Clara

Clara is the protagonist of Barbie in the Nutcracker. She is played by Barbie, and voiced by Kelly Sheridan. After receiving a Nutcracker from Aunt Elizabeth for Christmas, Clara's parlor is ambushed by the Mouse King and his army. Clara tries to fight them, but she is shrunk by the king's magic to the size of a mouse. In order to be transformed back to her full size, Clara must embark on an expedition to find the Sugar Plum Princess - a powerful fairy who possesses the powers to return Clara back to her normal size.

Story
Clara is an orphan. Her parents died when she and her little brother Tommy were very young, so they were raised by their Grandfather Drosselmayer. When we first see Clara in the movie, she is a teenager who wishes she could go on adventures like her aunt, Elizabeth. Elizabeth came to stay with Clara on Christmas Eve, so she gave Clara a Christmas present: a nutcracker doll. Tommy wanted to play with the nutcracker, but while he was trying to take it from Clara, he broke the nutcracker’s arm. Clara fixed the arm, and later fell asleep on the sofa in her parlor, with the nutcracker standing on the floor.

At midnight, magic occurred in the parlor: Magic came out of a mouse hole in the parlor; a portal to and from another world, Parthenia, opened in the mouse hole; and Clara's nutcracker became animated, as well as an owl atop the clock which belonged to Clara's grandfather. An army of mice entered the parlor through the mouse hole, so when Nutcracker saw the mice, he immediately ran to attack them with his sword. Clara woke up to see the battle, thinking she was still dreaming. To her shock, more mice came out of the hole, with their king, the Mouse King. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King began to battle, so Clara tried to help Nutcracker by attempting to trap the Mouse under a vase. Unfortunately, the Mouse King used his magic sceptre to make Clara the size of a mouse.

Nutcracker protected Clara and fought the Mouse King and his army, and Clara helped by flinging her shoe at the Mouse King, knocking him unconscious. His army took their king back through the mouse hole. Nutcracker informed Clara that only the Sugar Plum Princess could reverse the Mouse King’s shrinking spell on Clara, and that he himself was a victim of the Mouse King’s magic - he was not always a nutcracker doll. The owl from on top of her grandfather's clock wanted to help Clara and the Nutcracker, so she swooped down to them. The owl told Clara that she could find the Sugar Plum Princess in Parthenia, on an island across the Sea of Storms. Clara didn't want to go, but she had no choice if she wanted to get rid of the Mouse King’s spell. The owl gave Clara a locket from a decoration, and was instructed to open it once she found the Sugar Plum Princess. Then, Clara would return home her normal size.

Clara put on the locket and went through the mouse hole with Nutcracker. After a few steps, she and Nutcracker fell into the portal leading to Parthenia, but they landed in a cave made of ice. A young snow faerie appeared, and bumped into Nutcracker’s chest, hurting her wing. Clara fixed the faerie’s wing, and the faerie left and came back with more, older snow faeries. The faeries danced for Clara, and opened an entrance from the ice cave to the land of Parthenia. Clara and Nutcracker talked about the Sugar Plum Princess, but the Mouse King’s spy, a bat named Pimm, overheard them. Pimm informed the Mouse King, who had never heard of the princess before. Clara and Nutcracker arrived at the Gingerbread Village, where they met two children, the Peppermint Girl and the Gingerbread Boy, and a horse named Marzipan. The children told Clara and Nutcracker that the Mouse King’s army had gotten rid of everything and everyone in the village.

The Gingerbread Boy blamed Prince Eric, the son of the king who had ruled before the Mouse King took over, for the destruction of the village. The king had left his throne and golden sceptre to his then advisor, the Mouse King, until Eric was ready to be king. The Mouse King enjoyed being king, so he took over Parthenia, and Eric disappeared. Clara and Nutcracker decided to take the children with them until they could find them a safe place to stay. The four of them travelled with Marzipan until they saw the Mouse King’s army carrying away things from the Gingerbread Village. Marzipan ran away, and the army noticed Clara and the others, so the army began to chase them.

