The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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Saw it today. Was very dissapointed. Luke was right that it had a thin story ( though what was with Luke saying "if you've been clamoring for a definitive version of The Nutcracker, you're lying"?! Jerk! Don't you think he's a jerk for that? I wanted a definitive version of The Nutcracker!). It was so simple. It was so...well I thought stupid. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms? More like Clara, the Palace and the Fourth Realm! The only parts I really liked were the beginning, ending, because of the emotional drama and the feeling, the costumes, the sets, the ballet, and the lead mouse. I really loved the stuff with Clara's father. Also what was with Sugar Plum's stupid nonsesical motivation for doing what she did? If she just wanted to be queen, I would get it. But she felt abandoned?! And they cut her "Oh, sugar!" line?. I did like Mackenzi and Keira's acting, but they couldn't save the film. This film was very meh.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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Disney Duster wrote: though what was with Luke saying "if you've been clamoring for a definitive version of The Nutcracker, you're lying"?! Jerk! Don't you think he's a jerk for that? I wanted a definitive version of The Nutcracker!
I just read Luke's review before coming to the forum-While I don't think Luke's a jerk, at all, I disagreed with his statement, because I grew up with a Nutcracker storybook, and I'm always wanting original Disney fairy tale/fantasy live action films!

In 5.5 hours I'm seeing it. I'm still hopeful!!
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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Box office update.
Disney, meanwhile, just got served its worst domestic opening in two years with “Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” which opened to just $20 million domestic from 3,766 screens and $58.5 million worldwide against a $130 million budget. It’s the weakest start for Disney outside of its DisneyNature documentaries since the $18 million start for “The BFG.”
Source: https://www.thewrap.com/bohemian-rhapso ... utcracker/
As fate would have it, Disney suffered a major miss over the weekend as the big-budget The Nutcracker and the Four Realms bombed with $20 million in the U.S. after costing $125 million to produce. It is Disney's lowest nationwide debut in more than two years, excluding nature docs. Nutcracker fared better overseas, earning $38.5 million from its first 45 markets for a global start of $58.5 million.

"We were obviously looking for a stronger start," says Disney distribution chief Cathleen Taff. "The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition for many, and we'll see how the film plays out the next several weeks."
Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... bs-1157967
Disney is hoping the classic Christmas tale is able to pick up steam as it heads into the holidays. “Obviously, it’s not the start we were looking for, but it’s a great family friendly option,” said Cathleen Taff, Disney’s president of domestic distribution. “Sometimes it doesn’t connect as broadly as we want it to.”
Source: https://variety.com/2018/film/news/bohe ... 203019366/
Disney’s $120M priced family film opened in 45 material markets this session for 72% of the overseas footprint. It did $38.5M across those, a higher number than we were seeing ahead of the weekend, but the UK was very soft at just $2.1M. Disney’s President Theatrical Distribution, Franchise Management and Business & Audience Insights, Cathleen Taff, tells me the movie “opened where we wanted it to be in most other territories.” It did $12M in China to land No. 1 and a very solid $5.5M in Italy, making it the 5th biggest opening weekend of 2018 there.

The movie also took advantage of the All Saints Day holiday in some markets. Taff says, “The Nutcracker is part of a holiday tradition for a lot of people so we’ll look to how it plays ahead.” Nutcracker’s top 5 markets this weekend were China ($12M), Italy ($5.5M), Germany ($2.7M), Mexico ($2.3M) and Spain ($2.2M). Key future openings include Australia, France, Japan, Korea and Russia.
Source: https://deadline.com/2018/11/bohemian-r ... 202495705/
Lasse Hallstrom’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” topped the Chinese box office with a far from festive $12 million opening score. The romantic fantasy, presented by Disney in most international markets, topped the Chinese charts on all three days between Friday and Sunday. It played some 80,000 screening sessions per day on each occasion., according to data from Ent Group.
Source: https://variety.com/2018/film/asia/chin ... 203019427/


