5/5 Fast Delivery and Efficient Service
  by Fury Darlington (Costa Rica)
Great video of a beautiful traditional Nutcracker. I will enjoy watching it over and over again during the next few months right up to Christmas.

5/5 A common man's point of view.
  by Richard Rawls (Dublin Ga USA)
There are folks in my town who have no idea what "The Nutcracker" is all about, nor do they know that there is even a ballet called "The Nutcracker". For that matter, some do not know what a ballet is. The largest metropolis, Atlanta, Ga., is a two and one half hour drive from where I live. So, it isn't too surprising to hear the word "No" when asking, "have you ever seen The Nutcracker"? You probably know something about the story, since you are reading this review, but may not know about THIS version. A few things you WON'T find in this version: 1) A beautiful green Christmas tree in the Stahlbaum parlor. Instead there is a modernistic paper caricature of a tree, which later turns into a green tree and grows dimensionally. 2) Boys aggravating the girls. They are played by all girls. 3) A handsome wooden Nutcracker. Instead it is a quite ugly rag-doll. 4) Boy solders fighting the mice. They are all girls. It's OK, I love girls. 5) Computer animation. 6) Mother Gigogne and her Little Clowns 7) The Sugar-Plum Fairy. But, Masha (beautiful Larissa Lezhnina) dances her variation to the music "The Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy", so you are not going to miss that beautiful music, played on the celesta. An instrument heard by the public for the first time in the "Nutcracker Suite", before the ballet was ever performed on stage. The ballet was so long in rehearsal that Tchaikovsky was afraid someone else would get wind of the new instrument (celesta) and introduce it to the public before he did. So, he arranged a suite of the best tunes from his score, and they were performed before the ballet.

Something you WILL find in this version is the Dance of The Mirlitons (sometimes called Dance of the Reed Pipes) by three very remarkable, and adorable, children from the Vaganova (Va-GONE-ova) Dance Academy (where Balanchine, Nureyev, and Baryshnikov got their early training). Some reviewers are complaining about the tempo of the music in this "Nutcracker". The "children" mentioned above, would naturally need a slower tempo to match their experience. I'm sure Mr. Fedotov, the conductor, is experienced enough to know how to pace an orchestra for the particular dancers on the stage. The names of the children are, Tatiana Miltseva, Elena Chmil, and Artem Pykhachev. They are also featured on another DVD by the Kirov Ballet, "Essential Ballet", which can be found in the three ballet set by the Kirov Ballet entitled "The magic of Russian Ballet" (which also includes this Nutcracker, and Firebird, Petrushka, and Scheherazade).......The Magic of Russian Ballet / The Nutcracker, Return of the Firebird, Petrushka, Scheherazade, Essential Ballet, Kirov Ballet........Each ballet is available separately EXCEPT Essential Ballet. Oh, and one other thing you will get, is a nice booklet where I got some of this information.

The sets and costumes are sumptuous but on the pink side of pink. Whoever did the sets and lighting AND costumes loved pink. It's everywhere. Even the DVD keepcase is pink. This is a live production from the famous Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Excellent sound quality, and audience participation. I believe you will like this example of classical ballet.

One other thing I would like to advise you of, DON'T believe everything you read in these reviews. Remember, these are personal (debatable) opinions, including this one. I do hope you learn something from this review, and that you find it useful...........Richard....email me.

5/5 A simple holiday story that can easily win its place as a cherished Christmas classic for children!
  by Taran Wanderer (Chicago, IL)
In the span of three years in which Jetlag Productions was GoodTimes Entertainment's primary and only low-budget animation division, the company managed to produce a total of three Christmas-themed animated adventures: "A Christmas Carol" in 1994, "Magic Gift of the Snowman" in 1995 and finally, "The Nutcracker" in the same year. If I were to categorize or list them from best to worst, I'd give the honor of best to "Magic Gift of the Snowman," with its touching (and original) themes and sweet songs, and worst, "A Christmas Carol" as a rather disappointing adaptation of Charles Dickens' Christmas story, with overall mediocre songs and not much ingenuity. That said, "The Nutcracker" comes as the middle child, being a rather sweet and well done holiday story. It doesn't have any particular strengths, but each element is strong enough to make together a very decent animated holiday treat, especially for children.

