SUMMARY:
On Christmas Eve night at the Stahlbaum household St. Petersburg, Russia, the entire Stahlbaum family is hosting an annual Christmas party for other family members and all their friends and neighbors. The most excited of them all were the Stahlbaum children; Clara, the eldest of the three, her rambunctious younger brother, Fritz and her little sister, Louise. Every year on Christmas, their godfather, Drosselmeyer, an eccentric tinkerer, clockmaker and inventor, designs the best gifts for them all.
In the mansion's parlour, Drosselmeyer presents them all with splendid gifts of his own design, such as a clockwork castle with mechanical people inside it and a nutcracker for Clara, which she instantly grows fond of. While she brings it around to her siblings, Fritz foolishly decides to use the nutcracker to crack a big, hard-shelled nut, which causes its jaw to break, upsetting Clara. After she tearfully "heals" the nutcracker by bandaging it with a ribbon from her dress, it is time for everyone to head to bed. After Fritz and Louise head to bed, Clara falls asleep on the couch near the Christmas Tree with the nutcracker. As the grandfather clock chimes at midnight, Clara awakens to find the nutcracker missing and her surroundings have been warped and contorted into a hellish, cartoonish fashion, much to her shock. She finds an owl sitting on top of the grandfather clock that flies out of sight before she is suddenly attacked by a horde of giant, humanoid rats that proceed to bite and claw at her, leaving scratches on her before their leader, the dreaded Mouse King, approaches Clara to kill her, until the Nutcracker Prince appears and saves Clara by decapitating the Mouse King and takes it as a trophy. Now accompanied by the Nutcracker Prince and his army of tin soldiers, they escort her to Princess Pirlipat, the crown princess and current ruler of the magical realm that Clara is now in. After a ballet performance, Pirlipat tells Clara the story of how she came into conflict with Madam Mouserinks, the mother of the Mouse King and former queen of the mice who had cursed Pirlipat to be hideous in appearance. Clara offers to help her and the princess tells her to seek out Mouserinks herself and kill her. Only then will her spell over Pirlipat be undone. Together with the Nutcracker Prince, Clara travels to the Land of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy and to celebrate the Mouse King's demise, Clara and the Nutcracker Prince are treated to a banquet of confectionaries from various countries. But then the Sugar Plum Fairy reveals her true colors when Clara explains their primary objective and has her candy minions attempt to kill Clara. They are able to easily defeat their enemies by eating their body parts off. The Sugar Plum Fairy engages in a one-on-one battle with Clara, who kills her by severing her wings off and slitting her throat, after which her body dissolves into a skeleton made of boiling sugar and gooey taffy, which Clara proceeds to eat, granting her candy-based abilities.
The two traverse through a dark, woodsy landscape where they are ambushed by Mother Ginger and her children, the Polichinelles who trap them in a constantly-transforming dreamland that almost drives them mad until Clara uses her imagination to cause tree to grow long, sharp thorns that impale Mother Ginger all over her body, allowing Clara and the Nutcracker Prince to escape, giving her dream manipulation powers as well. Arriving in the Ice Mountains, they are found by the Snow Queen and Snow King who invite them into their snowy kingdom where they discover the frozen sculptures of recent victims. The regents fight back with their ice sorcery before Clara uses her imagination powers to create a giant bonfire that melts the both of them before they are captured by Mouserinks forces. Once there, she decides to use Clara, now gifted with ice powers as a result, as a weapon against Pirlipat and rule the entire kingdom. Clara uses the Nutcracker Prince's sword to decapitate her and toss her head down a bottomless pit.
Afterwards, the Owl directs Clara back to the couch where she woke up and falls back asleep. She awakens to see it is now Christmas morning and everyone receives wonderful gifts. However, what Clara receives disturbs her; grotesque and mutilated doll versions of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Mother Ginger and the Snow King and Queen with angered expressions on their faces. All the while, the Owl watches over her with malicious intent.
CAST:
Clara Stahlbaum, a wealthy young Russian girl who is gifted a nutcracker as an early Christmas gift.
The Nutcracker Prince, a dignified, brave and loyal nutcracker warrior who becomes Clara's guide and ally.
The Mouse King, the dreaded king of the mice and an adversary of the Nutcracker Prince.
Princess Pirlipat, the ruler of the land who was cursed to be ugly by Madam Mouserinks as revenge.
Madam Mouserinks, the mother of the Mouse King, the queen-mother of the mice and nemesis of Pirlipat.
Drosselmeyer, an eccentric tinsmith, clockmaker and toymaker and Clara's godfather.
The Owl, Drosselmeyer's pet.
The Sugar Plum Fairy, a saccharine confectionary fairy and the queen of the Land of Sweets.
Mother Ginger, the leader of a clown cirque group called the Polichinelles.
The Snow Queen, the snowy regent of the Ice Mountains and the Snow King's wife.
The Snow King, the snowy regent of the Ice Mountains and the Snow Queen's husband.
Harlequin, a talented jester and one of Pirlipat's entertainers.
The Dewdrop Fairy, a majestic ballet dancer.
Lord Nicolai Stahlbaum, Esq., Clara's father.
Lady Marie Stahlbaum, Clara's mother.
Fritz Stahlbaum, Clara's younger brother who accidentally breaks the nutcracker.
Louise Stahlbaum, Clara's younger sister.