No shortage of nutty Nutcrackers
As popular as the original version of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is every season, there has been no shortage of variations on its themes over the years, starting with its use in Walt Disney’s Fantasia in 1940.
Here are 10 other odd variations:
GEORGE BALANCHINE ’ S THE NUTCRACKER
The great choreographer gets his name in the title of the 1993 film, but it’s remembered mostly for its use of a dour Macaulay Culkin as the Nutcracker and Prince.
CARE BEARS : THE NUTCRACKER
Seen on the Disney Channel, this 1988 attempt featured the teddy bears who wear their personalities on their bellies.
THE NUTCRACKER ON ICE
A number of skating shows have since used the title, but the first TV special to add skates to the score was the 1983 The Nutcracker: A Fantasy on Ice, with Dorothy Hamill in the lead role and narration by Canadian actor Lorne Greene.
NUT ROCKER
A boogie-piano instrumental arrangement of the March, performed by B. Bumble and the Stingers, hit the Top 25 in 1962, becoming the highestcharting single of Nutcracker music.
NUTCRACKER FANTASY
The 1979 stop-motion puppet version of the story included Christopher Lee lending his voice as Drosselmeyer and Melissa Gilbert as Clara.
THE NUTCRACKER IN 3-D
A poorly reviewed bigscreen version in 2009 featured John Turturro as the Rat King heading an oddly SS-style rodent army. It also starred Elle Fanning and Nathan Lane.
BARBI E IN THE NUTCRACKER
A 2001 release put the digitally animated, unusually proportioned doll in the Clara role.
THE NUTTIEST NUTCRACKER
This 1999 straight-to-video CGI-version comedy featured the voice of Phyllis Diller as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
THE HARD NUT
The Mark Morris-choreographed version with a visual style inspired by cartoonist Charles Burns, broadcast on PBS in 1991, was a threetime winner in Ovation TV’s annual Battle of the Nutcrackers.
THE SLUTCRACKER
The inevitable burlesque version, with ballerinas, acrobats and belly dancers, is a hit in Somerville, Mass., where its in its seventh season.