Theatrical: Nov 2, 2018
Home: Jan 29, 2019
All Clara (Mackenzie Foy) wants is a key – a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key—which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It’s there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara’s key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world. Starring Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Disney’s new holiday feature film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, and inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic tale.
Fun Fact
E.T.A. Hoffmann penned “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” in 1816. Alexandre Dumas Père’s subsequent adaptation, “The Nutcracker,” was set to Tchaikovsky’s music and the resulting ballet was commissioned in 1891 by director of the Russian Imperial Theatres. Premiering a week before Christmas in 1892, the fairytale ballet—which takes place on Christmas Eve—became a holiday tradition around the world. The New York City Ballet first performed George Balanchine’s “Nutcracker” in 1954.