Barbie in the Nutcracker

"If you're kind, clever, brave and true, anything is possible."
–

Barbie in the Nutcracker is the 1^st CGI-animated Barbie movie. It was first released on October 2^nd, 2001, and it was marketed as Barbie's first ever movie. The movie was animated by Rainmaker Entertainment, and is loosely based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Barbie stars as Clara Drosselmayer, a kind, clever, and brave girl who receives a nutcracker from her aunt, Elizabeth Drosselmayer. The nutcracker comes to life when the evil Mouse King ambushes Clara's home and uses magic to make her the size of a mouse. To reverse the spell on herself, she must go to Parthenia and find the Sugar Plum Princess, the only person capable of defeating the Mouse King.

Plot

Official Summary

"Barbie magically comes to life in this stunning computer-animated adaptation of the E.T.A Hoffman classic. The tale begins when Clara (Barbie) receives a beautiful wooden Nutcracker as a gift from her favorite aunt. That night the Nutcracker springs to life to ward off the Mouse King who has invaded Clara's parlor. She wakes and aids the Nutcracker, but the Mouse King shrinks her using an evil spell. Clara and the Nutcracker set off on a fantastic adventure to find the Sugar Plum Princess, the only person with the power to break the enchantment. Barbie in the Nutcracker shows that, if you are kind, clever and brave, anything is possible."

Story

Barbie and Kelly are practicing ballet steps for "The Nutcracker", but Kelly cannot master them. Upset, Kelly decides to give up. Barbie encourages her little sister and tells Kelly about Clara Drosselmayer.

Full Story

Clara and Tommy Drosselmayer have been living with their stern grandfather ever since their parents died. Grandfather Drosselmayer and Aunt Elizabeth have different ideas about how to raise children. At Christmas, Clara receives a Nutcracker doll from Aunt Elizabeth. Clara's little brother Tommy breaks the Nutcracker's arm. Clara fixes the Nutcracker and falls asleep in her parlor with it but the parlor is invaded by a Mouse King and his army, searching for the Nutcracker. Nutcracker comes to life and fights, but when Clara tries to help she is shrunk. When the army retreats, thanks to Clara hurling her shoe at the Mouse King, Nutcracker tells her he only looks like a Nutcracker because of the Mouse King. Both victims of the evil king's magic, they have to find the Sugar Plum Princess, the most powerful faerie in Parthenia.

Clara receives a necklace which will let her return home at any time, at her normal size, and she and the Nutcracker go through a mouse hole. It leads to caves made of ice, and leave there thanks to snow faeries breaking the ice. They enter Parthenia, where the Mouse King is ruling, and the king's spy, a bat named Pimm, sees Clara and the Nutcracker. He goes to inform his matster and he sets the soldiers to capture the Nutcracker. Clara and Nutcracker go to a destroyed Gingerbread Village and meet two children and a horse. The children, Peppermint Girl and Gingerbread Boy, and the horse, Marzipan, travel with Clara and Nutcracker because they are alone.

Clara learns that Prince Eric is the rightful ruler of Parthenia, but he mysteriously disappeared. The group goes into a forest but soldiers chase them, so they hide in the treetops. They meet Major Mint and Captain Candy, and some villagers, who interrogate them. Nutcracker is thought to be a "wooden spy", but he and Clara explain they are searching for the Sugar Plum Princess, who will put an end to the Mouse King's reign. Major Mint does not believe their plan will work, but he and Captain Candy decide to go with Clara and Nutcracker.

The children stay with the villagers and Clara tells Nutcracker she has figured out that he is Prince Eric, but he does not want to be the prince as his subjects think lowly of him; he just wants to make them happy. Meanwhile, the Mouse King punishes his soldiers for not capturing Nutcracker and looks in a book for information about the Sugar Plum Princess, but finds barely any. He creates a rock giant to destroy the Nutcracker.

Clara, the Nutcracker, Major Mint and Captain Candy start their search the next day. They encounter some stepping stones and the Major crosses but he knocks the Captain off. Nutcracker saves the Captain and helps Clara cross. They then reach the Sea of Storms and Clara and Nutcracker go to find more supplies because Captain Candy lost his bag. Flower faeries help the pair find food, but the rock giant finds them and chases them. It destroys a boat the Major and Captain were building to cross the sea.

The snow faeries turn the sea into ice and the group go with Marzipan across. Nutcracker cracks the ice and the rock giant falls through. Pimm tells the king, and he makes another trap. Marzipan leads them to the Sugar Plum Princess' island. They see a fake building of the Sugar Plum Princess' palace. When Major Mint, Captain Candy and Nutcracker go into the fake castle, there is interior but it is made of cardboard, as is the castle exterior. A cage drops on the men and captures them. Clara is alone until the flower faeries bring a swing to carry her to the castle where the men are being held.

Clara sneaks past the Mouse King, who is building a bonfire in the castle courtyard. She comes to a dungeon and distracts its guards, but the dungeon is empty. Clara realises how unnatural it would be to post guards at an empty room and, using logical thinking, smashes the invisible barrier which was hiding her friends. The group confront the Mouse King and he prepares to shrink Clara again, but the Nutcracker deflects his spell and the Mouse King is shrunk to the size of a real mouse and flees into the sewers.

