The Nutcracker Sweet

I almost wanted to root for Aronnax Animation's The Nutcracker Sweet. It was produced in Peru, as many South American countries are getting into the animation industry, and it was the company's second film. It has a few good names in the cast: Alicia Silverstone, Drake Bell and Ed Asner. And it's clearly based on the original story over the ballet, albeit Dumas' rewriting of it.

The story follows Marie and Fritz Silberhaus (as I said, Dumas) over the day before Christmas Eve. They clash as siblings often do, with Fritz being the younger one. Their Godfather Drosselmeyer arrives and presents them with a present to share: a nutcracker. The nutcracker does get damaged, but it is easily repaired.

During these scenes, an owl in the clock pops out and tells the story of the Nutcracker, with some alterations. The most altered bit is that the Mouse Queen created the Mouse King with a magic spell that required her to steal baby Pirlipat's crown, which had the side effect of making the princess ugly.  The promised reward for breaking her curse is "becoming a prince," and Drosselmeyer's nephew is made the kingdom of the Land of Sweets.

That night, Marie witnesses the battle between the mice and the toys and ends it by throwing her slipper at the Mouse King. The next day, she awakens is visited by her godfather. That night, she and Nutcracker go to the Land of Sweets, called the Kingdom of Marzipan, where the Christmas Forest somehow turns Marie into a toy soldier. They meet Nutcracker's sister, Princess Marmalade.

Fritz is tricked by the mice to taking them to the Land of Sweets, where they become robotic toy mice and they turn on him and lay siege on Nutcracker's castle. Giant tree and gelatin people are involved somehow, and the battle climaxes with the Mouse King chasing Nutcracker up a tower. The Mouse King falls off, but the Nutcracker tries to save him at first before the Mouse King finally meets his end by falling to the ground.

Fritz and Marie are returned home (and back in human form) for Christmas, when Drosselmeyer's nephew shows up and tells them they can visit his kingdom anytime they want.

The story adaptation goes off the rails trying to go epic scale with storytelling that really doesn't warrant it. There's slowed down scenes that really shouldn't be slowed down. The animation is quaint, but not remarkable. It's not what you'd expect from Pixar or Illumination or Blue Sky. I'm pretty sure Fritz and Marie and the Mice getting turned into toys were because those forms were easier to animate and it reduced the budget. The voice cast does fairly well, though.

The depth to the story has all been scrubbed and sanitized and "sweetened" away, eliminating anything grotesque or anything that might rankle parents. To me, this was the biggest weakness as the slightly disturbing stories and fairy tales given to kids makes them think. Removing objectionable content might make the story more fun, but it makes it ultimately forgettable.

If you're really interested, give this Nutcracker a spin. If not, give it a pass.