Clara told the group to follow her into the forest, where they were rescued by people in the Treetop Village. Major Mint and Captain Candy, two of the villagers, found Clara and Nutcracker to be very suspicious, and began questioning them. Clara told Major Mint that they were looking for the Sugar Plum Princess, which Captain Candy believed, whilst Major Mint was cynical about it. The Captain managed to convince Major Mint to help Clara and Nutcracker find the princess, so they would leave the next day. Meanwhile, the Mouse King found a description of the Sugar Plum Princess, but it didn’t say where to find her. He decided to send something to destroy Nutcracker before he could find her, so he used a spell to make a rock pillar into a giant, and ordered it to crush Nutcracker.

Clara said goodnight to the Gingerbread Boy and the Peppermint Girl before they went to sleep, as she would be leaving them in the Treetop Village for their own safety. She went to talk to Nutcracker outside. She told him she knew he was really Prince Eric, and he told her that he didn't want to be the prince, he just wanted the Parthenians to be happy. The next day, Clara, Nutcracker, Captain Candy and Major Mint set off on their expedition to find the princess, led by the Major. They crossed some floating stepping stones, and Major Mint ordered Clara and Nutcracker to find supplies while he and Captain Candy made a boat to cross the Sea of Storms. They came across a valley which the Mouse King had destroyed, where they found some flower faeries. The faeries thought Clara was beautiful, and they danced for her and made the valley lush and healthy again. However, the rock giant arrived and began to terrorize everyone.

The snow faeries helped everyone by freezing the Sea of Storms, and they led Marzipan back to Clara and the others. Everyone got into Marzipan’s sleigh, and they began to cross the frozen sea, but the rock giant followed them. Nutcracker broke some ice with his sword, so the giant fell into the sea. After that, the group still had trouble crossing the sea because it became foggy. Pimm, who had been secretly riding on the back of the sleigh, told the Mouse King that Nutcracker had defeated the rock giant. Meanwhile, Major Mint thought it would be too dangerous to continue crossing the sea because of the fog. Clara got out of the sleigh and saw that the island was not far away. When they had all reached the island, they eventually found the Sugar Plum Princess’s castle. Nutcracker, Major Mint and Captain Candy walked towards the castle, but it turned out to be a trap, and they were caged and taken to the Mouse King’s palace. However, Clara had managed to get away.

Clara was left alone with no way of getting off the island, until the flower faeries came to her rescue. They carried a seat made of leaves for Clara, so Clara sat on it and they flew her to the Palace of Sweets. Clara crept into the palace, and the faeries quickly left to encourage the Parthenians to stand up to the Mouse King, which Pimm overheard and informed the king about. The Mouse King demanded that every villager and faerie be rounded up and brought to the palace courtyard to witness him finally destroy Nutcracker in a bonfire.

Clara looked around the palace until she found a dungeon, which appeared empty, but Clara was clever and realised there was an invisible wall which was hiding Nutcracker, Captain Candy and Major Mint. Clara smashed the wall, and they all went to the courtyard. Nutcracker and the Mouse King fought against each other, but when Clara tried to help, the Mouse King tried to use a spell on her to make her even smaller. The Nutcracker used his sword to reflect the spell back onto the Mouse King, and so the Mouse King was shrunk and his sceptre was destroyed. The Mouse jumped in the sewers. The Nutcracker was knocked to his feet with the impact of reflecting the spell, and Clara was very worried about him. She kissed him, which magically reversed the Mouse King’s spell on the Nutcracker, turning him back into Prince Eric. Captain Candy and Major Mint were shocked, and, but Clara's kiss made Eric realise that Clara was the Sugar Plum Princess.

