On Nov. 2, Disney released “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” a story about a girl learning to understand who she is with the help of friends, family and a mysterious yet magical world.
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” opens with an owl soaring over an old London celebrating the Christmas season as snow is blanketing the ground, people are ice skating and children await a chance to tell Santa their Christmas wishes.
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” was released Nov. 2 and is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” It also utilizes music from Tchaikovsky’s famous The Nutcracker Suite. @thenutcracker
The owl’s flight brings the audience to the Stahlbaum’s attic where Clara (Mackenzie Foy) and her younger brother Fritz (Tom Sweet) are creating a Rube Goldberg machine to capture a mouse. Moments later and the audience meets older sister Louise (Ellie Bamber) and father Mr. Stahlbaum (Matthew Macfadyen) who are preparing for a Christmas party they are to attend even though the family is still mourning the loss of the mother Marie (Anna Madeley).
Before the party, Mr. Stahlbaum gives his three children gifts that their mother wished for them to receive early. Louise gets a dress, Fritz, a group of toy soldiers and Clara a mysterious egg that is locked and missing a key.
Perplexed at why her mother wouldn’t have left her the key, Clara accompanies her family to her godfather’s party, though reluctantly, where she immediately retreats to his basement where he invents toys and other machines. Her godfather, Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman) finds her and speaks to her about the mysterious egg and soon has her on a quest where she sees the key, but also a world unlike the one she is used to, The Four Realms.
Shiver (Richard E. Grant), Sugar Plum (Keira Knightley), and Hawthorne (Eugenio Derbez), all leaders of a realm, introduce themselves to Clara (Mackenzie Foy) upon her arrival to the Four Realms. @thenutcracker
In the Four Realms, she meets a myriad of characters such as the Nutcracker, Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), and the Realm’s rulers: Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), Hawthorne (Eugenio Derbez), Shiver (Richard E. Grant) and Sugar Plum (Keira Knightley).
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” with additional influences from Alexandre Dumas’ “The History of a Nutcracker.” The movie also uses music from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite” and incorporates aspects from the famous ballet that always appears during the holiday season. However, those going into the movie expecting to see a faithful adaptation will be disappointed.
Misty Copeland portrays a Ballerina Princess who tells Clara of the Four Realms history through the form of ballet. @thenutcracker
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is a fun family movie. It is a fun addition to other live-action Disney movies like “Cinderella,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” The film had all the aspects that Disney seems to love in its live actions. There was the journey of a young girl discovering who she is, and that girl had skills that made her unique to all the other characters in the world. Clara, in this adaptation, was an inventor of sorts, loving physics and machinery.
The movie also had the magical visuals that one can expect from Disney. There was a pretty nice contrast between the world of old London and the world of the Four Realms. London had mostly darker, more sophisticated colors with come pastels for holiday spirit. There was color in old London, but they weren’t as bright and joyful as what was witnessed in the Four Realms. The Four Realms itself was very differentiable with colors with one of the realms being a winter wonderland with icy blues and whites, another of the realms being flowery greens and pinks, and yet another containing a burst of candy-colored craziness. The costumes were also well thought out and beautifully crafted for the worlds.
Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren) beckons for the mice of the Four Realms to aid her in her fight against the three realms who oppose her. @thenutcracker
Another aspect of “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” that made the movie just a bit more magical was the use of traditional ballet throughout the film. Most people hear “Nutcracker” and don’t just think of a doll that can be used to crack walnuts; they think of the ballet, and the movie’s use of the dance form pays tribute to many people’s holiday tradition of watching the ballet.
In the movie, as Clara is being told of the Four Realms’ history, a ballerina princess (Misty Copeland) appears and through dance, explains things as Sugar Plum voices over what may not be apparent to those who don’t understand ballet. One sad thing was that it seemed like there wasn’t nearly enough of the ballet though. There could have been more dances explaining the history as there was a lack of exposition, so the audience never truly gets to understand many of the characters.
Clara (Mackenzie Foy) speaks with her godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman) about her mother’s untimely passing, but also memorable characteristics. @thenutcracker
In addition to that, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” did make use of Tchaikovsky’s famous music from “The Nutcracker Suite,” but the placement of certain pieces made it feel awkwardly used at some points of the film, especially if one knows how it was used in the ballet.
However, those negatives are really only if a moviegoer were to expect to see a faithful adaptation. “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is not “The Nutcracker” that many have come to love and adore, and, in a way, it made for an interesting movie. For die-hard fans of the ballet, maybe wait until the movie is out on DVD, but for those who want a fun family movie, it’s worth a watch.
Overall 3.5 out of 5 paws.
