip syncing and character models can be off and at times it feels more like the characters are floating than walking when their legs are cut off screen. It may not be quite up to the standards of Disney at the time, but for what it is, the animation looks gorgeous.

Characters: To be honest, compared to the rest of the movie, the characters are the part you'd least remember. Clara is just your generic snooty girl with a strange fascination for her nutcracker that's never really explained along with a love for dolls despite nearing puberty. They try to give her an arc on growing up and learning to stop her childhood fantasies from taking over her life, but for the most part, she got on my nerves. The titular Nutcracker AKA Hans (voiced by an utterly disinterested Kiefer Sutherland), is also bland despite the depth the movie goes into his backstory of how he became a nutcracker with his uncle Drosselmeyer. The Mouse King is surprisingly creepy despite his moments of being a bumbling moron along with his admittedly funny army. Uncle Drosselmeyer came across as way too creepy to me given that he's the main source of the nightmare fuel in the movie with his mystical powers which are never really explained. Fritz is the annoying brother stereotype always shouting and yelling about his love for battles and fighting, Louise is the generic loving yet stern older sister who's in love with the equally as dull Erik. The rest of the dolls can get annoying, like Marie (a nice nod to other adaptations naming Clara 'Marie') is such an irritating vain brat and Trudy is the bland grandmother figure doll. While the characters in the flashbacks like King, Queen and Princess Pirlipat can have funny & over the top personalities fitting of their animation style, but their roles are generic. The Mouse Queen (distractingly voiced by Phyllis Diller) us your generic evil villain who wants to cause havoc in the Land of Dolls. Finally, there's Pantaloon (Peter O'Toole), who is an aged solidier that's given the role of after saving Hans in battle. I think it's safe to say that every character in this is bland, generic and annoying with a mix of decent to bad voice acting.

Despite this movie's flaws, The Nutcracker Prince is probably the best animated adaptation of the Tchaikovsky ballet so far. Despite the weak pacing and filler and dull characters, the plot is much more respectful to the original and the animation is beautiful for the most part. I guess I recommend that people watch it at least once if you're in the mood for an animated version of Tchaikovsky's work that's at least decent. Either that, or stick with watching Sleeping Beauty, the Nutcracker segment in Fantasia or go and actually go and see the ballet during the holidays!
Story: 😕
Animation: 😊
Characters: 😕
Overall: 😕