Think pieces as to why the film failed have begun.
Even though it’s their third bomb this year after Solo and Wrinkle in Time, Disney put their best foot forward: They saw a high concept in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 holiday short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King; it was in their princess wheelhouse, and with an awards pedigree filmmaker and below-the-line team, the studio felt it was definitely worth the spend. But unlike the alchemy of Bohemian Rhapsody which is a nostalgic roller coaster rider for all generations, Nutcracker‘s elements didn’t make for a great chemistry. After a trailer was flatly received at the studio’s fan convention D23, Disney reportedly ordered another 32 extra days of reshoots with director Joe Johnston stepping in for Lasse Hallstrom (both decided to share co-directing credit). Still, there are other negative factors which slowed down business this weekend.

Some blame the release date for being too early for a holiday film, arriving too soon after Halloween. However, Disney needed to space Nutcracker away from Ralph Breaks the Internet during Thanksgiving, and they certainly weren’t going to take a holiday film out at Christmas which is where they have Mary Poppins Returns. The marketing and the overall look of The Nutcracker also looked too similar to Beauty and the Beast. Not to mention, The Nutcracker screams ballet, which doesn’t necessarily sell to a mainstream family audience even though there’s not a lot of dancing in this movie. The movie has a darker tone than we’re used to (not for under 7-year-olds who came out at 6%) and has little in it for boys (girls out-number them 60% to 40% under 12). Reviews, which complain about the pic’s slow pace and lack of dance, hurt those mothers who otherwise would have taken their kids (without the nag factor) for nostalgic reasons. Disney is reporting a 57% female turnout for Nutcracker, 57% over 25 with families repping 43%, adults 50% and teens 7%. 2D repped 82% of business, 3D 18%.
Source: https://deadline.com/2018/11/bohemian-r ... 202494598/
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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I just came back from it, and it was as amazing as I’d hoped it would be. I definitely need to see it again (we had free tickets from blood donation, so I need to pay my $8-10 and see it again), maybe with a notebook- I had so many thoughts throughout that I can’t think of right now!

(note: “SPF” = Sugar Plum Fairy!)
nomad2010 wrote:As for overall, it’s very clear this movie was one thing and was changed to something else midway through production.
nomad2010 wrote:If you pay attention, you can clearly see the seams holding two different movies together. It’s very odd, and very disorienting at times.
Mooky wrote:I can't tell if the movie's under-cooked or overcooked because it had two directors (with opposing visions, I assume)
I know I tend to love films that others see as “flawed,” but I just couldn’t notice it feeling as 2 different films because of the director switch; I thought that it flowed smoothly. Do you mind giving examples of what you felt made it feel disjointed/like 2 films?

(I’m typing as I’m going through the thread, and nomad2010 gave an example.)
nomad2010 wrote:the end after all is done and Clara becomes queen or something along those lines. She’s wearing her silver dress and she talks to the regents of the realms and then walks forward down a hall toward what I’m assuming is a crown of people we never see? And it cuts to her back in her party dress leaving. It makes no sense. You have no idea what she was doing or why she was dressed up or what on earth was taking place that day. Just another odd casualty of the directors switching I’m assuming?
(It would’ve been nice of them to show it, but I assumed that it was like a crowning ceremony or something...but of course I could be completely off.
Deadline article that Sotiris posted wrote:Some blame the release date for being too early for a holiday film, arriving too soon after Halloween.
I would absolutely say that it’s not a “Christmas” film- if people are going in expecting “Christmas,” of course they will be disappointed. The adventure part of the story could be applied to any time of year; it’s just because the setting elements take place on Christmas Eve (like, the key being a Christmas present, but really, Clara’s mom could have left her the key for her birthday, you know- but then obviously it wouldn’t have followed the traditional story. I have no issues with it not being a “true holiday” story.)

I know that some people didn’t like the clowns, but I loved their designs, and I don’t have a fear of clowns, and I like darker fairy tale type films...and it’s the Land of Amusements- it made sense to have clowns.

