The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

[JeanGreyForever]

I hope by retelling they don't mean a retelling in the way Tangled and Frozen are of their supposed source materials. I wonder if Mother Ginger will play a character from the Land of Sweets or if she will be one of Clara's relatives.

[disneyprincess11]

First stills

https://twitter.com/DisneyStudios/statu ... 9336675328

[JeanGreyForever]

I forgot Keira Knightley would be in this. I liked the first two pics they released.

The synopsis is interesting though. Not a single mention of the Nutcracker except for the title and with Mother Ginger as the villain, it makes me wonder if they've scrapped the Mouse King completely. Also interesting that the whole story will be about her seeking a magical key to open a gift from her mother. I hope they don't go the route of her mother being dead and this is the only thing she has left from her, especially since her Godfather/Uncle Drosselmeyer would have made more sense to have given the gift since he is a tinkerer and creates toys that would likely open from a magical key.

[D82]

Not a single mention of the Nutcracker except for the title and with Mother Ginger as the villain, it makes me wonder if they've scrapped the Mouse King completely.

Both the Nutcracker and the Mouse King will appear in the film according to reports from the last D23 Expo, which I think haven't been posted here:

The trailer we saw opens with a carriage moving through the snow, while the instantly recognizable voice of Morgan Freeman narrates that it is Christmas Eve, a time of mystery. We then see an elaborate Christmas party, with a young girl wandering through the house, following a strange thread. Eventually, her path leads her into a snow-covered land, fantastic and over-the-the-top in its design. There are a lot of patterns in this world and it looks, for better or worse, very similar to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland remake.

Interestingly, our own Peter Sciretta noted that the concept art shown after the trailer maybe looked more like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings rather than Alice in Wonderland.

What the trailer didn’t show was the Nutcracker himself, who will be brought to life via CGI. The elaborate ballet dance numbers will be created by Misty Copeland and Sergei Polunin, two of the world’s most respected modern dancers.

Source: http://www.slashfilm.com/the-nutcracker ... -revealed/

The film largely takes place in a strange and mysterious parallel world—home to Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. But it’s the ominous Fourth Realm where Clara must take on a tyrant called Mother Ginger as well as a gang of mice who’ve stolen a coveted key from Clara.

“The Mouse King is made up of thousands of mice—a cutting-edge CG creation. But we wanted him to move in a way that would be wonderfully surprising and incredibly cool, so we called on Lil Buck to provide the style of dance that defines the character. He is so talented and the way he makes this character move is unbelievable,” said Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production.

Los Angeles-based dancer Lil Buck hit the stage at D23 Expo 2017 to demonstrate the kind of street dancing—called jookin—that informed the way his character moves in the film. The performance earned a standing ovation.

Source: http://www.insidethemagic.net/2017/07/d ... y-studios/

I hope they don't go the route of her mother being dead and this is the only thing she has left from her, especially since her Godfather/Uncle Drosselmeyer would have made more sense to have given the gift since he is a tinkerer and creates toys that would likely open from a magical key.

Drosselmeyer is the one who gives her the key, also according to a D23 report:

The D23 footage showed Clara receiving a special key from Drosselmeyer, which unlocks the magical, lush world of the Nutcracker.

Source: https://www.thewrap.com/nutcracker-four ... 018-mulan/


This movie looks interesting to me, but I would've preferred Disney had made an animated version of this tale instead of a live action one.

[JeanGreyForever]

Thanks for posting all that information. I'm glad to hear that the Mouse King and Drosselmeyer will still be around and playing significant roles. I was afraid they'd be entirely scrapped. I'd much rather the film be compared to Harry Potter than Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, even if Alice did have gorgeous visuals. The concept art may be more similar to the former, but knowing Disney and from what we've seen so far, the final film will likely more closely resemble Alice.

I would have preferred this film to be animated as well rather than live-action, especially since Disney's animated films tend to have more longevity. Of course, I'd have wanted a 2D animated film and that was never going to happen anyway, so perhaps it's for the best. Otherwise the film might take a lot from Frozen anyway if it was CGI.

[D82]

Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat- ... ce=twitter

[Disney Duster]

This film sounds and looks so cool! I only wish it was actually supposed to be Disney's version of The Nutcracker and was titled as such. I don't need it to be animated. Live-action is more fitting for ballet dances.

[JeanGreyForever]

This film sounds and looks so cool! I only wish it was actually supposed to be Disney's version of The Nutcracker and was titled as such. I don't need it to be animated. Live-action is more fitting for ballet dances.

