Thank you all for watching this episode and making 2023 a GREAT year for the channel! Here's hoping your holidays are merry and bright! Looking forward to seeing your faces in 2024 :) 👕 Shop the Krampus Drop! 👉 meremortals.store

When I read Hoffman's story I assumed there was a long gap of time between Marie's journey to the Nutcracker's kingdom and her breaking the spell. Say 8 to 10 years. This would have made her 16 or 17 when she met him in his human form. Her mother yells at her for falling over. "A great girl like you." No longer a child of 7. This would also explain her family's irritation at her continuing to believe in talking dolls as a young adult.

There are many different versions of the ballet. I’ve seen a bunch, each one adding its own spin. In the versions she’s “Clara”, she tends to be older, like a teen. If she’s “Marie”, then she’s a child. In some versions, she rapidly ages up to an adult while on her way to the Land of Sweets. Although those versions portray it as a dream sequence.

"I gave your mother a similar experience." was my favorite part. Lol

The best adaptation of this is 100% the Barbie version

In the original story, the prince comes back when she's older. Jon says he's looking into the background, but skips parts. I recommend Maurice Sendak's book, which covers the whole Hoffman story.

The Nutcracker Prince is a very faithful adaptation of the original story, and it even includes the Princess Pirlipat backstory. The only major differences are that the girl is Clara and her doll is Marie, and the Mouseking only has one head instead of seven. Maurice Sendak's ballet adaptation is the most accurate to Hoffman's version of the story, even down to the girl being named Marie and the Nutcracker fighting the seven headed Mouseking. (He's the one whose art is used in this video's thumbnail and his art is frequently cited in the video.)

I think the most interesting part of the story is just how Mean the world is to the three main characters, harsh reprimands and punishments for stories or mistakes The original king and princess are cruel and shallow, the family berates Marie for just sharing a dream, the Rat king harassing Marie, The whimsy is mixed with this harsh cruelty

I remember back in Elementary school, we watch an animated version of the Nutcracker. I'm pretty amazed at how close it lines up with the original work. The main difference I remember, is when they go to the Doll Kingdom the first time, no one is there, leaving Marie all alone. Behind her she hears heavy Breathing. She turns around to find the Mouse king is still alive, but bleeding through the chest wound the Nutcracker gave him. With his dying breath he attempts to get revenge, but ends up collapsing. Here Marie wakes up, to find the nephew has arrived.

Ya know, Jon, there's an animated movie called The Nutcracker Prince that stays fairly faithful to Hofmann's story. Including the Nutcracker's ( Voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) backstory with Princess Pearlypant and the mouse queen (played by Phyllis Diller). It came out in the 1990's. It was a Christmas special that played on TV every year!

The nutcracker prince is more than likely the most faithful adaptation of the story because it is the only one I can remember out of the adaptations I have seen that included the backstory with the princess. I only assumed it was not canon until this vid to confirm it is!

I grew up doing ballet and was told that Tchaikovsky version and ballet were a homage to his sister. She had died as a child and where the ballet and book split is her journey to the afterlife. The nutcracker is like a Christmas psychopomp

Always so entertaining and interesting! Loved the subtle "your mom" joke towards the beginning 😂