I think the tin soldiers “died” when no one else did (besides SPF) was because Marie did not bring them to life; only her creations stayed alive (besides SPF!).

While “Clara and the Fourth Realm” may have been a more appropriate title, Philip plays an important role; I mean, Clara would have died without him (she was falling, and he grabbed her)
Sotiris wrote:I'm glad they're acknowledging Fantasia even if its connection to the movie is tenuous.
The couple times they showed the orchestra, I was so happy- it’s a nice little nod.
Sotiris wrote:The scene didn't need exposition though. It was distracting, unnecessary, and diminished the impact of what was happening on stage.
Disney Duster wrote:It just may be a little weird. It would not be like a movie scene. It would be like, well, stopping a movie to watch a ballet for a few minutes.
Sotiris wrote:I think it would have been just fine. It's a a short scene, anyway. It's OK for movies to give the audience some breathing room and let them immerse themselves in the film's world. It's not necessary to constantly have dialogue or exposition. This scene doesn't need it. The concept of the four realms had already been explained before this scene so the ballet interpretation of that is self-evident.
I actually liked that SPF was explaining to Clara...I mean, the explanations were brief, and I feel that if I were in Clara’s shoes, even if it might be self-explanatory, flowers, snowflakes, and sweets, I might still want a little explanation.
blackcauldron85 wrote:If the characters in the Realms learn that Clara is Marie's daughter...they (or at least Phil(l)ip does!) recognize the last name Stahlbaum...would child Marie have had this name? Doubtful, unless she married someone with the same last name as her...So did Marie go back to the Realms as an adult?
Marie indeed did go back to the Realms as an adult; they knew about Clara! I wonder how/when she was able to sneak away? I guess it may not have been so hard with the way time passes in the outside world.
D82 wrote:The explanation for how Clara's mother created the realms (through "science", if I understood it well) wasn't believable. It would've been better if she had just discovered a magical world instead.
I know I need to see it again, and I haven’t read the expanded novel (but I will!), but I think not much explanation at all was given to how Marie created the realms, besides turning toys to living beings with the machine.

estefan wrote:I thought the music was used excellently throughout the film
I thought so, too. Especially when Clara, Philip, & the soldiers are in the forest and the music slows down- I really liked that.
Mooky wrote:Clara's reaction to the whole journey is baffling as well, she kind of acts like adventures like these happen to her every day and I got no sense of wonder and amazement from her.
nomad2010 wrote:Clara has very little sense of wonder to this incredible world around her.
I didn’t think this. I definitely thought that she felt wonder. I also think that she’s a “get down to business” kind of girl, and there pretty much was a time crunch, so she just needed to get done what she got done. But I definitely could see it in Clara’s face, when she first gets to the realms, sees Philip, the mouse/mice, sees the ballet, goes through the Realms- I felt that Clara was feeling the wonder.
nomad2010 wrote:The biggest issue in the movie is Mother Ginger. She’s seen on screen for a whole 2 minutes before we realize she isn’t a bad guy. Even more so though is the fact that there’s no explanation how she was banished, how Sugar Plum convinced everyone she was bad, or how any of the fourth realm came to collapse and rot away.
So, when they were in the forest, I had it in my head your quote above, but when we first meet Mother Ginger, we didn’t know that she wasn’t evil-- Clara and Philip went to give the key to SPF.
nomad2010 wrote:There’s also a weird minor plot about shutting down the water flowing from the castle with no explanation as to why this needs to be done.
I don’t have answers for this, but SPF realized that something was going on inside the castle because she noticed that the water was no longer flowing; she knew that the tin soldiers weren’t the ones who had turned it off. (So, I just mentioned this to my dad, who did not see it- he said maybe Clara did it as a sign, so SPF would go into the castle...we know that Clara couldn’t have shrunk SPF without her being in front of the machine!)
nomad2010 wrote:Structure wise the biggest issue is that the last half of the movie is really spent in the warehouse/lab where the villain twist goes down. It’s terrible looking and feels like a million other movies I’ve seen many times. We’re in this magical world, and instead the biggest things happen in a warehouse.
I definitely see your point, but I did not have this thought when watching it. I was too involved in what was going on to have this thought. And the warehouse is an appealing warehouse, I think. But I absolutely see what you’re saying; since we didn’t see much at all of the other 3 realms, it would’ve been more visually appealing than the warehouse. Saying that, though, it makes sense that the toy storage and shrinking machine were in a warehouse vs. just chilling in one of the realms, I suppose.
blackcauldron85 wrote:For those of you who already saw it, how full was your theater?
I didn’t count, but my mom estimated about 25 people on a Sunday at noon.
Disney Duster wrote:what was with Sugar Plum's stupid nonsesical motivation for doing what she did? If she just wanted to be queen, I would get it. But she felt abandoned?! And they cut her "Oh, sugar!" line?.
I felt that maybe it was a thought of SPF’s that they’d be lost without Marie, so who better to rule than SPF, but the other regents would not allow her to, so she wanted to get rid of them? Again, I could be totally off.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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blackcauldron85 wrote:
I know I tend to love films that others see as “flawed,” but I just couldn’t notice it feeling as 2 different films because of the director switch; I thought that it flowed smoothly. Do you mind giving examples of what you felt made it feel disjointed/like 2 films?
So this ones a little tricky to explain this on, but I’ll do my best to put it into words.

