george balanchine wrote the original story of the nutcracker.
who wrote the original story of the nutcracker?
george balanchine
Na
Na
this animated film uses generous chunks of tchaikovsky's music, and is a direct-to-video digitally animated version of the story with, of course, barbie the doll, released in 2001. (however, barbie appears not as clara, but as herself. clara, though, looks exactly like barbie, and is still the main character, and her story is told as a story-within-a-film). the film significantly alters the storyline of the hoffmann tale, adding all sorts of perils not found in the original story, or the ballet. there is even a stone monster, sent by the mouse king, that chases clara and the nutcracker. drosselmeyer is not clara's godfather but her grandfather, and is depicted as being notably grumpy. it is not drosselmeyer who gives clara the nutcracker, but her aunt, and in this version, clara is an orphan raised by her grandfather. the nutcracker, rather than becoming a prince after his victory in battle, must travel to the sugar plum princess's castle in order for the spell to be broken; defeating the mouse king is not enough. at the end, clara turns out to be the sugar plum princess, and her kiss breaks the spell that had been placed on the nutcracker. real new york city ballet dancers were used in the production and rotoscoped in order to properly capture ballet movements - the "trepak", the "adagio" from the pas de deux, and the "dance of the sugar plum fairy" are performed much as they would be in a live production of "the nutcracker". peter martins served as choreographer. in this version, the prince asks clara to stay on as his queen, even telling her "i love you". but clara is dreaming, and therefore must awaken. however, the couple is reunited in reality when clara's aunt brings "the son of a friend" over to visit for christmas. in this version, the mouse king does not die until near the end. the film also features touches of (sometimes deliberately anachronistic) humor: after the battle with the mice, the nutcracker, who has not yet regained his form as a prince, says to clara, "thank you for saving my life, and for your superior nursing skills". during the early part of her adventures, clara maintains a skeptical attitude, even saying "this is crazy" at one point.
list of productions of the nutcracker