The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

[JeanGreyForever]

I don't even remember him from the trailers. Still find it odd that the Nutcracker isn't on the actual theatrical poster.

[Disney Duster]

Thanks for the cool pics and great info D82! Good to finally hear about the nutcracker soldier. I like Clara being an inventor, like her mother.

[Disney's Divinity]

Not surprised to see them copy the recent B&tB by making the heroine an inventor. They seem to be borrowing from all the successful live-action fantasy films Disney's made to cobble this together, particularly Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure it'll help it be successful like them though, but I'd like to think "The Nutcracker" is something familiar enough to attract an audience.

[D82]

No problem, Disney Duster! I'm glad you liked it.

I don't even remember him from the trailers. Still find it odd that the Nutcracker isn't on the actual theatrical poster.

It looks like this is the actor listed as the Nutcracker on IMDb. I don't think he appears in the trailers. And on his resume there are only a few roles as an extra, so I doubt IMDb is right. I still think the the Nutcracker is the black soldier shown in the trailers and poster. Apart from the fact that he seems to have a sizable role in the film, it would made more sense it was him if, as in many versions of the story, he's Drosselmeyer's nephew. We'll see. Anyway, I don't understand why all this secrecy about the Nutcracker either. How come he's in the title and not in the posters or trailers? Will it be a spoiler just seeing his appearence as a toy?

[Disney Duster]

I don't think they took the inventing thing from Belle, especially as this film, which has an inventor mother creating the whole realms, was well on its way before Beauty and the Beast came out.

[D82]

New still from Fandango's Fall Movie Guide:

https://images.fandango.com/ImageRender ... ll2018.jpg

[JeanGreyForever]

It looks like this is the actor listed as the Nutcracker on IMDb. I don't think he appears in the trailers. And on his resume there are only a few roles as an extra, so I doubt IMDb is right. I still think the the Nutcracker is the black soldier shown in the trailers and poster. Apart from the fact that he seems to have a sizable role in the film, it would made more sense it was him if, as in many versions of the story, he's Drosselmeyer's nephew. We'll see. Anyway, I don't understand why all this secrecy about the Nutcracker either. How come he's in the title and not in the posters or trailers? Will it be a spoiler just seeing his appearence as a toy?

Doesn't seem like he'll be the Nutcracker then. I remember for Oz the Great and Powerful, the marketing was trying to get people to guess which witch would become the Wicked Witch of the West. But there isn't anything like that here for people to guess who the Nutcracker is so I'm not sure what Disney is up to.

I don't think they took the inventing thing from Belle, especially as this film, which has an inventor mother creating the whole realms, was well on its way before Beauty and the Beast came out.

Was this film really in development way before BATB?

[D82]

I remember for Oz the Great and Powerful, the marketing was trying to get people to guess which witch would become the Wicked Witch of the West. But there isn't anything like that here for people to guess who the Nutcracker is so I'm not sure what Disney is up to.

I remember that from the marketing of Oz too. But yes, hiding the Nutcracker here is different and seems strange. Well, maybe when we see the film we'll understand why they didn't reveal him before.

[Disney Duster]

I don't think they took the inventing thing from Belle, especially as this film, which has an inventor mother creating the whole realms, was well on its way before Beauty and the Beast came out.

Was this film really in development way before BATB?

Well the first page of this thread says it was written in 2016, which was not before BatB started in development, but before BatB came to theater's and became the most monetarily successful live-action remake.

[JeanGreyForever]

Well the first page of this thread says it was written in 2016, which was not before BatB started in development, but before BatB came to theater's and became the most monetarily successful live-action remake.

Oh, I see what you mean. However, Disney's recent trend of updating their female characters in their live-action films (Alice, Maleficent, Belle, etc.) means that Clara being an inventor would likely have occurred regardless of how well BATB did box-office wise.

[Disney Duster]

Yes, I agree.

[D82]

New article about the film's costume design: https://twitter.com/thenutcracker/statu ... 9170762752

Unfortunately, it seems the article can't be accessed from outside the US. For those who, like me, can't see it, here's an image from the article with some costume designs: https://twitter.com/JJKarenina/status/1 ... 9585809409

Here's also a new still: https://twitter.com/JJKarenina/status/1 ... 9585809409

And a sneak peek is coming to the Disney Parks: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/20 ... ney-parks/

[JeanGreyForever]

Here's the article for anyone who can't access it.

Costume designer Jenny Beavan has won Oscars for dressing the English past and the apocalyptic future. Now she’s marrying the two, melding historical verisimilitude with fantasy in Disney’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.”

