Macaulay Culkin plays the prince who was once a nutcracker (Culkin did study at the American School of Ballet, believe it or not) in this film of George Balanchine's version of the Tchaikovsky ballet, based on E Hoffmann's story. He unfortunately doesn't actually do much dancing though. Kevin Kline narrates and Jessica Lynn Cohen is Marie, the young girl transported at Christmas to a magical world of dancing, singing toys. Lacking in thrills, it's still worth watching for the stunning colour and movement. Today's younger children (who doubtless will have never heard of the star) will still be pleased enough to watch fairies, Marzipan, Harlequin and sundry other oddities trip the boards.

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