Nutcracker Fantasy
| Nutcracker Fantasy | |
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Theatrical Poster for the 2014 Remaster Version
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| Japanese | くるみ割り人形 |
| Hepburn | Kurumiwari Ningyō |
| Directed by | Takeo Nakamura |
| Produced by |
Walt deFaria Mark L. Rosen Atsushi Tomioka Shintaro Tsuji |
| Written by |
Shintaro Tsuji Eugene A. Fournier Thomas Joachim |
| Based on |
The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffman |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Sanrio |
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Release date
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Running time
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82 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Nutcracker Fantasy (くるみ割り人形 Kurumiwari Ningyō?, lit. The Nutcracker) is a Japanese stop motion animated film produced by Sanrio, very loosely based on Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker and E.T.A. Hoffman's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It is directed by Takeo Nakamura and written by Shintaro Tsuji, Eugene A. Fournier and Thomas Joachim. It is officially released in Japan on March 3, 1979 and later in the United States in July 6, 1979. The film is nominated for the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and the 1980 Young Artist Award for Best Motion Picture featuring youth and won the 1980 Young Artist Award for Best Musical Entertainment.
Nutcracker Fantasy marks as the first stop-motion project by Sanrio, followed by Hello Kitty's Stump Village 37 years later. The film's overall animation style is reminiscent of the early Rankin-Bass Film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. A remastered version of the film was announced by Sanrio, with an advanced screening at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 29, 2014 and released formally in theaters in November 29, 2014 as part of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary.
The movie begins with a narration by the adult Clara talking about the Ragman, a mysterious old man who roams about the city looking into people's houses, and turns children into mice if he catches them up past their bed time.
Clara is excited about her friend Fritz coming to visit the next day and refuses to go to sleep. Her Aunt Gerda tries to frighten her with stories about the Ragman, but Clara says she's too grown up to believe in him. Uncle Drosselmeyer startles them with his arrival. He gives Clara a nutcracker doll, which she adores. She promises to go to bed immediately if she can keep it.
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Wikipedia