LIZ GOTAUCO: THE SNOW QUEEN FOURTH STORY

Liz Gotauco does analyses of fairytales by playing ALL THE ROLES (in different costumes, you'll see) and the Snow Queen is also her favourite! So I add her version of the Fourth Story plus my two Knuts (including that her Clever Princess wears MAKEUP and her Clever Prince has a soul patch, ie FACIAL HAIR --like his moustache in The Fairytaler-- to characterize them as YOUNG ADULTS and contrast them with child/teenage Gerda and Kai!-- On TikTok I nerded to the max by saying that in the Dumas version the Princess is 18 (elle monta sur le trône a l'âge de DIX-HUIT ANS) and her Prince is in his early twenties (DE VINGT À VINGT-ET-CINQ ANS), a detail that maybe canonized their iconography as young adults?

I ask: Are the prince and princess young adults in this version? She wears makeup and he has facial hair (soul patch)

Liz Gotauco's reply: I interpreted it that way (partly becasuse I only have so many ways to distinguish characters). 

Sandra Dermark: They are my favourite characters because I identify with them, and they're normally portrayed as young adults (Dumas says the princess is 18 and the prince is 20-25).

Liz Gotauco: Oh good! That was my intention

Sandra Dermark: Why did you want to portray them as young adults? Tradition or some other reason?

Liz Gotauco: Since my channel emphasizes the saucy side of fairytales, adult characters provide more opportunities and the costumes are more fun, also they're depicted in bed together! And I love them too!

I ADD: Same bedchamber, different beds. And her bed is WHITE, some critics have analysed that she may still be a virgin... 

----------

Gabriela C. Chávez: I LOVE the princess (in The Snow Queen)

Artsavannah: (quoting Liz Gotauco as the Clever Princess) I want a good brain in a good body LMAO

Kayleigh: I'm with the princess

Sandra Dermark: Me too <3 my favourite part of my favourite fairytale, starring my favourite characters!! I identify with her, very clever, polyglot enough to read every newspaper in the world, but critical enough to forget everything but the culture sections - and in pursuit of intellectual equals <3 

Other nerds on TikTok saw themselves in my favourite Snow Queen characters and diagnosed them with ADHD (I have both ADHD and autism), by noting that both the Prince and Princess avoid "tiresome" (kedelig, translated as both "dull" and "boring" in more recent translations) things like a partner who only looks good and is not interesting or intelligent (Princess) or standing still for hours beside a door as a royal guard (Prince). This is called thaasophobia (THAY-ah-so-PHOBIA; the fear of boredom / idleness / sitting or standing still - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH thalassophobia, the fear of deep waters / the ocean) and is very common in people with ADHD including yours truly. 

Artemis: Also I think maybe that princess has the same flavour of ADHD that I do, LOL

Sandra Dermark: Me too - and her prince has the same flavour too. If you read the original Andersen  story, both loathe boredom (kedelig things, like a bad brain in a good body or sitting still for hours)!

Maybe Andersen used this thaasophobia to characterize my favourite characters as young adults, rich, and intelligent... maybe they also had ADHD / enneatype 7 / ENFP personalities with the ensuing thaasophobia? There are many characters in fairytales and YA literature from the nineteenth century whom you can diagnose with conditions like your own...

Anyway: on to the Liz Gotauco version of the Fourth Story!

***************************

(Edmund Dulac TSQ-IV illustration)

NARRATOR: ...about a nearby princess who was so clever she read every single newspaper in the world, but was smart enough to forget every single word once she'd finished. HEAR THAT, JOURNALISM?! YA BURNT!! Recently, the princess had decided to marry...

PRINCESS: I'll only marry a man who knows how to hold a conversation. Oh, also, he's got to be handsome! I want me a man with a brain, but I want that brain in a (singsong) good bo-dy!

MALE CROW: Anyway, a huge crowd of suitors came to woo her, but they were all dumbstruck by the glamour of the princess and her court...

[...]

MALE CROW: On the third day of wooing, a young person walked up. He had a great head of hair, but his clothes indicated someone of lower means... [...] Carries a knapsack!

[...]

MALE CROW: What I do know is; the boy arrived, looked at the long-ass line, and declared: 

"PRINCE" (imagined as Kai, b/w, in knitted cap and without facial hair): Well, this seems like a huge waste of time!

MALE CROW: Then he just walked on in ahead of everyone else! His boots were creaking, which everyone knows is humiliating, but he didn't give a shit! The confidence on that young man! [...] Anyway, the boy walked right up to the princess on her throne, which is a huge round pearl by the way, and she looked INCREDIBLE! I would marry that woman myself if I wasn't a crow!

[...]

