Hello and welcome to the first Christmas Shorts Showcase of the month. Now, we will be starting with a Mickey short that is once again an adaption. This time, the work being adapted was The Nutcracker. Now, I'll admit that I've never cared for The Nutcracker as I've always found it a bit boring. Let me put it this way, when I saw the ballet, I actually fell asleep. So I may be coming in with some pre conceived notions regarding The Nutcracker but let's see if this short turned me around on The Nutcracker. With that out of the way, let's begin.
The Plot
I think the plot was supposed to be The Nutcracker but this short broke the fourth wall one too many times. The short had set up our characters in their nutcracker roles but there were points when they were referred to by their real names. That is just one of the major problems I have with this short. Oh, don't get me wrong, they have Maria, The Nutcracker,The Sugar Plum Fairy err Magical Fairy and Rat err Mouse King all present but why did Donald play The Mouse King, when they could've used Mortimer. It was just a dumb decision on their part. Even Donald didn't want to play the Mouse King. Oh, Ludwig was in this short was in this short as Drosselmyer.
Narration
Narrator - John Cleese
John Cleese was once again our narrator but this undoubtedly had to be his worst narration in any short and it's not even really his fault. One of the big issues is that with this short, is that with breaking the 4th wall, they tried to have the characters talk with the narrator but there was a point where the narrator was literally talking over Drosselmyer while he was explaining the Nutcracker to young Maria. It wasn't funny, it was just annoying. Honestly, that's all most of the narration in this short came across. It was annoying. Character and narration interaction can work and Disney has done this well in the past. Just look at Winnie The Pooh to see a a great example of character and narrator interaction.
Characters
Now I'll be breaking this down into Main, Supporting, & Villain. With that out of the way, let's get this over with.
Main Characters
Maria (Minnie) voiced by Russi Taylor
If I can give this short any amount of credit, Minnie and Mickey were perfect as Maria and The Nutcracker. Easily the best casting in the entire short and perhaps the only tolerable casting. Also Minnie is the only character that got to stay in character and be Maria the entire time and didn't have to be Minnie. As Maria, she was sweet. Now I can't remember much about Maria in the original as to be honest, I've blocked it out in my head. But as for this short, I liked this Maria.
The Nutcracker (Mickey) voiced by Wayne Allwine
As I mentioned earlier, Mickey was a great choice for The Nutcracker. He brought so much life into the character of The Nutcracker and makes him so much fun and heroic. Now sadly unlike Maria (Minnie), Mickey is forced to break character at one point but not because of anything he does. But because Goofy inserts himself into the story. Watching him as The Nutcracker trying to save Maria was perhaps a highlight of this short for me. But that was one of the only things I liked about this short.
Supporting Characters
Drosselmyer (Ludwig Von Drake) voiced by Corey Burton
I like Ludwig and in a way, he made sense to cast as Drosselmyer but he was just so annoying as he felt the need to interrupt the narrator and got into an argument with the narrator to the point, where the narrator kicked him o of the story. Of course, this was after he broke the Nutcracker. Oh and it came out of nowhere that the end of this short that he was the King of the Sugar Plum Fairies. That was never brought up prior to the end of the short.
The Magic Snow Fairy (Goofy) voiced by Bill Farmer
This is one of my biggest gripes with this short. Look, I like Goofy but he literally forced himself into the short during the second act. Up until that point, we had not seen Goofy and there was no need for him as he offered nothing to the short and at the end, he was captured by Donald and this is the one problem, I have with The Nutcracker and Maria they don't try to save Goofy.
Villain
The Mouse King (Donald) voiced by Tony Anselmo
I already stated that I took issue with them casting Donald as The Mouse King, when they could've used Mortimer, who actually is a villain and a true rival to Mickey. With Donald, it just felt as though, they were trying to fit in as many classic Disney characters as they could. Look I'm not saying they were trying to make the next Mickey's Christmas Carol here but they could've tried harder here. Also the idea that Donald only stayed because the narrator tricked him into thinking that The Mouse King won in the end was dumb.
My Final Thoughts
Well, I still don't like The Nutcracker and I don't like this short either. Out of all the Mickey adaptions, I've reviewed thus far, this has to be the worst. It was trying to be silly and I can appreciate that but they let the jokes get in the way of the story and there were too many bad decisions made. I hate doing this during such a festive time but this short deserves it. Bring it on. Y'know, you know what I'm talking about.