“We set it in 1875 for the basic story,” says Beavan, of keeping the fantasy elements rooted in reality. “You’ve got to have an anchor. When you do films where they say, ‘I don’t care about the period’ and they’re all over the place, I think, even when people don’t know the period, they know it’s kind of wrong.”

Beavan took home Oscars for films about as sartorially varied as they come: the circa-1908 period piece “A Room with a View” and the circa-who’s-keeping-track-after-the-end-of-the-world “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Also a Tony nominee, Beavan has racked up eight other Oscar nominations.

The new “Nutcracker,” opening Nov. 2, is a live-action fairy tale, with nods to the ballet as well. In it, Young Clara (Mackenzie Foy), still mourning her late inventor-mother during the first Christmas without her, comes to a party at her godfather, Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman). She discovers the magical wonderlands her mother created and learns they’re in danger. Victorian England provides the grounding from which the magical worlds sprout.

“We decided to think about what the mother had in her closet or her cupboards,” says Beavan. “When I have nightmares or dreams, they’re often anchored in something I’ve seen that day or something I have around. So we went to the sort of Staffordshire [porcelain] figures people would have; they’re 18th century, and they were perfect for the Realm of Flowers. It translated brilliantly for all the realms. We covered them with ice and snow and icicles and frost and glitter, covered them in candy and sugar and sweet motifs. So they’re based on memory.”

“Nutcracker” was a titanic undertaking, she says, estimating that after a 12-week prep period, she had more than 100 people working, cutting and embellishing, fitting and dressing. Beavan estimates that the movie’s principals required 150 costumes (counting “repeats” — copies for stunts and such), plus hundreds more for the magical realms and about 700 rented costumes for big crowd scenes.

“It was massive,” she says of the approximately 1,500 total outfits. “Massive fun as well, don’t get me wrong.”

Some designs let her whimsy fly, such as the getup actor Eugenio Derbez dons that gives new meaning to the words “floral pattern” and the gorgeous embroidery on Freeman’s gown (“He was just so easy,” Beavan says of the veteran actor. “He loved the shoes. He has very wide feet.”).

But some of the less fantastical creations are among her favorites, such as Clara’s “mauve organza dress” as she emerges, vulnerable, from a tree into a frozen world, and her “Little Soldier” costume, based on what women of the period wore when serving in the military.

“They were out with the troops in various parts of the world, normally not actually fighting, but being backup services, nursing, what have you,” Beavan said.

The costuming team’s work is remarkably intricate: the detail, the fineness of the fabrics’ textures, the use of color. Then, for the film’s lone ballet sequence, prima ballerina Misty Copeland’s garb is anything but complex.

Beavan says, “With ballet, what you’re trying to do is show the body and the line. She’s a dancer like you get in a music box, the ballerina going around. To me it was the simpler, the better. We’re so elaborate everywhere [else]. What we wanted to see from Misty and Sergei Polunin, you just want to see good ballet. And she’s the most amazing dancer.”

[Disney Duster]

I love all the costumes! Thanks for alerting us to the article D82! And thanks for showing the whole thing here, JeanGreyForever, that was nice.

[JeanGreyForever]

I'm glad they gave it a specific date although the original novella is set much earlier (partially because it was written and published before 1875). Wish it could have been set in Germany like the original rather than England which seems to be the implied setting.

I find it interesting that Clara's mother is also an inventor. I think I remember reading that she was responsible for helping to create the magical realms that Clara will journey too so I don't think that was new information. Surprised though that the Christmas party is held at Drosselmeyer's home since it's usually held at Clara's home with Drosselmeyer visiting.

[Disney Duster]

Thanks for all the info, JeanGreyForever. I agree with you completely!

[Atlantica]

Oh gosh what an interesting article ! I love hearing the costume makers talk about their inspiration and why they do what they do for the film.

[D82]

Here's the article for anyone who can't access it.

Thanks a lot, JeanGreyForever! It was an interesting article.

[disneyprincess11]

The final trailer tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/Disney/status/1036645997718384640

Hoping that it's much better than the last one and we finally see the Nutcracker. That article on the worlds nearly restores my faith in the movie

[D82]

Another new still. I guess it's from the article about the costume design.

The final trailer tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/Disney/status/1036645997718384640

Hoping that it's much better than the last one and we finally see the Nutcracker. That article on the worlds nearly restores my faith in the movie

Who knows, maybe they have saved the Nutcracker for the final trailer. We'll find out soon!