Review of The Nutcracker Prince (1990) by John F — 24 Apr 2011

I want to fight back against these reviews who did not enjoy this film. There is criticism here of the villain being killed in the finale (an ending most animated films boast and in some cases far more vividly then in this rather innocent outing) and stating the characters are static and unpleasant.

Nothing could be further then the truth. This enchanting title from my childhood featured only one moment when I could not watch without getting scared and that was the scene where the mouse queen cursed the beautiful Princess in the fairytale. Other then that I was quite happy to sit back and enjoy the magic.

I would like to point out in response to Entertainment weekly that the Mouse queen and the mouse king are the only abusive characters in the film and the only antagonisers. As such the mouse queen is abusive to her son, calling him stupid, while the parents and guardians of Clara and the Prince are loving and supportive characters who are always nurturing and never belittling.

Similarly Roger Ebert is very quick to criticize the film merely on the death of the villain. In both attempts to slay the mouse king the heroes do not provoke attack but rather run from the danger and try to respond non-violently as much as possible. The mouse king in both instances falls to his death with very little visual support from the film but more implied imagery. This is far different to say Anastasia where Rasputin deteriorates into ashes before the eye of the audience or the Black Cauldron where the Horned King's flesh is pulled from his bones before he implodes.

All in all the Nutcracker Prince is a charming affair where the good characters do not provoke or encourage violence but instead attempt to go on a magical adventure to save their friends and break the curse placed on the hero. If it weren't for the villains constantly trying to off them then there would be no violence at all. So lets let the violence go and stop criticizing this film on the actions of the bad guys when it is the messages put forth by the heroes that stick with the children of today. :).