MALE CROW: Ehhh, let's get back to the story! Anyway, that cool cat knew THE PERFECT THING TO SAY!

"PRINCE" (imagined as Kai, b/w, in knitted cap and without facial hair): I'm not here to woo you... but I would love to hear the wise words of the cleverest princess in the world!

[...]

GERDA: [...] Could you help me get into the palace?

[...] 

NARRATOR: So the crow's girlfriend, whom I am creatively calling Girlfriend Crow, helped Gerda sneak into the castle through a back door. [...] Girlfriend's got a good job, she is loyal, she is crafty, [...] Anyway, they all conferenced in the palace hallway.

FEMALE CROW: [...] Hold the lamp and we'll sneak in this hallway, and no one will know we're here.

(An armed shadow rider crops up behind them).

GERDA: Um, actually, we appear to be being followed by a bunch of ghosts on horses!

FEMALE CROW: No worries, girl! Those are just the prince's and princess' dreams! Good thing too, 'cause we are totally gonna sneak in and watch those motherfuckers sleep.

NARRATOR: They reached the royals' bedroom, and it was a magical little place. The princess and her maaan each had a bed that hung from the ceiling in the shape of a lily. [...] (The beds' colours --his is scarlet and hers is white-- are not mentioned). 

PRINCE (real prince, with long hair and soul patch): Aoow, strange girl in my bed!

[...]

PRINCE: Who the fuck's Kai?

PRINCESS: What the hell is going on here!?

[...]

PRINCESS: Oh, you poor thing!

PRINCE: I'm honestly not sure how you could have possibly mistaken (hand on his chest) me for your friend, but you know, I feel for you.

PRINCESS: Okay, before we deal with all of that, I have to give it to these two crows for bringing you to us! Would you two like an elevated position here at court?

MALE CROW: Does it come with a pension?

PRINCE: Oh, trust me, the benefits are very good.

MALE CROW: We'll take it!

NARRATOR: The prince gave Gerda his bed for the night. And the next day they dressed that girl head to foot in silks and velvets, and invited her to stay at the palace for a while.

GERDA: All I want is a pair of boots, and a small horse-drawn carriage, so I can find my friend!

PRINCESS: All right, but I'm also gonna throw in a nice warm muff for the cold... The carriage is gonna be made of gold, with the palace (coat of) arms on it, you'll gonna get a whole slew of footmen, and oodles of cakes and cookies stored in the seat. That's how we do it here!!

NARRATOR: [...] and Forest Crow escorted Gerda out of the palace to her new ride. [...] Everybody was so sad to part from one another that they fucking cried. And with that, Gerda rode off to find her Kai into the thick creepy forest in a bright golden carriage, completely open to any band of thieves that might take a fancy to it. [...] So Gerda and her royal posse are riding the golden horse-drawn carriage through the forest.

(Edmund Dulac TSQ-V illustration)

NARRATOR: And the sight of such a glamourous ride attracted the attention of a band of robbers. They were not about to let a literal golden opportunity like this pass them up! Those bastards attacked Gerda's posse, murdering the footmen and the driver. They pulled Gerda out of her carriage [...]

ROBBER MAIDEN: [...] I'll strip her of her pretty dress and accessories, and she'll sleep in my bed, but first we're going to take a carriage ride together! Drive us, minions!!

NARRATOR: As they rode in the carriage together, [...] They reached the robbers' place, which was this huge cottage-gothic castle, [...] 

***************** (7TH STORY)

GERDA: Oh robber girl, you're so silly! Tell me about all the other people we met in this story, that you definitely know!

ROBBER MAIDEN (as an adult, in red, with a ribbon on her hat): Well, the prince and the princess are travelling...

*****************

One of the best retellings ever! Kudos to Liz Gotauco, six stars out of five!! ******

LA REINA DE LAS NIEVES, DUMAS - Príncipe y princesa

La reina de las nieves

(1858)

Alejandro Dumas (Padre)

Traductor
Enrique Leopoldo de Verneuil

V Príncipe y princesa

       En el reino donde estamos ahora vive una princesa que es increíblemente juiciosa y sabia; pero debe decirse también que esta suscrita a cuantos diarios se publican en el mundo. Cierto que tiene tanto talento, pero olvida al punto cuanto ha leído. Ocupó el trono a la edad de dieciocho años, y poco tiempo después se la oyó cantar una canción que comenzaba con estas palabras:

Ya es tiempo de casarme...