Eric told Clara that she had been the Sugarplum Princess the entire time, because it made sense that she had saved everyone several times, and she had reversed the Mouse's magic. Clara had broken all of the Mouse’s evil enchantments, so the Palace of Sweets transformed to how it had been before the Mouse had taken over. Eric was free to take his rightful place as King, and the Parthenians were all so happy that they forgive Eric, and everyone celebrated by dancing. Clara and Eric shared a romantic dance together, and afterwards, he asked her to stay in Parthenia instead of going home, so she could be his Queen. Clara agreed, because she felt at home in Parthenia, and she kissed Eric again.

However, Pimm and the Mouse swooped by and snatched Clara’s locket. The Mouse opened it, so Clara automatically had to go home. Clara faded away before Eric could tell her he loved her, leaving him distraught, and Clara woke up on the sofa in her parlor. Clara couldn't find her Nutcracker doll anywhere, but Aunt Elizabeth came into the parlor with the son of a dear friend of her's she had ran into when she was taking her morning stroll: Eric. Eric had been invited by Elizabeth to stay for Christmas dinner, which Clara thought was a wonderful idea. Clara and Eric were left alone, so Eric gave Clara her locket and they danced together.

Personality and Powers

 * "You are the Sugar Plum Princess! It all makes sense; you saved me from the Mouse King in your parlor, you rescued us from his dungeon, your bravery led to his defeat and... your kiss has broken his spell."


 * —Prince Eric.

Clara is kind, clever, and brave. She is reluctant at first to go to Parthenia, as her grandfather has probably sheltered her, and she has never been allowed to travel with her aunt.

Family, and Family Friends
Clara's grandfather is a strict man, but he cares about his grandchildren. Clara does not seem to be able to really talk to her grandfather, though, and is closer to her aunt Elizabeth. Her aunt is a fun and interesting woman to Clara, and Clara enjoys hearing about her travels. She wants to travel with her aunt but knows her grandfather would never allow it, because he wants Clara to stay at home. Clara considers Elizabeth her favourite aunt, and possibly a mother figure, seeing as her own mother is gone.

Clara and her snarky brother Tommy have a typical brother-sister relationship; they squabble a lot, and one of their squabbles leads to Tommy breaking Clara's Christmas gift: her Nutcracker. He does show that he is guilty, and says he is sorry, but in the morning he just refers to the Nutcracker as a hunk of wood and says "Why would I want him?", showing that may not have been sorry about breaking the Nutcracker after all (and was possibly just more afraid of getting in trouble, as the purchaser of the gift saw it break, and his grandfather is, of course, very strict).

Also, Clara is able to talk to the family maid in a casual way, and was never shown giving the maid any orders, but rather treating her like an acquaintance.

Miscellaneous Relationships
Clara is a kind girl who is easily capable of befriending people. She is treated nicely by the faeries of Parthenia, and they help her throughout her journey. She was also quickly accepted by Marzipan, the horse, and Marzipan allowed Clara to stroke her. Clara showed, when she met the Gingerbread Boy and the Peppermint Girl, that she prefers to resolve conflicts through peaceful conversation rather than physical violence; instead of attacking the children with snowballs, Clara picked up the girl's doll and gave it back to her, winning the girl's, as well as the boy's trust. Also, when the Mouse King was invading her parlour, she was most likely going to just trap him in the vase she was holding, rather than kill him.

The Major and the Captain were not very close to Clara, but they never seemed to dislike her either. The Major did have some sexist thoughts towards Clara, though (when she tried to warn him about the Rock Giant, and he assumed that she had just seen something small and was overreacting) and did not seem to think he needed to treat her with too much respect (as he was unaware that she was the Sugar Plum Princess, and thought the princess did not exist altogether). The Major and the Captain were interested in assisting Clara and the Nutcracker on the expedition to find the Sugar Plum Princess, however, showing they meant well.

The Mouse King did not seem to find Clara to be too much of a threat, but more of an obstacle. He only used her to get information about the Nutcracker from Pimm, as he was intent on defeating Nutcracker.

