Der Nußknacker

Soyuzmultfilm in its graceful expression.

It is the simple definition of this short adaptation, the ballet music of Chaikovski meeting familiar drawings and proposing a nice show, gentle, beautiful, provocative ( the girl is remplaced by a servant girl ) .

Sure, for a part of audience, source of nostalgia.

For other, discover of the charme of Soviet animation and its manner to give not only beauty and emotion to story but something easy to define as ...kindness and wisdom.

In essence, a small slice from a great art , poetic, delicat, precise crafted. And a good trip across Chaikovski work, , The Nutcracker , Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty being used, in inspired manner, to define moments of story.

In short, admirable.

It won't change your life but it does offer an interesting experience in terms of storytelling and animation. (yes, I did watch it as the original russian version without narrator)

Just like other underrated animations, as The Thief and the Cobbler per example, Shchelkunchik presents creativity in its animations, especially towards the end. It's a good 40% faithful to the original story and it makes a good job in maintaining the magic fascination for this old Christmas tale.

I was taken by surprise when I recognized other Tchaikovsky tracks outside Nutcracker, ngl lol but I overall enjoyed it!