A lot of the disjointedness comes from the way the movie was pieced together. The opening is this sort of sad, melancholy period piece that is trying very much to be emotional and give heart, and largely I think that set up is pretty successful until we get to the editing in Drosselmeyers. Suddenly the pace doesn’t so much pick up but the breathing room of the picture is removed almost entirely. There’s no time really spent exploring the space, developing a mood, or really giving characters (Drosselmeyer in this case) a lot of depth or mystery.

Once we get to the Fourth Realm, it’s very clear something odd went down in the editing because that first encounter with Mother Ginger’s tent being thing is oddly rushed again and kind of lifeless. It’s clear reshoots we’re done with this because you can tell a lot of the effects minus the mouse king are lower in quality and there’s a lot of green screen. Once we’re in the palace, all the regents suddenly show up in front of green screens in the room where sugar plum flies for the first time. They had a built set, so something plot wise was majorly changed here, thus the green screen which is another sign of reshoots. We also get the two odd guard characters i forgot about who’s subplot goes nowhere. They’re really the only childish slapstick in the whole film, and feel wholly out of place.

The big issues start with the ballet and the proceedings. We see the only shots of Clara in the two realms she doesn’t visit shoved in there awkwardly, and then by that point we are to the big plot twist basically. And that’s where the two films being clashed into one becomes completely visible. It seems the original director had this grand, lush film that took its time exploring this beautiful world. We know from interviews they filmed a lot in the other realms. But then they brought in the new director and reshot so much, and said the runtime had to be cut. So the plot was majorly condensed, hence the plot holes with the water, the very little Mother Ginger we see until after she’s revealed to be a good guy, and the whole lack of how on earth Sugar Plum convinced the entire world Mother Ginger was evil. Now I’m not saying all this was in there for sure, but some of it surely was. And when directors changed hands and the other realms were cut and they decided to clearly go the more kid friendly route (hence the short runtime) a lot was lost.

So what we’re essentially left with is this movie that sets itself up well, then has these beautiful moments of grandeur, but then cuts to this short snippy, plot hole filled, tightly edited scene, and then goes back to another lengthy scene that is far more satisfying. What could be cut was, and what couldn’t was saved and kept in tact. That’s when you see the original director. When scenes have breathing room and development. It’s why so many gorgeous shots from the trailers aren’t in there too. Disney does this with all their films as of late. Establishing shots, artsy shots, emotional shots, they’re all cut as short as possible to keep the length down. And so these movies fly by. And what makes this instance so interesting is that many scenes COULDNT be cut down. So it goes back and forth between a rushed scene and a lovely long, fleshed out scene.