Physical Appearance
Clara is a teenager with light skin and blue eyes. She has long, straight, shiny blonde hair. She is the same height as her aunt Elizabeth, who said that Clara had grown several inches taller since she had last seen her.

Party Gown
For a party, Clara wore a detailed purple gown. The bodice has a square collar and is trimmed with white criss-crossing braid and butterfly shapes where the lines meet. There is a lace trim above her chest. She has three quarter length sleeves that end just below her elbow. The sleeves have three layers of sheer, white, ruffled material and a white bow below the elbow. The skirt is full and she wears white stockings and purple heeled shoes. Her hair is half up and half down.

Night dress
Clara's nightdress is light pink. It has long sleeves, and the skirt goes past her knees. The top of the dress is an empire cut that sits just below her chest, and there is a white lace trim on the centre of the bodice. There is a white band at the bottom of the bodice, sitting just below her chest. The shoulders are puffy and the sleeves are tight, ending in white lace. The skirt has two bands of white lace running just above her knees. She wears white slippers with a low heel. After shrinking, Clara wears a heart-shaped locket.

Sugar Plum Princess Attire
When Clara transforms into the Sugar Plum Princess, her hair becomes wavy and tightly curled. She wears a gold tiara on her head, and a glittering ballet dress. The bodice of the dress is glittery and pale pink with sheer, ruffled trimming. The tutu is full and a darker shade of pink. She wears white tights and pink pointed shoes.

Quotes

 * "A nutcracker! He's wonderful! Thank you, Aunt Elizabeth!"
 * "This has to be a dream!"
 * "Here, let me give you a hand!"
 * "We're trying to find the only one who can defeat him, the Sugar Plum Princess."
 * "That's not true! You're risking your life to save your kingdom! Isn't that what Princes do?"
 * "I should never have come. What was I thinking? That I was going to find a magical princess?"
 * "I can't leave. I'm their only hope!"
 * "You and I know, you're much more than that" (she kisses Nutcracker) "Prince Eric."
 * "This locket was supposed to take me home but in my heart, I feel like I'm already there."
 * "I couldn't say 'no' to the king."
 * "Mother gave it to me the Christmas I saw my first ballet."
 * "I have some doll clothes that would fit."
 * "Me? With you? In there? I don't think so."
 * "Remember? I'm supposed to be taller." 
 * "What am I saying? I can't leave! I'm their only hope."

Behind the Scenes

 * Mattel auditioned 70 people to find the right voice for Barbie and Clara, and they eventually picked Kelly Sheridan.
 * One animator was devoted to Clara's hair, ensuring it would move naturally when she dances.

Trivia

 * Clara is based on Marie Stahlbaum, a 12 year old girl from the original "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King"'fairy tale. However, the main character was also named Clara in "The Nutcracker" ballet version and the 1990 movie "The Nutcracker Prince".
 * Clara is the first of Barbie's role who is confirmed to be an orphan, the second being Princess Sophia.
 * Clara is the first Barbie character who likes dancing, the second being Princess Odette, the third is Princess Genevieve, and the fourth is Kristyn Farraday.
 * Clara is the first Barbie character to have younger siblings, the second is Princess Genevieve, the third is Barbie Roberts, and the fourth is Princess Victoria. Blair Willows also have one, but not her birth sister. She was also the first Barbie character to have only one sibling, the others are Princess Odette and Princess Annika.
 * Clara is the first Barbie character to be seen having a kiss with her love interest, the second is Rapunzel, and the third is Barbie Roberts in Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale.
 * Her crown and hairstyle after transformations looks similiar with Tori's ones.
 * Her straight hairstyle is reused by Odette from Barbie of Swan Lake.
 * There's also a Sugar Plum Fairy in Barbie in The Pink Shoes.

Goofs

 * When Clara threw her shoe at the Mouse King to save the Nutcracker, her shoe was on her feet again.