I love that you showed some of the illustrations from a few illustrated versions I've read/listened to. I always had a soft spot for Maurice Sendak's designs for the Nutcracker story and its ballet incarnation (I especially love how for the Arabian Coffee section of the ballet it was a peacock dance instead of the usual veil covered dancer. It's so hypnotic.). Also they interchange Clara and Marie's names for the lead in various ballet productions of The Nutcracker, one even had her named Masha instead. Some even portrayed the nephew and Marie meeting irl after the whole Land of Sweets song and dance (no pun intended) along with the nephew reuniting with Drosselmeyer. There was even a version called "Tchaikovsky by Arrangement," which was a re-telling of Hoffman's version narrated by Alan Cumming using not only some of the music from The Nutcracker ballet but other pieces by Tchaikovsky as well (some of the Act 2 ballet music was moved to chronicle Drosselmeyer's long 15 year journey to find the krakatuk nut. The story even told how he came to get the eye patch over one of his eyes and why he had a glass wig. It also had references to other stories in the first section of the story, which started with The Hard Nut before we got to the meat of it. Pirlipat also had a white beard along with her cursed looks (and as a baby had two rows of perfectly white teeth, which remained unaffected when she was cursed), and got karma in Hard Nut narrated by Alan Cumming by "reigning unhappily ever after and spending every day consulting her magic mirror and insisting on being the fairest one of all. But that is another story." And don't worry, that version made Marie older enough to marry Nathaniel Drosselmeyer aka The Nutcracker). We, as the readers, aren't told where the shoe hits, so I like that you said it hit him and made him fall on his dirty little butt; if it hit him in the head hard enough though, I bet the Mouse King would've died from blunt trauma to the head. We also get to hear Madame Mouserinks last words be her basically cursing us to die by the hand of her seven headed son before letting out a death "SQUEEEAK!" The moment the Mouse King threatens Marie with killing the nutcracker...that's blackmail, to break her spirit perhaps! I hated it when her own parents didn't believe Marie and that Fritz wasn't properly punished for breaking the nutcracker. If I were Marie/Clara, I would've just uninvited my parents to the wedding of me and my prince as payback for not believing her; And either that fate for Fritz or else someone would send him to his room as recompense for breaking the nutcracker (part of the music sometimes made me imagine him stomping about hollering or playing his trumpet). Have fun taking time off and happy holidays to you.

I’ve wanted you to do this episode since I first found your channel. Thank you! One of my favorite attributes of this story is how the girl is the hero, and I really liked the Princess Lea comparison. You don’t see that too often in fairy tales.

The original story is so interesting! It would be nice to see a faithful adaptation of it. I guess the Barbie version will do. Also thanks for all the hard work you've done this year Jon. Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎅🏻🎄☃️💂🏻‍♀️

I'm a little surprised that he didn't mention rat kings, which is a real phenomena where the tails of many rats get tangled together. I've never heard of it happening to mice but it's obviously what Hoffmann was implying with the seven heads .

Excellent video. The animated film adaptation with Kiefer Sutherland as the voice of The Nutcracker, Hans is pretty good and it even includes a depiction of the princess backstory. My favorite stage version of the ballet is from The Royal Ballet (London) in 2001 with Anthony Doyle as Godfather Drosselmeyer. If you haven't watched that one, I highly recommend it. The production and designs are superb and has a brief pantomime of the nutcracker (named Hans Peter) "telling" his backstory in act 2. More importantly though, I think you'll like the ending; it's solid and isn't confusing or too surreal. Also, it doesn't end with the "was it all a dream?" feel. On the subject of "toy stories", similar to "the doll in the grass" E.T.A Hoffmann also wrote a story called "The sandman" about a man who falls in love with a life-size doll named Olimpia whom he mistakes for a real woman. "The sandman", alongside two other of Hoffmann's stories was adapted into an opera called "The Tales of Hoffmann."

remember that sugar plums were originally a hard candy so actually they would in their original form back then be effective. They are modern now made of , chopped up, fruit and nuts would be softer but I'm pretty sure they were probably given animals referring to the hard candy variety

It's about damn time he did a Nutcracker Messed Up origins video, The Nutcracker has to be another one of my most favorite Christmas Fairytale's of all time!

I find it so interesting how this story changed and evolved over the years, a recent personal favorite of mine has to be the 1990 Canadian Lacewood productions movie Nutcracker Prince

Wow! This video is AMAZING! I don't think that anyone knows the whole story of The Nutcracker and The Mouse King! You did a wonderful job summarizing the novel, Jon. 👏🏽 Merry Christmas, happy holidays and happy new year of 2024 to you Jon, Lauren, Gunther and of course little Penny! 🎅🏻🎄☃🎉🎊💂🏻‍♀

Going to the ballet tomorrow with my son and sister! I love both versions, thanks Jon! Happy Holidays ⛄🎄

I used to watch 1990 version “The Nutcracker Prince.” It had the story within a story and although I didn’t understand where it had come from I really like the curse on the nutcracker thing it had going for it. Keifer Sutherland does a great nutcracker. I recommend it. (I’m sorry I’ve never seen the Barbie version.)

I'm so glad i found your channel and podcast! I have binged watched/ listened since November 2023! MERRY CHRISTMAS TOJon Solo and family and all members! HAPPY AND SAFE HOLIDAY SRASON TO ALL!