Pero el fin de la canción no era tan fácil de expresar como el principio, pues la princesa no quería solamente un príncipe como hay muchos, es decir, que supiera llevar bien un brillante traje, sonreír oportunamente y ser siempre de su opinión; no; quería un verdadero príncipe, apuesto, valeroso e inteligente, que pudiera estimular las artes durante la paz, y ponerse a la cabeza de los ejércitos en caso de guerra; y, mirando todos los tronos del mundo, no veía ninguno como ella lo deseaba. Pero la princesa no desesperó de encontrarle, y estaba resuelta a no fijarse en la condición, y elegir, en cualquiera clase que fuese, un esposo digno de ella. Mandó llamar al director general de la prensa, y al día siguiente los diarios aparecieron orlados de una guirnalda de rosas, anunciando que se abría un concurso para obtener la mano de la princesa, y que todo joven, de buen aspecto, de veinticinco años de edad, podría presentarse en el palacio para hablar con la princesa, que concedería su mano al que le pareciese reunir las mejores cualidades intelectuales y morales.

Todo esto no era nada probable, y, aunque parezcas dudar de la exactitud del relato, aplicando la diestra sobre mi corazón, os juro que no digo sino la verdad, y que he conocido todos estos detalles por una  que habita en el palacio y que es mi prometida.

Estando tan bien informada, ¿no se puede dudar de lo que estoy diciendo?

Los jóvenes solteros acudieron de todos los puntos del reino; había una considerable multitud, tanta que no se podía pasar por las calles; pero ningún joven fue admitido, ni el primer ni el segundo día. Todos hablaban bien y con mucha elocuencia mientras se hallaban delante de la puerta del palacio; pero, una vez dentro, cuando veían a los guardias con su brillante uniforme de plata, cuando después de subir las escaleras encontraban a los lacayos con su librea de oro, y cuando después de atravesar las grandes salas iluminadas se veían delante del trono de la princesa, ¡oh!, entonces era inútil que buscasen palabras; no podían hacer más que repetir la última de la frase que la princesa había pronunciado; de modo que ésta no necesitaba oír más, y sabía desde luego a qué atenerse en su juicio. Hubiérase dicho que todos aquellos jóvenes habían tomado un narcótico que entorpecía su inteligencia y que no recobraban el uso de la palabra hasta hallarse fuera del palacio. Cierto que entonces hablaban de nuevo muy bien, pero todos a la vez, contestándose unos a otros lo que debieron contestar a la princesa, de tal modo que aquello era una confusión en la que nadie se entendía. A la salida del palacio esperaban a los pretendientes muchos burgueses imbéciles que se reían del chasco de los jóvenes. Yo estaba allí y me reí también de la mejor gana.

El tercer día se presentó un hombre pequeño, sin coche ni caballo, y muy alegre, y entró resueltamente en el palacio. Sus ojos brillaban; tenía magníficos cabellos largos, y, a juzgar por su ropa, muy modesta, debía ser pobre.

Llevaba un pequeño saco a la espalda.

Sin embargo, lo que sé por boca de mi novia, es que el joven, al pasar por la gran puerta del palacio, al ver los guardias con su uniforme de plata, y en las escaleras a los lacayos con sus libreas de oro, no se intimidó, al parecer, en lo más mínimo. Hizo una señal amistosa con la cabeza y dijo:

«Me molesta permanecer en la escalera esperando, y de consiguiente voy a entrar. En efecto, penetró en las salas iluminadas, y allí, donde estaban los consejeros de la princesa, ostentando ricos trajes bordados, con los pies desnudos para no hacer ruido, él se adelantó con sus zapatos, que rechinaban mucho, sin que, al parecer, le importase nada.

Pues bien, el joven se dirigió valerosamente a la princesa sin vacilar.

Esta última estaba sentada en una perla del tamaño de la rueda de un torno; todas las damas de la corte, con las de servicio; todos los señores con sus acompañantes, y cada cual con un lacayo pequeño, estaban alineados en la sala, y, cuanto más próximos se hallaban a la puerta, mayor era la altivezde su expresión.

–¡Oh! Eso debía ser muy imponente. Y ¿es verdad que no se desconcertó un solo instante?

–Ni un momento: comenzó a hablar, según me ha dicho mi prometida, sirviéndose de la lengua del país, casi tan bien como lo hago yo cuando hablo con mi futura esposa.

¿Quieres conducir... al palacio, ...?

–¡Cra, era, era! gritó. Te saludo tres veces de parte de mi novia, y he aquí un pequeño pan que he cogido para ti en la cocina, pues debes tener mucha gana. No es posible que entres en el palacio, porque los guardias con uniforme de plata, y los lacayos con librea de oro, no ... dejarán nunca pasar. Sin embargo, no te aflijas, porque podrás subir a los graneros, y, una vez allí, mi compañera conoce una escalerilla secreta que conduce a la alcoba, y cuya llave sabemos dónde está. Sígueme. 