I hope that helps! I’m sure others will be able to help as well, but that’s the best way I know how to explain it! I’m glad you enjoyed it though. I really wish I had. I’d been so excited about it, but alas.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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Glad we feel the same about wanting a great Nutcracker movie! I didn't truly mean it should be called "Clara, the Palace and the Fourth Realm", lol, I was kidding and prefer the real title. I just expected more of a role for the Nutcracker and the other realms. And I liked the creepy clowns too!

This felt like a Christmas story and movie because even though it's an adventure it's at Christmas time with Christmas things like snow, ballet, sugar plums, toys, Mother Ginger, and nutcracker soldiers.

So you think Sugar Plum thought their needed to be a queen, and when no one let her be queen she had to turn things lifeless? But she didn't know that the queen died! I guess she wanted to be queen when she just left? I guess I could accept that.

Nomad2010, you're very observant and seem to be quite right and smart about what's going on! But I liked the two guards!
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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I've been reading some reviews about this one, and they're sadly not favorable. I've seen a trailer on an IMAX screen this weekend, when I saw Bohemian Rhapsody (which, by the way, was totally awesome!!!), and it looks so good on a big screen. I have to wait until November 30, when it will debut in Romania. But I'm still looking forward to see it.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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Disney Duster wrote: Nomad2010, you're very observant and seem to be quite right and smart about what's going on!
- Yes, I agree!!! Thank you, nomad2010, for going into such detail!

About the guards- yes, I can see how they originally could have been meant to play a bigger part. I liked them...I know it was in the trailer, and I know the other realms didn't trust the mice, but when Clara/Philip/Jingles got to the castle & they were asking about if they came into contact with/how they feel about mice/if they had cheese on them...part of me wondered if the guards were mice turned human, but after seeing the film, I don't think so! I guess they just did the survey to make sure no one from the Fourth Realm gets into the castle? I did think they were amusing, even so brief-- I thought it was refreshing to show *someone* pretty scared of being in the forest!

I just thought of another thought I had during the film- I thought I read it on the forum, but couldn't find it yesterday (maybe I missed it, read it somewhere else, or read it about another movie): In the forest, maybe we just didn't see every horse + soldier in the regiment/party, but when they were in battle, it seemed like there were more soldiers than there were on their journey, but maybe we just didn't see the whole group in the previous shots.
nomad2010 wrote:The opening is this sort of sad, melancholy period piece that is trying very much to be emotional and give heart
I felt emotion and heart throughout the film, with all the mentions of Marie and how everyone felt about her, Philip and Clara's scenes, SPF (I knew the twist going in) mentioning that the toys-come-to-life feel things/emotions really stuck with me throughout the film and allowed me to see the characters differently, to feel for them even more.
nomad2010 wrote:Drosselmeyers...
There’s no time really spent exploring the space, developing a mood, or really giving characters (Drosselmeyer in this case) a lot of depth or mystery.
I think that Drosselmeyer only needed to play a brief role...obviously he was needed to solve the mystery about the key, and maybe part of Clara needing to know that everything she needs is inside her was knowing that since she's so similar to Marie (everyone told her that!), a)it was good not only that Drosselmeyer told her that she is, but b) gave her some background on her mom...maybe making Clara feel even closer to her mom, and knowing that since she is her mom's daughter, and hrr mom told her that everything she needs is within, that she can totally do anything...basically, Drosselmeyer was the jump start to Clara finding the key, and herself, so it's okay that he played a minor role? Surely he's in the expanded novel, since it's a lot about Marie. (I hope I made sense!]

