NUTCRACKER FANTASY (1979) on 16mm! A Beautiful, Bonkers Stop-Motion Rarity!

The Philosophical Research Society is getting into the holiday spirit…the super strange holiday spirit...with an unbelievably rare screening of the truly bizarre and beautiful, stop-motion animated NUTCRACKER FANTASY (1979)! We’ll not only get the chance to experience Takeo Nakamura’s extraordinary oddity on the big screen– unlike any other stop motion animated feature before or since – but we’ll be screening a gorgeous 16mm print from PRS programmer Alex’s personal collection!

“Let Yourself Believe that Once Upon A Time Good Prevailed Where Evil Existed and Puppets Walked Without Strings” – just by reading its awkward US tagline you know there's something wondrously off about Sanrio's NUTCRACKER FANTASY. The Hello Kitty magnate, then dipping their toes into film production, hired Nakamura, an ex-Rankin-Bass animator, to direct their vaguely festive stop-motion fantasy epic and employ the same signature Animagic technique that brought the beloved Rudolph & Co. to life. The titular fantasy seems (if anything!) adapted from a poor German-to-Japanese-to-English translation of E.T.A. Hoffman's original yuletide yarn rather than the beloved ballet, though Tchaikovsky’s melodies are infused with the amazing Moog drenched soundtrack to supergroovy effect.

What results is an awesomely bizarro sugarplum dream, at once familiar and alien. The signifiers of classic Christmas fare are there, from that unmistakable “holiday TV special” style (though the animation is exquisite and far more refined than Rudolph and the Misfits toys, a testament to the talent of the animators when not constrained by a Rankin-Bass budget) to the Tchaikovsky tunes to the basic story – under threat of evil rodent army, a young girl journeys to the Kingdom of the Dolls in search of her enchanted nutcracker – except Christmas is never once mentioned and all the elements have been mutated and peppered with a pinch of nightmare dust (several scenes, deemed too dark or strange, were cut from later versions of the American release). Adding to the beautiful confusion are elaborate, often psychedelic musical sequences, memorable songs and – in the English version – the voice talents of Christopher Lee (who sings!), Roddy McDowall, Eva Gabor, Dick Van Patten, an achingly earnest Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie) as Clara, and Jo Anne Worley as the “Nut of Darkness” wielding two-headed rat queen (yup!). Yet when mixed together with visually stunning animation throughout, this all makes for a peculiarly delicious confection that has sadly laid largely unsavored for ages.

Incredibly rarely screened, totally enchanting (and surprisingly moving), hilariously odd, a total blast of a trip with an audience, and absolutely gorgeous in 16mm on the big screen, buy a ticket and take the ride for your new favorite weirdo animated film – the great NUTCRACKER FANTASY!

Dir. Takeo Nakamura, 1979, 95 mins, Unrated (Suitable for All Audiences), Japan, English Dub, Color, 16mm Film.

Special thanks to Michael Aguirre from See It On 16mm for projection

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

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