As of right now, it seems to be 2 negative & 2 positive. Let's hope we have more positive this year. Join me tomorrow for the first our of our Music Fridays Christmas specials as I take a look at different versions of 12 Days Of Christmas all from Disney.
The Plot
I think the plot was supposed to be The Nutcracker but this short broke the fourth wall one too many times. The short had set up our characters in their nutcracker roles but there were points when they were referred to by their real names. That is just one of the major problems I have with this short. Oh, don't get me wrong, they have Maria, The Nutcracker,
Narration
Narrator - John Cleese
John Cleese was once again our narrator but this undoubtedly had to be his worst narration in any short and it's not even really his fault. One of the big issues is that with this short, is that with breaking the 4th wall, they tried to have the characters talk with the narrator but there was a point where the narrator was literally talking over Drosselmyer while he was explaining the Nutcracker to young Maria. It wasn't funny, it was just annoying. Honestly, that's all most of the narration in this short came across. It was annoying. Character and narration interaction can work and Disney has done this well in the past. Just look at Winnie The Pooh to see a a great example of character and narrator interaction.
Characters
Now I'll be breaking this down into Main, Supporting, & Villain. With that out of the way, let's get this over with.
Main Characters
Maria (Minnie) voiced by Russi Taylor
If I can give this short any amount of credit, Minnie and Mickey were perfect as Maria and The Nutcracker. Easily the best casting in the entire short and perhaps the only tolerable casting. Also Minnie is the only character that got to stay in character and be Maria the entire time and didn't have to be Minnie. As Maria, she was sweet. Now I can't remember much about Maria in the original as to be honest, I've blocked it out in my head. But as for this short, I liked this Maria.
The Nutcracker (Mickey) voiced by Wayne Allwine
As I mentioned earlier, Mickey was a great choice for The Nutcracker. He brought so much life into the character of The Nutcracker and makes him so much fun and heroic. Now sadly unlike Maria (Minnie), Mickey is forced to break character at one point but not because of anything he does. But because Goofy inserts himself into the story. Watching him as The Nutcracker trying to save Maria was perhaps a highlight of this short for me. But that was one of the only things I liked about this short.
Supporting Characters
Drosselmyer (Ludwig Von Drake) voiced by Corey Burton
I like Ludwig and in a way, he made sense to cast as Drosselmyer but he was just so annoying as he felt the need to interrupt the narrator and got into an argument with the narrator to the point, where the narrator kicked him o of the story. Of course, this was after he broke the Nutcracker. Oh and it came out of nowhere that the end of this short that he was the King of the Sugar Plum Fairies. That was never brought up prior to the end of the short.
The Magic Snow Fairy (Goofy) voiced by Bill Farmer
This is one of my biggest gripes with this short. Look, I like Goofy but he literally forced himself into the short during the second act. Up until that point, we had not seen Goofy and there was no need for him as he offered nothing to the short and at the end, he was captured by Donald and this is the one problem, I have with The Nutcracker and Maria they don't try to save Goofy.
Villain
The Mouse King (Donald) voiced by Tony Anselmo
I already stated that I took issue with them casting Donald as The Mouse King, when they could've used Mortimer, who actually is a villain and a true rival to Mickey. With Donald, it just felt as though, they were trying to fit in as many classic Disney characters as they could. Look I'm not saying they were trying to make the next Mickey's Christmas Carol here but they could've tried harder here. Also the idea that Donald only stayed because the narrator tricked him into thinking that The Mouse King won in the end was dumb.
My Final Thoughts
Well, I still don't like The Nutcracker and I don't like this short either. Out of all the Mickey adaptions, I've reviewed thus far, this has to be the worst. It was trying to be silly and I can appreciate that but they let the jokes get in the way of the story and there were too many bad decisions made. I hate doing this during such a festive time but this short deserves it. Bring it on. Y'know, you know what I'm talking about.
As of right now, it seems to be 2 negative & 2 positive. Let's hope we have more positive this year. Join me tomorrow for the first our of our Music Fridays Christmas specials as I take a look at different versions of 12 Days Of Christmas all from Disney.
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