I didn't notice any of the green screen, so I'll have to try and notice next time- good eye!!
nomad2010 wrote:The big issues start with the ballet and the proceedings. We see the only shots of Clara in the two realms she doesn’t visit shoved in there awkwardly, and then by that point we are to the big plot twist basically. And that’s where the two films being clashed into one becomes completely visible.
I absolutely get what you mean as far as not seeing Clara in the other Realms. I'm guessing that what happened in the other Realms wasn't important enough to the whole story. I would have liked to have seen more of the regents in their Realms, but maybe it's like national government, where people from all locations govern from far away (I'm American, so using Washington, D.C. as an example), so who knows how much time the regents spend in their lands. And how much do they rule? Do they make laws? How much governing is in their hands vs. Marie's? Maybe part of SPF's problem was that without Marie, they can't function...think if a mayor, governor, president/prime minister died and no one replaced them?

And staying on the topic of SPF, while the circumstances of Mother Ginger stopping SPF's last takeover attempt may not have been crucial to the plot (just knowing that SPF has been bad for some time and Mother Ginger has been good is what mattered, I suppose), in my mind what makes sense is that Mother Ginger walked in on/saw SPF up to no good, and [somehow- an explanation absolutely would have been nice-BUT- ]we saw firsthand how manipulative and deceptive SPF is...after this takeover, Philip/regents/Clara were like, "Gasp! She lied to us!" so I'm not surprised that SPF previously told everyone that Mother Ginger attempted a takeover, everyone believed SPF over Mother Ginger (if MG even got to speak with anyone outside of her Realm)
...
nomad2010 wrote:It seems the original director had this grand, lush film that took its time exploring this beautiful world. We know from interviews they filmed a lot in the other realms.
Maybe it was gorgeous but didn't have enough excitement/action/tension? Would any of the screenplay have changed for the reshoot, do you think?
nomad2010 wrote:So the plot was majorly condensed, hence the plot holes with the water, the very little Mother Ginger we see until after she’s revealed to be a good guy, and the whole lack of how on earth Sugar Plum convinced the entire world Mother Ginger was evil.
It makes you wonder, in any film, really, with lots of unused footage: For the water, for example: did the people in decision-making positions who saw the film in its various states only think that no one will question the water plot because it's only a "kid's" movie, or maybe it was previously filmed, more of the water, so THEY knew the backstory, so they didn't realize that no one else knew because it was cut out?

Should the film have used flashbacks more? We just had the brief one of Marie/Clara, but if there was time left, at least one showing SPF/Mother Ginger might have been nice.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by estefan »

There must be conflicting emotions at Disney this weekend. On the one hand, the studio they're about to acquire blew past many expectations with the opening weekend numbers for "Bohemian Rhapsody", so Disney must have been pleased with those results. However, their own movie was Disney's lowest opening of the year. I hope the film has decent legs at least and The Grinch doesn't squash it too badly next weekend. Meanwhile, Disney will be competing with themselves in a few weeks with Ralph Breaks the Internet, too.

I fear The Nutcracker will be playing in less than a thousand theatres by the time Christmas rolls around, especially with all of the big movies like Mary Poppins, Into the Spider-Verse, Bumblebee and Aquaman plus the Oscar contenders claiming screens at that moment.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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blackcauldron85 wrote: Maybe it was gorgeous but didn't have enough excitement/action/tension? Would any of the screenplay have changed for the reshoot, do you think?
Oh for sure. That’s part of what I was trying to get across. Reshoots almost always are to alter the script of a film. And with this movie, it’s clear the script was dramatically rewritten in order to simplify or condense the plot. The part I mentioned the green screen on specifically was most likely reshot with said green screen in order to change the lines the characters said in that room and move the plot in a different way.

It seems Disney didn’t think the original script/original rough cut had enough excitement because they never allow their films to breathe. Maleficent is the best example of the that. A thin plot spread into a 90 minute movie but it still somehow feels rushed. This film is the same way.