Clara kisses the Nutcracker and he transforms back into Prince Eric. Clara transforms into the Sugar Plum Princess and the palace transforms; the bonfire is replaced by a beautiful fountain. The Mouse King's reign is officially over. The people of Parthenia all celebrate and dance, and Eric asks Clara if she will stay. She decides she will, but Pimm and the Mouse King fly by and snatch Clara's necklace. They open it and she unwillingly returns home, just before Eric can declare his love for her. Fortunately, the Mouse King doesn't enjoy his victory for long, as Pimm is afterwards knocked out by a snowball thrown by the Peppermint Girl, causing both villians to crash to the ground to their deaths.

Clara wakes up to find herself on her sofa with no nutcracker. No one believes what she says about the Nutcracker being a king, but her aunt comes in with a friend: Eric. He gives Clara her necklace and they dance. Grandfather Drosselmayer reluctantly allows Clara to travel with Aunt Elizabeth. Barbie finishes the story and Kelly is finally able to perform the ballet steps perfectly.

Starring The Voices Of

Voice Artist	Role(s)
Kelly Sheridan	Barbie Clara
Kirby Morrow	Eric
Tim Curry	Mouse King
Peter Kelamis	Pimm
Christopher Gaze	Major Mint
Ian James Corlett	Captain Candy
French Tickner	Grandfather Drosselmayer
Kathleen Barr	Elizabeth Drosselmayer Owl
Cathy Weseluck	Maid
Alex Doduk	Tommy
Chantal Strand	Kelly
Britt McKillip	Peppermint Girl
Danny McKinnon	Gingerbread Boy
Shona Galbraith	Voice Of Faeries

DVD Scene Selection

Opening Credits
Barbie Tells a Story
Clara's Gift
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
Inside the Ice Cave
Waltz of the Snow Faeries
Magical Land of Parthenia
The Gingerbread Village
Major Mint and Captain Candy
The Power of the Scepter
Sugarplum Princess Expedition
Waltz of the Flower Faeries
Rock Giant
Across the Sea of Storms
The Mysterious Island
Clara to the Rescue
Battle for the Kingdom
Prince Eric and the Sugarplum Princess
Pas de Deux
Returning Home
The Courage to Dance
End Credits

New York City Ballet Dancers

The ballet in the film was motion-capture based, and choreographed by Peter Martins. The ballet dancers, from the New York City Ballet company, used for this film are: Charles Askegard, Benjamin Millipied, Maria Kowroski, Nora Y. Mullman, Abi Stafford, and Janie Taylor. They are all principal dancers in their company, and principal dancers are usually the stars of a ballet. They are very important as their ranks are equivalent to prima ballerinas, the second highest title awarded to a ballerina and quite rare. The music was by Tchaikovsky and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

Gallery

Merchandise

To photos of the merchandise of Barbie in the Nutcracker, click here.

Videos

Commercial Trailer

Barbie™_in_The_Nutcracker_-_Official_DVD_Trailer

Trivia

Barbie in the Nutcracker won "Best Animated Video Premiere Movie" at "Video Premiere Award" and was nominated for "Best Animated Character Performance".
According from IMDb, the movie rated 5,8/10
To promote the film, Mattel held a sweepstakes on Barbie.com. The winner went to the premiere of Barbie in the Nutcracker in Los Angeles. McDonalds had Happy Meals with Barbie and Ken in them.
Mattel auditioned 70 people to find the right voice for Barbie, and they eventually picked Kelly Sheridan.
In the crowd scenes, one group of peasants is used repeatedly.
This is the only Barbie movie that premiered on CBS.
This film has no moral, unlike the films following it (with only exception to The Barbie Diaries)
In Land of Sweets, Hannah is a little unsure about being brave enough to dance in front the audience. Madame Natasha acts as a mentor to Hannah and reassures her. In the end they dance correcty and Kristyn is proud of Hannah, much like Kelly and Barbie in the movie.

Goofs

Clara kicks her shoe at the Mouse King's head, then as she gets down from the mantelpiece, it is back on her foot with no sign of her having retrieved it.

Also Known As

French - Barbie dans Casse-Noisette
Italian - Barbie e lo Schiaccianoci
German - Barbie in Der Nussknacker
Greek - Μπάρμπι στον Καρυοθραύστη
Romanian - Barbie in Spargatorul de nuci
Portuguese - Barbie em o Quebra-Nozes
Serbian - Барбие у Крцко Орашчић
Russian- Барби и Щелкунчик
Albanian - Barbi dhe Arrëthyesi
Polish - Barbie w Dziadku do Orzechów
Finnish - Barbie: Pähkinänsärkijä baletissa
Swedish - Barbie i Nötknäpparen
Persian - باربي فندق شكن
Turkish - Barbie Findikkiran
Czech - Barbie v Louskáčku
Dutch - Barbie in de Notenkraker
Español - Barbie en el Cascanueces
Mirandés - An L Quebra Nuozes
Georgian - ბარბი და მაკნატუნა

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