E. T. A. Hoffmann

When Clara’s mother leaves her a mysterious gift, she embarks on a journey to four secret realms—where she discovers her greatest strength could change the world.

In 1920s Vienna, a young girl receives a magical doll on Christmas Eve.

A story about the devil's influence on five people's lives in 20th-century Venice.

A young chambermaid finds a neglected nutcracker under a Christmas tree. It comes to life, but the Nutcracker is really an enchanted prince.

The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critically acclaimed Emmy-nominated production. This spectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both showcased at the peak of their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.

After young Clara receives a wooden nutcracker as a Christmas gift, she dreams about a fantastical battle between her Nutcracker Prince and the evil Mouse King. At stake is the Nutcracker's freedom - and Clara's future happiness.

Based off of the novel, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and the ballet, "The Nutcracker", Sanrio shows their take on the classic story in a stop-motion animated film.

On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie falls asleep and dreams herself into a fantastic world in which her toys become larger than life. She meets up with the Nutcracker Prince who takes her on a journey to his kingdom and defends her from the Mouse King.

A melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.

This adaptation of the Nutcracker story (by Tchaikovsky and original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov) is updated in this stop-motion animation from the original Japanese release of 1979. The new 3-D rendering is complemented by the art direction of Sebastian Masuda who is responsible for much of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's style. She also provides music here.

In this Pacific Northwest Ballet performance, it is Christmas Eve and festivities are underway. Clara is excited when her godfather arrives with a bag full of gifts, one of which is an intriguing wooden nutcracker. That night, while the household sleeps, Clara visits the Christmas tree to inspect her nutcracker and soon finds herself immersed in a dream world both dark and enchanting.

The misadventures of an effete young man who must get married in order to inherit a fortune. He opts to purchase a remarkably lifelike doll and marry it instead, not realizing that the doll is actually the dollmaker’s flesh-and-blood daughter in disguise.

Monk Medardus, administrator of the relic chamber of a Capuchin monastery, drinks from the elixirs of the devil and is confronted with the dark sides of his soul.

Christmas presentation of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90, featuring Tchaikovsky's ballet performed by the New York City Ballet, choreographed by George Balanchine, and conducted by Robert Irving.

A woman marries a gambler, thinking she could straighten him up, but he loses all their assets, even their own house, and tries to commit suicide. But one of the winners falls for his stepdaughter, and this could change the situation.

A re-staging of the Royal Ballet's 1985 production, with Anthony Dowell - this time as Drosselmeyer - and a new supporting cast. This Royal Ballet production of The Nutcracker (staged by Peter Wright) is a mix of the Balanchine and Vainonen schools of the Nutcracker. The Balanchine version of the Nutcracker emphasizes the child s fantasy: a land of sweets, with comic relief. The Vainonen Nutcracker emphasizes the romantic dreams of an adolescent.

Seeking to exorcise the failure of his current love affair, the poet Hoffmann tells the tales of his three past loves - the doll-like Olympia, the high-class courtesan Giulietta, and the ambitious but delicate Antonia - and recalls how each was thwarted by the evil influence of his rival. In this production by the distinguished film director, John Schlesinger, with spectacular designs by Maria Bjornson and William Dudley, Offenbach's nightmare world is brought to life. The all-star cast is headed by Placido Domingo as Hoffmann: his three loves are Ileana Cotrubas, Anges Baltsa and Luciana Serra and the manifestations of his rival are sung by Geraint Evans, Robert Lloyd, Siegmund Nimsgern and Nicola Ghiuselev. The score, which includes such favourites as the "Barcarolle" and the "Doll's Song", is conducted by Georges Pretre.

An adaption of E.T.A. Hoffmanns classic tale of horror!

On Christmas Eve, Marie receives an enchanted toy as a gift from her uncle Albert. At night, it comes to life and engages in an unequal battle with the mouse army and their formidable king. Staged by Yuri Grigorovich for the Bolshoi Theatre in 1977.

One of the first movies made about the fairy tale Cinderella. The film is part of the current German expressionism. Because of that the film ends up being darker than the fairy tale itself.