It’ll probably be a few years until we hear exactly what on earth happened behind the scenes of this movie just like it took that long to hear what happened with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and it’s crazy reshoots. But looking back on the film I’m really beginning to wonder if all of Helen Mirren’s scenes in the fourth realm weren’t reshoots. As in her original scenes were completely scrapped in order to condense the story and work around the newly small-child friendly script. If you notice, Helen is only on screen for maybe two minutes before she’s back in the castle and known to not be a villain. Adding more fire to that threory in my mind is that the set she appears on is incredibly small. Like they didn’t have the budget to recreate what was originally built. There’s just something odd about how cramped that scene is, and I know it’s supposed to be the top of the tent, but they could’ve built and shot it better easily. And cinematography-wise, all of Mother Ginger’s scenes in the fourth realm are probably the least visually cohesive. They don’t have the same quality as the others which could indicate reshoots too. That would also explain some of the shots of her in the trailers that were cut as those probably came from the original shoot and thus original script before all the alterations. Last but not least is the awkward hug between Clara and Mother Ginger. It comes from nowhere, and feels very forced. I’m sure there was a wealth of plot development between the two of them that got cut, and that’s really sad, because I’d bet she was “Mother” Ginger because she originally served as a mother figure to Clara in the end.

Either way, in the years to come we’ll hear some crazy stories about the production of this one. It’s very rare for directors to share credit on a film. And as nice as the original directors statement was about not being available, I really doubt that was the case. Every film has reshoots planned. And yes these became more extensive for them than they’d accounted for, but that only happened because Disney wasn’t pleased with the original directors work in the first place. It’s sad we didn’t end up with a Rogue One situation where reshoots saved the film and made it pretty incredible. But either way, we’ll get some juicy behind the scenes details eventually. Troubled productions make for incredibly interesting reads.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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blackcauldron85 wrote:I just came back from it, and it was as amazing as I’d hoped it would be.
I'm glad you liked the movie.

blackcauldron85 wrote:I actually liked that SPF was explaining to Clara...I mean, the explanations were brief, and I feel that if I were in Clara’s shoes, even if it might be self-explanatory, flowers, snowflakes, and sweets, I might still want a little explanation.
I initially thought the explanations would be distracting, but the clip we saw was a shortened version. In the actual film the segments without dialogue were longer and it didn't feel like the characters talking interrupted the dancing to me.

blackcauldron85 wrote:
D82 wrote:The explanation for how Clara's mother created the realms (through "science", if I understood it well) wasn't believable. It would've been better if she had just discovered a magical world instead.
I know I need to see it again, and I haven’t read the expanded novel (but I will!), but I think not much explanation at all was given to how Marie created the realms, besides turning toys to living beings with the machine.
You're right, there's not much explanation for that. I was referring mainly to the machine, but they mention several times that Marie created the realms, so I suppose she created more than just the inhabitants of that world. And I assumed that if she gave life to the toys through science, she had probably done the same with the rest. On second thought, they also say she discovered that place, so I guess it must be a combination of magic and science.

I imagine they invented the machine and that Marie was the creator of the realms to explain why that world is populated by toys and is full of candy, flowers, etc., but it doesn't make much sense to me. As I said, I would've preferred it was only magic.

Another detail that I believe wasn't explained in the movie that I forgot to mention was who put the key in that tree that Clara finds when she enters the realms. Was it Clara's mother, Drosselmeyer, Mother Ginger or another character?
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by Disney Duster »

Yes the talking didn't interrupt the ballet as much as we feared.

They shouldn't have had some girl use science to create the four realms. It should have been magic! So I agree with you D82 .
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by blackcauldron85 »

nomad2010- THANK YOU!!!! :) I minored in film in school, but reshoots were not explained, & you're awesome for taking so much time explaining all that you have' <3
D82 wrote:Another detail that I believe wasn't explained in the movie that I forgot to mention was who put the key in that tree that Clara finds when she enters the realms. Was it Clara's mother, Drosselmeyer, Mother Ginger or another character?
When watching the film, I assumed it was Drosselmeyer, but you make a great point- it absolutely could have been someone else (to see if
he even ever went to the Realms, I need to read the expanded novel!)
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by Vlad »

I went today with low expectations, after reading all those unfavorable reviews online, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I actually enjoyed it a lot. I loved the music, the scenery, the visuals, and the story itself. Mackenzie Foy is so beautiful, and I loved that scene at the end with her father. I’m only sorry that Hellen Mirren had so little screen time, because she was brilliant. And I loved the Fantasia tribute they did during the ballet sequence.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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I'm glad two people liked this movie. Oh, and Amy, I, too, think the end scene within the castle was a coronation.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by Sotiris »

The movie is coming to home video on January 29, 2019. Here's the trailer for the home video release.

