Kurumiwari ningyô

Once upon a time I saw this movie, dark and much more real than one would imagine any movie with puppets could be. It was like a dream or a vision; very well-conceived and well-executed. I love the twists and turns this movie took. I was enthralled by the characters, music, and beautiful production design.

This movie haunts me still, but I no longer have it on tape and I cannot find it anywhere. If anyone has a copy, please email me!

As someone who adores the Nutcracker story and the ballet and admires the voice cast and stop-motion animation, Nutcracker Fantasy was a real treat. A lot of work and care clearly went into the visuals because they look absolutely fabulous, a tad stiff here and there but the animation is modelled beautifully, the colours are wonderfully dark and sumptuous and the backgrounds are exquisitely designed and exude a beautiful and eerie quality.

Tchaikovsky's music is timeless and what there is of it in Nutcracker Fantasy matches the visuals splendidly and is appropriate to the mood of every scene it appears. There is a very clever hybrid of some of the divertissements(including Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy) incorporated in a colourful sequence involving sprites and figurines, and I for one enjoyed the ballet sequences with their nimble choreography and the dream-like strangeness they gave. Other parts of the soundtrack don't fare so much, the use of 70s synthesised music feels out of place and tonally at odds with Tchaikovsky's music, it also causes some tone shifts that are both jarring and awkward(a complaint that some people here have as well). A few songs were written for the film and they are decent if a little too upbeat, Christopher Lee even gets a chance to sing and he actually has got a good singing voice.

Narratively the story in Nutcracker Fantasy is based somewhat loosely on the original story(notably having a Mouse Queen in Morphia as the primary villain) but the original story itself is whimsical, magical, poignant and dark- people may not recognise the Nutcracker as having a darker elements but in Hoffmann's telling the Mouse King is more villainous and sadistic than he is often portrayed as- and Nutcracker Fantasy has all of those elements. While there are differences in the details, though the Princess Mary story is oddly reminiscent of that of Princess Pirlipat in the original(a part that is often omitted, though it's included in The Nutcracker Prince), but the spirit remains. And there are some truly memorable scenes, the most notable one being the genuinely scary opening Ragman sequence, it gave me nightmares as a child and still gives me the creeps now, though in a thrilling kind of way.

The characters are very engaging, Clara is an immensely charming heroine, Queen Morphia is a very menacingly memorable villain and Drosselmeyer is wonderfully mysterious. The voice acting is terrific, with a brilliant Christopher Lee in multiple roles being particularly notable. Clara is voiced as a child by Melissa Gilbert with spirit and charm and with sincerity as an adult in a narrator kind of role by Michele Lee. Morphia is voiced with sinister relish by Jo Anne Worley and there is also a dashing Roddy MacDowell as Franz and Eva Gabor is at her most mysterious as Queen of Time. All in all, has an uneven soundtrack but Nutcracker Fantasy is a little gem. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is one of the all-time coolest movies I've ever seen. It may be quite bizzare, but the prominent themes of true love and sacrifice totally outweigh the weirdness, which actually just adds to the uniqueness of this film. For a fairly old movie, it's very well done. I definitely recommend this to anyone who has an extra moment to watch an excellent film.

I haven't seen this movie in maybe 18 years, but I've been searching for it all over the internet for a while now, and finally came across it tonight! I watched this movie over and over! I'm going to purchase it soon and I cannot wait. I loved the voices, the animation, the color. It was all so magical to me. I cannot wait to see it again! It's a wonderful take on "The Nutcracker Suite," a story everyone should be familiar with. I use to think it was a Rankin/Bass movie, just because it is similar to Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and all other movies like that. I only just found out it's a Japanese film. I can't say whether other people would appreciate this movie, kids would. I think you have to be young to watch it, it would be so mysterious!

"The Nutcracker Fantasy" is unlike any animated film I have ever seen. The puppet-animation, which looks remarkably similar to the later puppet-animation of Rankin/Bass, is exquisitely detailed and beautiful. The story is told in such a fantastic and mystical way that it leaves the viewer feeling a bit dreamy, confused and even disoriented. To tell you the truth, I have seen this film several times and still cannot describe it completely. But it's basically about a girl named Clara who receives a nutcracker doll from her Uncle Drosselmeyer and falls in and out of a fever-induced hallucinogenic state. Here she dreams of the nutcracker being attacked by an army of wild rats who are led by an evil 2-headed rat. The rest of the story goes beyond explanation but glimpses include the nutcracker doll coming to life and a kingdom where a princess, who exactly resembles Clara, has been kidnapped. It is a wonderful special that I enjoy watching every year on the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. "The Nutcracker Fantasy" features an all-star cast including Christopher Lee, Melissa Gilbert, Eva Gabor, Michele Lee, Roddy McDowall, Dick Van Patten and others providing voices for the puppets. If you can find a copy of this film, I highly recommend watching it.