''The Nuttiest Nutcracker'' is a 1999 computer-animated

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

Christmas film loosely based on the 1892 ballet ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

.'' The film was directed by Harold Harris and starred the voices of

Jim Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...

, Cheech Marin, and

Phyllis Diller Phyllis Ada Diller (née Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her eccentric stage persona, self-deprecating humor, wild hair and clothes, and ...

. This film follows a group of anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables. Their goal is to help the Nutcracker's army get a star to the top of a Christmas tree before midnight and stop a rodent army from destroying Christmas. The film was released on home video by

Columbia TriStar Home Video Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures li ...

in 1999. The film aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

December 4, 1999, in addition to being shown on cable.

Plot

On a snowy Christmas Eve, Marie (

Debi Derryberry Debi Derryberry is an American voice actress who has provided voices for a number of animations and video games. Biography Derryberry was born in Indio, California to a family of Hungarian Jewish descent. Her grandparents were Holocaust surviv ...

) and her brother Fritz (Derryberry) are home alone with their Uncle Drosselmeyer ( Jim Cummings). Marie and Fritz's parents are away for the night and Marie is dismayed at having to spend Christmas Eve without them. She then wishes for Christmas to go away forever. A group of anthropomorphic nuts, Colonel ( Jeff Bennett), Mac ( Cheech Marin), Sparkle (

Desirée Goyette Desirée Goyette-Bogas ('' née'' Goyette; September 10, 1956) is an American singer, composer, lyricist and voice-over artist. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has voiced such characters as Betty Boop, Barbie, Nermal, Petunia ...

), Stash (

Kevin Schon Kevin Dodd Schon (born February 7, 1958) is an American voice actor who is known for his voice-over work in video games, movies and television shows. He is best known as a voice double for Nathan Lane for animated media, most notably as Timon in ...

), and Gramps (Cummings), overhear her plight, but become relieved at the scene of Uncle Drosselmeyer giving his niece and nephew Christmas gifts: a cannon for Fritz and a nutcracker doll for Marie. The nuts believe that the doll may be their prince (

Cam Clarke Cam Clarke is an American voice actor, known for his work in animation, video games and commercials. Among his notable roles are Leonardo and Rocksteady in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series, Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 ...

) and proceed to tell Little Pea (

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

), the youngest of the nuts, the story of how the nutcracker prince's relationship with a princess cursed by a mouse queen had turned him into a wooden figure, revealing that only true love will break the spell. Fritz takes the nutcracker from Marie. A chase up the ladder of the Christmas tree ensues, resulting in the doll falling hard to the floor. Upset by how "hurt" her nutcracker is, Marie turns Fritz away. She forgives her brother later in private, telling her nutcracker that out of all her gifts, she loves him the most. After kissing the doll on the lips, Marie becomes tired and falls asleep. The nuts fall asleep as well, unaware of being targeted by the mouse queen's son, Reginald (

). He plans to steal the Christmas star on the top of the tree and take over the Christmas Kingdom. With his army of mice, he attempts to capture the nuts. The nuts fight toy soldiers, who prove no match against the mice. Mac stages a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

with his own army of fruits and vegetables. The foods are eventually exhausted by fighting; Gramps is captured by three mice. Marie, awakened by the battle, sees her doll alive and fighting Reginald. Marie intervenes; Reginald is infatuated with her, but she brushes the mouse off her foot using the Christmas star. However, as the foods celebrate their victory, Marie is magically reduced to the nutcracker prince's height by Uncle Drosselmeyer. The foods inform Marie that without the Christmas star, Christmas will be "gone forever". Fortunately, Marie still has the star. They head into the Sugar Plum Fairy's kingdom to seek help in getting the star back on the tree. Just as the entourage reaches the fairy's castle, Reginald shows up and captures Marie. Imprisoned in the cheese foundry of Reginald's palace, Marie laments her failure to save Christmas and imagines herself slow dancing with the prince in a chapel to emotional music. She is then summoned by Reginald, who offers to marry her. She refuses, but eventually sympathizes with the mouse king after learning that no one has given him a single Christmas gift. The prince and the foods arrive at Reginald's palace, adamant on rescuing Marie and the others captured by Reginald's army. The foods are reluctant at first, but agree to sneak into the palace after noticing the prince's courage. Reginald and his sergeant perform a dance number. The prince is reunited with Marie. Chaos ensues when Reginald overhears a

black-eyed pea The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea. The common commer ...

laughing at him for not winning Marie's heart; a chase on flying motorcycles made of crackers and olives follows suit. In the middle of the chase, Reginald's palace starts to collapse. After the foods are rescued, Reginald falls into the cheese river due to his vehicle running out of fuel. Marie, having grown soft for the king, saves him and loses the star in the process. Reginald admits that it was "the first nice thing that anyone had ever done to im before producing the star to Marie. The group arrives at the Sugar Plum Fairy's castle, where she reveals that the Christmas star is able to grant any wish including the power to bring Marie's parents home. After making her wish, Marie gently tosses the star to the ceiling and the screen fades to white. Marie wakes up to find her parents greeting her along with Uncle Drosselmeyer and a guest resembling the prince. The film ends with Marie and the prince sharing a kiss while Mac and the nuts provide the mistletoe.

Voice cast

as Marie, the protagonist / Fritz, Marie's little brother *

as the Prince, a

nutcracker A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells. A decorative version portrays a person w ...

Asparagus Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified in ...

/ Mouse Sergeant *

as Reginald the Mouse King * Cheech Marin as Mac the

Macadamia nut ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus ...

as the Sugar Plum Fairy *

as Sparkle, a humanoid nut in a blue dress *

as Li'l Pea, a

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

child / Broccoli Floret, a

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cla ...

in a tutu * Jeff Bennett as Colonel, a peanut / Mouse Doctor / Mouse Soldier / Toy Soldier * Jim Cummings as Uncle Drozzelmeyer / Gramps the

Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

as Stash, a cashew with a news reporter hat

Release

Critical reception

The film has received mixed reviews, receiving a 40% audience on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

References

External links