Barbie in the Nutcracker

Barbie in the Nutcracker is the 1st CGI-animated Barbie movie. It was first released on October 2nd, 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.

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.

DVD Scene Selection

 * 1) Opening Credits
 * 2) Barbie Tells a Story
 * 3) Clara's Gift
 * 4) The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
 * 5) Inside the Ice Cave
 * 6) Waltz of the Snow Faeries
 * 7) Magical Land of Parthenia
 * 8) The Gingerbread Village
 * 9) Major Mint and Captain Candy
 * 10) The Power of the Scepter
 * 11) Sugarplum Princess Expedition
 * 12) Waltz of the Flower Faeries
 * 13) Rock Giant
 * 14) Across the Sea of Storms
 * 15) The Mysterious Island
 * 16) Clara to the Rescue
 * 17) Battle for the Kingdom
 * 18) Prince Eric and the Sugarplum Princess
 * 19) Pas de Deux
 * 20) Returning Home
 * 21) The Courage to Dance
 * 22) 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.

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

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