Helen Mirren had to take whip cracking lessons to prepare for her role as Mother Ginger. This presents the visual pun of a ginger snap.
Marie was name of the heroine of E.T.A. Hoffmann's original Nutcracker tale. She was renamed Clara in Alexandre Dumas' adaptation, on which the ballet was based. This movie's heroine is Clara, daughter of Marie.
At the beginning of the ballet telling the story of the Four Realms, the conductor mounts the podium and conducts an orchestra appearing in silhouette. This is a tribute to Fantasia (1940), which included a segment based on "The Nutcracker Suite".
Towards the end of the movie, Mr. Stahlbaum (Matthew Macfadyen), Clara's (Mackenzie Foy's) father, recognized the song from the egg as the song to which he shared his first dance with Marie (Anna Madeley). This song is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Pas de Deux", which is played in the ballet when the Nutcracker is dancing with Clara for the first time.
The family's surname, Stahlbaum, is German for "steel tree".
Jack Whitehall: As a Harlequin palace guard. Whitehall has a history of publicly stating his love for Disney and his wishes to be cast in any role for their movies.