Fruit & Nut Surprise
Young Marie falls asleep whilst waiting for her parents to return for Christmas, feeling despondent about everything. But in her dreams she enters the fantasy world of the Nutcracker Prince who needs to reclaim his kingdom from Reginald the Mouse King. So with a mixed bag of nuts and a Sugar Plum fairy they set about saving the kingdom from the big cheese and in doing so saving Christmas.
There are times when I just want to put on something as background noise whilst getting on with other stuff and frequently that will be a children's movie which doesn't require my full attention. That is the reason why I put on "The Nuttiest Nutcracker" as having never seen it before I wasn't expecting much and thought it would be something which every now and then would distract me. Well whilst it has plenty of issues I found my attention grabbed by this nutty animation based on The Nutcracker, so much so that after watching it once I had to watch it again so I could review it.
Now to be blunt the animation work in "The Nuttiest Nutcracker" is not the best, the various musical numbers lack polish and it is all a bit chaotic, something which young children might not care about and actually enjoy. But whilst the animation has issues it is also entertaining when it comes to animated nuts, fruits and vegetables such as Broccoli in a tutu. Plus it has some amusing voice work especially from Cheech Marin and James Belushi which in truth is what grabs your attention the most as these two just have voices full of character and comedy.
And that in truth is it, nutty characters, amusing voices and at just 48 minutes long "The Nuttiest Nutcracker" is not long at all. The thing is that despite the numerous issues and being aimed at a much younger age group than I fit in I found it charming and innocent and I know the sort of thing which I will end up watching again.
What this all boils down to is that if you have a young child "The Nuttiest Nutcracker" will be an amusing distraction but be prepared to be distracted by it yourself.
Tags: Christmas Movies