Once upon a time,
in a faraway land lived the Stahlbaum family.
Their daughter was named Clara and their son was Fritz.
On New Years Eve, Clara was very excited, so she couldn’t fall asleep.
She was eagerly waiting for the next day to arrive.
Time was passing by so slowly.
Ohh God, please hear my prayers.
Let it snow tomorrow night and let me get a very nice New Years gift!
Finally, New Years came.
They decorated the entire house and of course the pine tree in the living room.
When Clara woke up in the morning, she couldn’t believe her eyes,
her prayers had been answered as she was sleeping, it had snowed all night long.
Everywhere was covered in snow.
Both brother and sister were watching it snow from the window and waiting for their uncle to arrive.
At last, Uncle Drosselmeyer was seen at the beginning of the road.
You could tell even from faraway that the big bag in his hand was full of gifts.
He’s coming, he’s coming, Mother! Uncle Drosselmeyer is coming!
And he has a huge bag in his hand. I’m sure our presents are in the bag!
Quick, open the door. It’s cold outside he must be freezing.
The kids welcomed him with joy.
Welcome Uncle Drosselmeyer.
Welcome Uncle.
Hello kids!
The old man sat down immediately by the fireplace to warm himself.
Uncle, can you give me my gift now, please?
I’m so excited, I can’t wait anymore!
Me too! Me too! Come on, Uncle!
Ha ha ha....Okay, okay. I’m opening them right away.
Their uncle opened the gift bag and gave the large beautiful box to Clara
and the other one to Fritz.
Clara who excitedly opened the box,
screamed with joy when she saw the Nutcracker soldier inside.
ohhh!
This is the best present I’ve ever got.
Thank you!
I’m so glad you like it, Clara.
At that time, Fritz who was watching Clara, quickly opened his own present.
A large black mouse dressed as a pirate came out of his box.
But Fritz didn’t like his gift at all.
He wanted Clara’s gift to be given to him.
He angrily threw the mouse on the ground,
grabbed the Nutcracker from Clara’s hands and through it against the wall.
His eyes were full of jealousy.
Fritz!!!
I want a Nutcracker too. I don’t like this mouse at all.
Why is Clara’s gift better than mine?
Don’t say that Fritz, your gift is nice too,
its very kind of your uncle to have thought of you and bringing you a gift.
You’re being rude acting like this.
I don’t care! I don’t care! I don’t want this ugly mouse!
Clara, who went to the spot where the Nutcracker fell,
noticed that one of his arms had broken.
My dear soldier!
I was going to dance with you.
What a shame, I didn’t even get a chance to play with you yet!
Don’t be sad, Clara. I’ll fix him right away;
he’ll be as good as new. Don’t worry.
Uncle Drosselmeyer immediately glued the Nutcracker’s arm and fixed him.
Fritz what you’ve done is not nice.
I had many more soldiers.
I was going to surprise you later.
But you’ve now lost your chance.
Both angry and sad at Fritz’s behavior, his uncle hid the box full of soldiers in a cupboard.
But, but, Uncle....
Let this be a lesson to you!
Ashamed of what he had done, Fritz knew there was nothing he could do.
He hung his head in shame and went to his room.
After midnight it was their bedtime.
As it was New Years Eve, they were allowed to sleep so late, but the night was now over.
Everyone wished one another a happy new year and went to their rooms.
Clara layed in her bed with the Nutcracker.
As she was sound asleep,
she heard some ratling noises downstairs.
Curious, she went down to the living room.
Downstairs, there was a battalion of mice just like the pirate mouse that Fritz had gotten as a gift,
wandering around and messing up the living room.
Clara, Clara, where are you,
come downstairs!
Clara, knew that the pirate mice were looking for her and she was very frightened.
But after a moment, she realized there was no need to be afraid of a little toy mouse.
It’s a little toy. What can it do to me?
We can probably talk and sort things out.
She left the Nutcracker at the top of the staircase and went downstairs.
And what did she see!
The little toy mice were even taller than her.
And not just the toys, all the furniture was also huge.
Glancing around really fast, she realized right away what was going on.
It turns out, she had shrunk, she was teeny tiny!
Oh my God, what’s happening?
Why am I so tiny?
I must escape before these mice catch me.
The mice kept getting closer to Clara.
We’re capturing you Clara.
You are going to come with us to Mice Town.
Don’t resist; we’ll catch you sooner or later!
Right then, all the toys in the living room came to life.
Tanks, cannons, soldiers, baby dolls and stuffed animals all headed towards the pirate mice.
Clara found the only way was to go behind the gifts under the new years tree.
Just like the other toys,
the Nutcracker that came to life jumped from the stairs and started fighting the pirate mice.
He was so brave!
The soldiers that Uncle Drosselmayer put in the cupboard also jumped down to help the Nutcracker.
The pirate mice were suddenly shocked of such a strong defense and started retreating.
Run for your lives! We’ve been defeated!
Heeeelp!
Clara...Clara, you can come out now,
the pirate mice have run away. We’ve won!
Clara came out from behind the gifts she was hiding of fear.
Everyone was very happy because of this victory.
I was so scared Nutcracker, you saved me from those pirate mice.
Thank you very much.
The Nutcracker suddenly turned into a very handsome soldier
and bowing before Clara invited her to dance with him.
Will you dance with me, Clara?
Ohhh... with pleasure!
They started dancing, and just at that moment,
beautiful music spread across the living room.
Small fairies were throwing flowers around.
The flowers were magical
and Clara suddenly found herself wearing a beautiful ballerina outfit and ballet slippers.
Clara had turned into a ballerina.
I admire you Clara! How wonderful you do ballet.
Thank you.
My biggest dream is to be a ballerina one day. Do you think I can be one?
I’m sure you’re going to be a wonderful ballerina.
Then, the name of the melody playing right now will be called the ‘Nutcracker Ballet’.
Whenever you hear it, think of me, Clara.
All the other toys were watching them in awe.
Clara did ballet with the Nutcracker for hours.
Spinning round and round on one foot, it was as if she was flying in the living room...
But suddenly, she heard a sound.
Clara, Clara! Wake up dear.
It’s morning already.
Hımmm…So you’ve slept with the Nutcracker.
Good morning, Mother!
I wish you didn’t wake me; I was having a wonderful dream.
I was dancing nonstop with the Nutcracker, I was a ballerina!
Really? Well you must be tired after all that dancing..ıhı ıhı...
Come on, Wash up, we’re waiting for you for breakfast.
She really took the nutcracker in her hands and started dancing with him.
She still had the melody in her ear.
It was as if the dream was real.
My handsome nutcracker!