Kurumiwari ningyô

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.

The stop-motion animation by Sanrio Studios is really lovely in "Nutcracker Fantasy" and reminds me a lot of the Rankin-Bass specials, though the characters are even prettier and more well animated. That being said, the story itself is confusing and I cannot see most children enjoying or even understanding it. I know I struggled to figure out the story.

Much of the problem is that many of the characters are from "The Nutcracker" but the story itself isn't. Instead, it's just baffling. My advice is that if you do watch it, bring up the Wikipedia article for this animation and read along as you watch. Otherwise, you're likely to just feel baffled as I did.

This is one of the most unique films I have ever seen, and unlike any other holiday fare out there. The puppets are magical and lifelike, the music is borderline psychadelic and the film as a whole is completely original (and comes complete with a cameo by Hello Kitty). It is at once both a lovely holiday film and an "Alice In Wonderland"-style fantasy, complete with moments that may be too terrifying for little children. This film needs to be remastered and released to DVD, it deserves to be discovered by today's generations.

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!

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!