The tale of "The Nutcracker" is not easy to summarize in a short number of lines, with its jumping from reality to fantasy, and from the present to the past; it is based on E. T. Hoffmann's classic story of the nutcracker that came to life. One Christmas eve, little Marie and her brother Fritz receive a visit from their godfather Drosselmeyer. As a present, he awards them with a somewhat ugly nutcracked shaped as a royal soldier. Though Fritz is quickly bored with the gift, particularly after breaking its jaw, Marie is enchanted by it and saves it from Fritz's careless hands. Her godfather's gift does not end there, because he also shares with Marie the sad story of how the nutcracker came to be. The tragic story only strengthens the bond between the wooden nutcracker and the girl as she is slowly brought into a magical holiday adventure. The wicked seven-headed Mouse King makes an appearance and attempts to steal all of Marie's Christmas candy, but nutcracker, with the help of a weapon from one of Fritz' toy soldiers, is able to fight against the king and his many warriors. Nutcracker then takes Marie into his kingdom through a magic wardrobe. She is made the princess of the enchanted winter-land, only to return home unsure of whether her adventure had been a dream or a reality. Though her family is sure to doubt the existance of the Mouse King and the Marzipan castle, Marie is equally sure that her adventures are not the product of her dreams or imagination, and godfather Drosselmeyer does not doubt her word in the least bit.

Overall, Jetlag Productions scores with their adaptation of "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," managing to deliver a cherish-able holiday classic that is, up to their standards, nicely crafted. Surely the quality of animation would disappoint anyone expecting a Christmas spectacle similar to "The Nutcracker Suite" segment in Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1940), but for what it is Jetlag has done much worse. The characters are well-designed, using a rather soft palette of warm, smooth colors, avoiding over-saturation and an overall unappealing outlook. The voice acting is as bad and corny as can be expected from this particular producer. The same voices can be linked to a number of Jetlag Productions' titles, none of which have grand voice acting as one of their strengths. The songs are overall very nice; beginning with "Season Of Love," this song is surely to be cherished as a more than enjoyable retelling of the story to a very pleasant tune; "Dance Through The Night" could have been more magical, but is also a very nice song accompanying Marie's first visit to Candy Town. Finally, "A Dream Come True" concludes Marie's adventures as her dream of happiness next to her new friend, the nutcracker, comes true. "The Nutcracker" is a very enjoyable low-budget animated adventure, and consumer's expectations should not exceed what one would usually expect for this price. Highly recommended!

3/5 Lovely but Somewhat Lethargic
  by C. Lopez (Arizona)
The sets are gorgeous, music and sound is fantastic, the costumes are very well done overall, although I agree with the other criticism of the Nutcracker looking ugly and not like a nutcracker at all. True, the children were all played by adults, and the boys were played by girls, it was a little distracting, but not a huge problem for me. You can see the orchestra director's hands waving around sometimes, but it made me smile and reminded me that - after all - it was performed live.
My problem was that so much of the dancing seemed to drag, as though they struggled or had no power behind the movements. The main performances were fine enough, but not very moving. There was little emotion from the dancers' faces to pull me in or make me feel, and they generally seemed lethargic, although it was probably due more to the choreography, than the dancers' abilities.
I would not recommend this version, and if I had watched it first, I would not have bought it. I prefer the dancing from the super-70's version with Baryshikov to this.

Overall, gorgeous sets, lovely costumes generally, wonderful orchestra and sound with live audience.
But strange lighting issues that were dim and pinkish was distracting, the dancing lacked power and emotion for me.

5/5 Loved it!
  by L. Grigaitis (Northbrook, IL United States)
My 2 year old daughter loves this DVD!! She puts on the Nutcracker anytime that she thinks of it and dances, marches, and twirls! Great entertainment for both parents and kids! I watch her instead of the DVD. Even better when she wants to put on her leotard, tights, and ballet skirt!