The Nutcracker and the Mouseking

Starring:Jane Alan, Rufus Beck, Tina Bordihn, Volker Brandt, Norbert Gastell, Moritz GÃ¼nther, Sophie B. Hawkins, Robert Hays, Eric Idle, Hannes Jaenicke, Michael G. Johnson, Florence Joy, Leslie Nielsen, Bob Papenbrook, Tony Pope, Cindy Robinson, Beth Ann Styne, Wolfgang VÃ¶lz, Fred Willard
Director: Michael G. Johnson, Tatjana Ilyina
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

delightful kids film

The Nutcracker and the Mouseking
Starring: Jane Alan , Rufus Beck , Tina Bordihn , Volker Brandt , and Norbert Gastell
Director: Michael G. Johnson , and Tatjana Ilyina
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

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ASIN: B0002RQ2PS
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Customer Reviews:

delightful kids film.......2005-10-17

I was one of the writers on the English-language version of this film, and seeing as there are absolutely no other reviews of this, I'll post my own. It was a very interesting writing process, with plenty of anachronistic movie references, and it features the voices of some of my comedy heroes, including Fred Willard, Leslie Nielsen and Eric Idle. Kids and parents used to Pixar-esque complexities might be disappointed, but for the little ones, it's colorful, funny and the songs are fun.

Average customer rating:

Be careful what you wish for

The Nutcracker and the Mouseking
Starring: Robert Hays , Leslie Nielsen , Fred Willard , and Eric Idle
Director: Bob Buchholz , Michael Johnson , and Tatjana Ilyina
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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The Nutcracker Prince
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ASIN: B000A88F68
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Product Description

Christmas in Czarist Russia, 1900. A spoiled prince lives in a magnificent palace with his magician uncle, Drosselmeier. To test the young prince, Drosselmeier gives him one of two magic nuts. Each one has the power to make a wish come true. The prince carelessly plays with the nut as he muses that life would be much more fun if everyone was a toy. In a flash, the prince and his servants are turned into toy nutcrackers. The evil mouse king that live within the palace walls hatches a plot to take over the kingdom. Drosselmeier persuades Clara, a young girl who is enchanted by the nutcracker prince, to set off on a mission to save the kingdom. Will they be able to reverse the magic spell and save the kingdom from tyranny?

System Requirements:
Starring: Fred Willard, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Hays
Directed By: Michael Johnson & Tatjana Ilyina
Running Time: 86 Min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Be careful what you wish for.......2005-11-27

I'm somewhat impressed at the new spin on the Nutcracker story. The Prince (or rather, Tsarevich, as it takes place Russia, 1900) is a spoiled royal brat, and at a Christmas party, he is given a special gift by a magician, his Uncle Drosselmeyer: a magic nut that can grant any wish in the world. The Prince dismisses his uncle's gift, and thinks how fun it would be if everyone were toys. Needless to say, everyone, from the servants to the Prince himself as well as his horse, turns into toys.

With the turn of events, Drosselmeyer sets out to find someone with a pure heart who can break the curse, in the magic guise of a traveling toy store. Two children, Clara and her younger brother Nicholas, happen to chance upon it while traveling with their parents. Nicholas thinks the story about the Nutcracker Prince is lame, but Clara wonders if there is a way to save the Prince. She takes the Nutcracker Prince home with her, and from there, the two set out on their journey to find a second magic nut to restore the Prince to his human form. All while this is going on, the Mouse King is also seeking the magic nut, to fulfill his wish to take over the Prince's kingdom for himself.

While the story is pretty good, whoever behind the script (or translating it from its native language, German), had too much fun putting in in-jokes and allusions to pop culture. Some of it is humorous ("maybe they'll write a book about our adventure, or maybe even a ballet"), but I felt most of them were very off-putting. Another thing that I couldn't help put notice was the dialogue spoken in the film. It is very anachronistic, one of the royal servants sounds like a hybrid between a slacker/valley girl. I can't help but wonder if this was done for forced appeal on both the children and the adults' parts.

The animation didn't impress me too much. Where the visuals disappointed, it's made up by a pretty-good story and sound. Don't be fooled by the description, the movie is NOT fullscreen, it's actually widescreen, which should please the widescreen aficionados. The English voice acting is very good, and the placement of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" music in the film is excellent. The movie also has some songs, but while they're not terrible, it seems like they came from the obligatory "insert random pop music for an animated film" category.

There are NO extras on the DVD, save for Chapter Selection and Play. There are no audio options, no subtitles for the hearing impaired.

This is a pretty good holiday film, marred only by the animation and the anachronistic dialogue. It's a rather enjoyable film, but kids might not understand some of the in-jokes, especially if they're very young or not into pop culture. I wouldn't call this one a must-buy, but if you ever find it for cheap, it's not a bad purchase.

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