The Nutcracker (1973 film)
This is the Soyuzmultfilm's surprisingly good music-only short, 1973's "Shchelkunchik."
Tropes used in The Nutcracker (1973 film) include:
- Adaptation Distillation: The adaptation is based on the most famous musical pieces of the ballet, with the most relevant points of the original story edited back in.
- Composite Character: The Nutcracker is both the Nutcracker and Princess Pirlipat.
- Dude in Distress: The Nutcracker.
- Evil Counterpart: In the flashback, The Mouse King is set up as a full-fledged Foil to The Nutcracker: also a prince, also loves toys, but spoiled rotten and evil to the core.
- Evil Sorcerer: Both the Mouse Queen and the King.
- Fairy Tale
- Flash Back: Explains The Nutcracker's origins.
- God Save Us From the Queen: The Queen of the Mice is downright mean in this adaptation.
- Gorgeous Garment Generation: In the end, Marie is transformed into a princess and gets a new dress created by magic.
- Mime-and-Music-Only Cartoon: The cartoon has no dialogue, leaving everything to the music and action like, you guessed it, a ballet. (In export versions, a voice-over narration is sometimes added).
- Overlord, Jr.: The Mouse King in the flashback, where he doubles up as a Royal Brat.
- Popcultural Osmosis: Several generations of Russian children were introduced to the ballet (and Chaykovsky's music in general) by this cartoon.
- Weaksauce Weakness: The mice are vulnerable to... things that make you sneeze, such as pepper.