To be fair, The Nutcracker has had many titles over the years. The original title is actually The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, as written by E.T.A. Hoffman. Then this version was basically adapted (and mostly abridged if you ask me) by Alexandre Dumas and just referred to as The Nutcracker, and the ballet is mostly based on this. And there was also a previous animated film called The Nutcracker Prince. So a new title isn't a big deal for me in this case, since it isn't like Disney is calling it "Plummed" or something ridiculous like that. The concept of the Four Realms and Mother Ginger seem entirely new though. I'll have to re-read the original to see if she was some auxiliary character, or maybe she has a brief role in the ballet.

[Sotiris]

I only wish it was actually supposed to be Disney's version of The Nutcracker and was titled as such.

I would also have preferred if it was just called The Nutcracker.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, well because of what JeanGreyForever said, I actually do not mind the title at all, since it's a lot like the original book title. I wish this was coming out much sooner than almost a year from now! Is Keira Knightly the one in the pink dress in that one photo?

[JeanGreyForever]

Oh, well because of what JeanGreyForever said, I actually do not mind the title at all, since it's a lot like the original book title. I wish this was coming out much sooner than almost a year from now! Is Keira Knightly the one in the pink dress in that one photo?

Same. I always wanted to see Disney's take on this so I'm excited for it. Yes, Keira Knightley is the one in the pink dress and she plays the Sugar Plum Fairy.

[Disney Duster]

Cool. I don't like the sleeves of the pink dress, but everything else looks great. I especially love Clara's 1800's bustle dress.

[Wonderlicious]

The concept of the Four Realms and Mother Ginger seem entirely new though. I'll have to re-read the original to see if she was some auxiliary character, or maybe she has a brief role in the ballet.

Mother Ginger is essentially a one-off character that appears in the Act 2 divertissement (alongside the Russian Dance, Chinese Dance etc.). I believe that she's based on a French folk character (often from puppet and travelling theatre shows) called Mère Gigogne whose several dozen children would emerge from under her skirt - basically nothing like the Mother Ginger in the film from what we know so far. The ballet version basically replicates the folk character traits, with a group of dancing children popping out from under the skirt of a tall pantomime dame on stilts, as in this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDWzn5Jeq4

That said, she often gets cut out in a lot of stagings of the ballet. The version of The Nutcracker I saw last year by English National Ballet (one of the main ballet companies in the UK) cut it out, and I believe the versions performed by other companies in the UK don't include it.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, that's cool! I actually saw a woman with children coming out of her skirt when I saw The Nutcracker ballet when I was a kid.

[JeanGreyForever]

The concept of the Four Realms and Mother Ginger seem entirely new though. I'll have to re-read the original to see if she was some auxiliary character, or maybe she has a brief role in the ballet.

Mother Ginger is essentially a one-off character that appears in the Act 2 divertissement (alongside the Russian Dance, Chinese Dance etc.). I believe that she's based on a French folk character (often from puppet and travelling theatre shows) called Mère Gigogne whose several dozen children would emerge from under her skirt - basically nothing like the Mother Ginger in the film from what we know so far. The ballet version basically replicates the folk character traits, with a group of dancing children popping out from under the skirt of a tall pantomime dame on stilts, as in this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDWzn5Jeq4

That said, she often gets cut out in a lot of stagings of the ballet. The version of The Nutcracker I saw last year by English National Ballet (one of the main ballet companies in the UK) cut it out, and I believe the versions performed by other companies in the UK don't include it.

Thanks for all the info! It'll be interesting to see if they keep that iconic element of the Mother Ginger character for her role in the film.

[Atlantica]

Just a thought; did they add in the additional title in case of a sequel ? Like Pirates of the Caribbean was originally titled just that, then the tagline was added on in case of a franchise being created.

Looks lovely from the stills though. I hope the reshoots with a different director are for the betterment of the movie, and not trying to polish a turd as the saying goes !

[DisneyFan09]

The trailer is up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ktuvx9hrMw

It looks nice, but it definitively has a Narnia/Alice in Wonderland-vibe to it. And it's tagline is from being "From the Studio that brought you The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast". Surpirse, huh?

[Vlad]

This looks so good. I love that they used Tchaikovsky's music. I'm not very familiar with this one, but will it be in the style of Sleeping Beauty? With songs, inspired by the ballet?

[PatrickvD]

I do hope they use Tschaikovsky’s music throughout. Visually this looks amazing. My interest has grown tenfold thanks to that trailer so it did the job.

[Disney Duster]

OMG!!!!!!!! THAT TRAILER WAS AMAZING!!!! Everything looks so cool, so thrilling, so beautiful, so exciting, so dramatic, so intriguing, so AWESOME!!!!! I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!! And the Sugar Plums Fairy's and Clara's dresses were fantastic!