Fun fact: there’s such thing as a rat king, it’s a bundle of rats who have had their tails all tangled together and they move together as one. It’s a very rare sight but it does happen.

How about doing one on "La Befana " That could be interesting!

9:11 WHAT!?😂😂TF😭 didn’t skip a beat

Thank you for doing this video! I had no idea people didn't realize nutcracker started a a book! Growing up, we had a lovely little green clothbound edition of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King that i believe was my grandmother's, or possibly one of my great grandparent's (point being it was OLD). I remember a few differences to the version told in the video: First, they go to the land of sweets via a staircase that the Nutcracker pulls down from the sleeve of a greatcoat hanging up (an insignificant detail but stuck with me anyway!) Second, when Marie wakens after visiting the land of sweets, she is scolded for telling tales, etc, except nobody can explain where she got seven crownlike bracelets out of "mysterious metal and scarcely comprehensible that human hands could have made them" (Herr Drosselmeyer is pointedly asked about them, and gaslights the heck out of everyone saying they were weights he used to have on his watchchain -- NOBODY remembers this but the adults decide it must be true and tell Marie to stop lying. Poor Marie!). Lastly, 8n our book there was a VERY CLEAR time jump at the end of about 10 years, where Marie never forgets these adventures and never forgets the Nutcracker, but learns that it distresses everyone when she still insists it all happened, so she stops openly talking about it. But thinking about it all helps her see magic and beauty everywhere. One Christmas when she is about 16 or 17 Herr Drosselmeyer arrives late and is very antsy (the illustrations show Marie now grown, with her hair up in the style of a young adult woman who has come out). A knock comes at the door Herr D. is at the door quickly, and introduces his nephew, who the Stahlbaums are very impressed with (he is handsome, well-spoken, and has a jewel encrusted sword, among other things), and then the story more or less finishes as before.

marie: *KO'd in a pool of blood* marie's mom: "I sleep" marie: *broke some toys* marie's mom: "REAL SHIT"

Awesome video! It always amazes me that the stories we grow up with have such vibrant backstories (pun intended). Happy Holidays to you and yours, Jon! And Happy Holidays to everyone too! ✨

I feel like the closest piece of media I've seen that is based off the original story is the 90's animated movie The Nutcracker Prince, it dives into the backstory too, Idk if you've watched it Jon but I recommend it!

My favorite interpretation of this story is a stop-motion animated movie called Nutcracker Fantasy which was made in 1979. Until now, I thought it was a big departure from the story as I knew it from the ballet, but now I know that it more closely resembles the original narrative in the book.

Been a while since I've been on the channel. i had a faze where i watched so much Jon Solo, I shot first LOL. Glad to still see you posting, hope you and the family are doing well. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Thanks for all the content you've provided during some tough times!!. JON SHOT FIRST!!

Merry Christmas Jon and Gunther and your family. I have seen and read several versions of the Nutcracker saw the ballet in music class and loved it as a kid. In the early 90s there was an animated Nutcracker I remember seeing with my family which did follow the "stories".

This was always my favorite story and ballet. I sincerely appreciate the deep dive ! Merry Christmas to you and yours?

I enjoyed learning the plot of the Nutcracker, as it helped me understand the plot of The Soldier Prince from The Language of Thorns book. I think you would enjoy the stories in that book, and i would be interested to see you talk about them, and how they were inspired by classic fairy tales. Sort of like a reverse of your origins, a messed up conclusion.

Wait a minute, New Dream Nutcracker Audiobook Drama Collection; The Doll in the Grass 1816 Audiobook Drama, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King 1847 Audiobook Drama, and Princess Pirlipat and the Hazelnut 1919 Audiobook Drama.

On second thought, maybe just The Song and Story of the Nutcracker 1816 German Christmas Audiobook Drama by ETA Hoffmann and The Tale and Tune of the Hard Nut 1844 French Christmas Audiobook Drama by Alexandre Dumas.

complete the trio and do Sleeping Beauty ballet...unless you have already done that. Discover this channel too late and YT is weird with its subs.