Standard release

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4K Ultra HD

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Best Buy exclusive

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Disney Movie Club

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Bonus features
Blu-Ray & Digital HD:

• On Pointe: A Conversation with Misty Copeland – Copeland shares the thrill of portraying one of her favorite characters in a whole new way.
• Unwrapping “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” – Dive into the production design, sets, costumes and more that helped transform a beloved ballet into an adventurous movie.
• Deleted Scenes: The Stahlbaums Arrive – As the Stahlbaums enter the Christmas Eve ball, the butler attempts to announce them to the assembled guests.
• Deleted Scenes: Follow Your Ribbon- Drosselmeyer encourages a reluctant Clara to go find her gift.
• Deleted Scenes: Clara Asks About Her Mother – Sugar Plum gives Clara a tour of her mother’s bedroom.
• Deleted Scenes: Left Left, Left, Left, Left, Left – Wandering lost in the forest, palace guards Cavalier and Harlequin quarrel about which way to go.
• Deleted Scenes: Out with the Old – Sugar Plum makes sweeping changes to the palace decor.
• Music Videos: “Fall on Me” Performed by Andrea Bocelli Featuring Matteo Bocelli – Experience superstar tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo Bocelli performing their first duet together in this uplifting song.
• Music Videos: “The Nutcracker Suite” Performed by Lang Lang – Get swept up in a series of images from the movie, set to Tchaikovsky’s music and featuring world-renowned pianist Lang Lang.

Digital Exclusive:

• Unwrapped: The Visual Effects of “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” – View a reel that explores the layers of effects in sequences of the film.
Source: https://accordingtokristin.com/2019/01/ ... -ray-1-29/
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by Sotiris »

Q: Why did A Wrinkle in Time and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms miss so badly?

Sean Bailey: A Wrinkle in Time was an ambitious swing. I'm grateful for Ava [DuVernay] and the cast. Ultimately my assessment is that it's a really hard piece of source material to adapt. We didn't quite get there. Nutcracker is another hard one. Neither the book nor the ballet really has a strong narrative throughline, so we tried to bring together the most beautiful global artists and thought that would be a really wonderful thing for families to go experience. We tried really hard, and we were wrong.
Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... ng-1169170
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by Sotiris »

This has to be my favorite poster for the film.

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Source: https://www.facebook.com/DisneyMovieClu ... 669539009/
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Post by JeanGreyForever »

As subpar as the actual film was, the posters for the film were breathtaking. I wish the script had been given nearly as much attention as the production design and promotion were given.
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Re: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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The film has been nominated for a Golden Trailer Award.

Best Animation/Family

Despicable Me 3
Isle of Dogs
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Peter Rabbit
Ralph Breaks the Internet


The film has been nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award.

Best Original Song — Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Film

Black Panther (All the Stars)
Deadpool 2 (Ashes)
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Fall On Me)
Mary Poppins Returns (The Place Where Lost Things Go)
Mary Poppins Returns (Trip A Little Light Fantastic)


The film has been nominated for an Annie Award.

Character Animation in a Live-Action Production

Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
Mary Poppins Returns
Paddington 2
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms


The film has been nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award.

Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film

Aquaman (Kym Barrett)
Avengers: Infinity War (Judianna Makovsky)
Black Panther (Ruth E. Carter)
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Jenny Beavan)
A Wrinkle in Time (Paco Delgado)
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