Excellent! Love your narration of this classic tale, with all its intricate twists and turns. Much of the story takes place in Marie’s imagination, a young girl’s idyll of travelling to a magic kingdom with her handsome prince, and it incorporates the folklore motif of a young man redeemed by the love and fidelity of a good woman. As you say, Hoffmann’s unique style of storytelling sets the story apart and makes it endlessly compelling, it takes a deep dive into the emotions and the imagination, with its complex themes of compassion, fear, frustration and yearning, offset by whimsy and humour.

I'm such a big fan of the original tale. I'm glad you took the time to explore it and that more people are becoming aware of it.

The best Nutcracker Ballet was one with the set , theatre, costumes, backdrops EVERYTHING by Maurice Sendak of Where the Wild Things Are (the book not the movie) fame. I saw it on PBS in the 80s and it was better than seeing it live at the Met when I was little..

Thank you, Jon. This is my favourite Christmas story

Sending this to my friend that loves the barbie nutcracker movie, it was so interesting to hear what stuck and what changed over the years

when auditioning, the casting call not always but it can be typically calls for both a Marie and a Claira, the distinction is for the older version of her at the end is typically played by an older dancer with more advanced dance moves.

only recently discovered this channel bc of utube autoplay.i put your videos in the background while i work and it cracks me up how u just casually insert slang and jokes into the stories sometimes lol

one reason for the name change from Marie to Clara might be to prevent association with Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt (1824-1880) , Empress of Russia and wife of Tsar Alexander II Marie of Hesse-Da (1824-1880). Also - Azure (a-jur; a-zhr)

Gunther should host any messed up origins of any canine stories. In the meantime, happy holidays!

Merry Christmas. Thank you for all your hard work and research. Love it

Another year of wonderful origin stories. Thank you Jon for entertaining us throughout the year. Hope you have a wonderful break and looking forward to your return with more wonderful origin stories.

This'll be my first Christmas without my grandpa; he died two weeks ago. The day after Christmas is supposed to be his 86th birthday.

I read the book you described, and it said that while the Nutcracker did propose when they were still children, it said that the Nutcracker came 10 years later and then took her to the Wonderland and got married.

There is anime, Princess Tutu with elements both from ballet and darker aspects of original story. Drosselmeyer is a storyteller who gets twisted amusement by writing tragic endings even if it kills the characters under his spell

The storys of E.T.A Hoffman are one of a kind, because these are fairytales written in the early 1700(?) Storys like his are called "Kunstmärchen", because they are full of fantasy and feelings indeed, but not handed down for centuries.

0:16 as someone who lives in a tropical area, please take me to your desolate winter landscape. The summer started yesterday and I haven't been able to handle the heat since mid-spring ;-;

Aaaaaaaaw Gunther. Merry Christmas to you both. Se ya 2024 with more "Messed Up Origins".

The Nutcracker is one of my favorite Christmas stories. I also love the music.

9:06 you can’t sneak in a joke like that 😂😂😂 that was *chefs kiss* wonderful lol❤

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Jon and Thank you 💙

I was so not expecting a Lars and the Real Girl reference in this but that is awesome.

I actually experienced the Nutcracker ballet last year for my birthday, mostly because my niece was in the opening act. My very first ballet experience too. A couple other birthdays as well, including a woman in her mid 90's. They also had a Mouse Queen that year rather than a king. And now I know why Drosselmeyer wore an eyepatch, though on the left eye instead.

I can see why some versions simplify the story by just making the nutcracker a prince that was cursed.

@9:09😂 Happy holidays🎄 Merry Christmas😁

Merry Christmas Jon and family! Thank you for all the amazing content this year and I look forward to what’s in store next year! Merry Christmas from Wales ❤

"I gave your mother a similar experience!" Such classic lines . . .

I watch the 1990 cartoon version every year. Thanks to you, I have just learned how beautifully loyal it is to the story, with certain details changed... I have seen the ballet a few times. I adore the music. I'm glad this came to my feed today lol.

I gave your mother a similar experience 😂 I had to run that back 🤣 You really slid that!

Here’s some recommendations- Origins of: Dionysus Ganymede Pecos Bill

Merry Christmas, Jon Solo! Thank you for doing this! I've been looking for something like this for ages!

Thank you Jon. The nutcracker is one of my favorite ballets and stories during the holidays. You hit it out of the park this year. Im proud you. Happy Holidays to you and your family

Nahhhhhh 😮 I was literally wishing you would make a video on The Nutcracker a few days ago!! We do live in The Truman Show!!! 😨🤣🤣🤣🤣 Merry Christmas Solo Fam!

I've been looking for a nutcracker that looks like a stage magician. Top hat and rabbit, magic wand, a few cards. Many people do magic tricks for a hobby and some professional magicians (like my dad) would love them!

Awesome as always thanks! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and all who celebrate!

I loved the original story. My parents had an updated copy of it with illustrations, for children. And their was the cartoon (Megan Follows was the voice of Clara) and it also followed the original closer then the ballet. By the time I saw the ballet version, I was disappointed it wasn't the same as what I read and the cartoon. Thanks again, Jon! Merry Christmas (or Solstice lol) and a Happy New Year! (As well as to the rest of the fam)

The Nutcracker Prince was a more faithful adaptation. Who knew?

I love this ballet play so much I go to a showing every year

Nobody can convince me that the nightmare fuel that is a nutcracker figure is for xmas and doesnt belong in a horror movie. Its fricking terrifying

Happy holidays, Jon! Thanks for another great year of entertainment and education!

My family was a family that saw the Nutcraker ballet every Christmas, and I always thought the plot involving Sarah was creepy and scary. She seemed entirely unsafe and my stranger danger radar went off as soon as that friend of her dad's showed up at the party. The dancing was nice, but the plot was like a horror film with a child kidnaping.

The Pacific Northwest Ballet company worked with ETA Hoffmann (IIRC) to create the set for their stage performance of it, and I think they tried to stay as true to the book as possible. It's on KZfaq but I haven't looked at it recently.

I love your Channel, just found it and now i watch you every day. Lucky for me you have lots of videos. it would sound more day to day german if it would read "Grüße vom Krampus". But the current version is nice because it hast a older touch like we used to speak. :) PS Merry Christmas

This was great, hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Can’t wait for a new year of my childhood becoming better and more twisted.

Gunther is ADORABLE ❤❤

"1v1 on Rust".... love that!

You should do a whole separate video talking about the barbie movie version, because they changed a lot of the story, and it would be the version a lot of girls would have grown up with when they were little (plus its apparently her first ever movie, so there's that too)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Mr. Solo!

Thanks for all the amazing stories and work... you're the best. Have a well deserved break and I hope the seasons blessings get dumped at your doorstep. See ya next year.

My favorite version is Maurice Sendak's, both the book and the show. There's a Wild Thing in the background at the beginning of Act 2! I was very sad when I pulled my copy out of storage in December and found that it was ruined. I think you missed the part where it's been several years between the events we're familiar with by watching the ballet and when Drosselmeier's nephew shows up. Standards for marrying age used to be very different than what they are now.

Great job as usual very interesting and informative my son and I discovered your channel in 2020 and still are loyal mere mortals

May you and your family have the Merry-est of Merry Christmases.... along with and including Prince Gunther, and Princess Penny!!!

I do remember an animated movie that followed closer to the original story with some differences. The Mouse King was the size of a rat instead of having 7 heads. Marie was still called Clara, but she was older. More teenager than child. When the nephew first appeared, he and Clara greet each other and she calls him Nutcracker. That's where the movie ends. The only other thing I can remember about this movie is Kiefer Sutherland is the voice of The Nutcracker.

Enjoy your break, Jon! We'll be waiting till you get back

So the Doll in The Nutcracker German and French Books is named Clara.

Thanks for your videos. Have a nice holiday and time off. Take naps

I am first and foremost a Nutcracker girly. Wonderful job 💖

" i gave your mom a similar experience"??? Man that was rough. Definitely deserves a sub!! Hahaha

So in the Heroine is named Marie Stahlbaum in The Nutcracker Ballet and Marie Silberhaus in The Hard Nut Ballet.

"...how such a hideous creation came to be" 😂🙅🏾‍♂️🙇🏾‍♂️🥜😂

Great video. I've always loved the Nutcracker, both the ballet & Hoffman's version. Even as a kid, I wasn't a fan of Dumas' version. His ending didn't make much sense. I liked the section where you looked at fairy tale influences. I love the fairy tale of Vasilisa so I was happy that it was mentioned