...  y así llegaron a la verja del parque de palacio; las dos hojas de la puerta estaban sujetas por una cadena; pero como esta última se había dejado algo floja,  ,,,

Una vez en el parque, tomaron una pequeña alameda, donde las hojas secas comenzaban a rechinar bajo los pies. Llegadas a la extremidad ocultáronse en una espesura y esperaron hasta que las luces del palacio se extinguieron una tras otra. Cuando la última se apagó, ,,, condujo ... a una puertecilla oculta bajo una capa de follaje.

... se hallaba en el palacio. En aquel momento, llegaron a la escalera; sobre un armario se hallaba una pequeña lámpara, y en el primer peldaño veíase ...

Servíos coger la lámpara que esta sobre el armario, y yo iré delante. Podemos avanzar mucho sin encontrar a nadie.

–Y, sin embargo, diríase que no estamos solos. ¿No veis pasar sombras por el muro? Me parece que allí hay caballos con sus jinetes y pajes, caballeros y damas, montados también; y al otro lado, una hermosa joven vestida de blanco, coronada de rosas, blancas también, echada en un ataúd, y alrededor de ella personas que lloran.

–Son los Sueños que vienen a robar los pensamientos de los que están dormidos en el castillo, y que se los llevan hacia los placeres o el pesar: esto es mejor, porque nos prueba que aquéllos han entrado ya.

Así, llegaron a la primera sala, cuyas paredes se hallaban revestidas de seda sonrosada con ramos de oro y de plata; los salones siguientes eran cada vez más magníficos, y había allí una riqueza que deslumbraba los ojos. Al fin, enetraron en la alcoba: el pabellón del lecho figuraba una palmera con el follaje de esmeraldas, de cuyo tallo estaban suspendidos dos lechos en forma de lirio; el uno, el de la princesa, blanco, y el otro, el del príncipe, encarnado.

... subió al estrado revestido de ricas alfombras, por donde se llegaba al lecho, y, al ver una cabeza con cabellos negros y rizados, ...

El príncipe despertó y volvió la cabeza hacia ...

En el mismo instante, en medio del blanco lecho, la princesa levanto la cabeza y pregunto quién era.

–¡Pobre niña! exclamaron los príncipes.

Y elogiaron a ... por cuanto habían hecho, diciendo que no se hablan enojado por la visita, puesto que gracias a ella habían tenido el gusto de conocer a ... Sin embargo, no debían entrar otra vez, porque acaso no fuesen tan bien recibidas. Por lo demás, la princesa estaba dispuesta a recompensar a las dos ....

–¿Queréis vuestra libertad, preguntó .., o preferís ser consejeros de la corona, con el usufructo, de toda la parte desocupada del palacio?

Se convino, por lo tanto, en que ... formaran parte del consejo de Estado desde el día siguiente.

Entretanto, como no sabían dónde acostar a ..., y atendido que el príncipe quería cederle su lecho, la princesa permitió que se acostase a su lado, dióle las buenas noches y la besó, única cosa que podía hacer.

–¡Oh! ¡Qué buenos son los hombres ... en este mundo!

Al día siguiente, la princesa vistió a ... de terciopelo y seda de pies a cabeza, y quiso ponerle en los pies unas preciosas zapatillas de paño de oro, con flores de color de cereza; 

La princesa quiso nombrarla dama de honor, señalándole una magnifica habitación en el castillo; ... rehusó, rogando que le diesen tan sólo un cochecito, con un caballo pequeño, pues deseaba seguir buscando a su querido amigo.

Como quería marchar al punto, la princesa dio sus órdenes, y poco después se detuvo a la puerta una pequeña carroza dorada con dos caballos y el postillón. En las portezuelas brillaban como estrellas las armas del príncipe y de la princesa. Estos últimos colocaron por sí mismos ... en el coche, deseándole toda especie de felicidades; 

El interior de la carroza estaba atestado de confites, y en la caja del pescante había frutas y bizcochos.

–¡Adiós, y buen viaje! exclamaron el príncipe y la princesa, enjugando cada cual una lágrima.

y allí estuvo ... mientras vio la carroza, que brillaba a los, rayos del sol.

VI La hija de los ladrones

Cuando la noche llegó, ... se hallaba a la entrada de un bosque sombrío, que parecía tanto más oscuro cuanto que el día declinaba.

El postillón se apeó para encender los faroles; de modo que la luz se reflejó en la carroza dorada.

Al verla brillar así, unos ladrones que estaban ocultos en el bosque se dijeron:

–¡La cosa no es posible, porque la carroza es de oro macizo!

Y se precipitaron sobre aquélla, detuvieron los caballos, mataron al postillón y sacaron del coche a ...

–No quiero que la maten, dijo la hija de los ladrones; jugará conmigo, me dará sus ricos trajes y sus zapatitos encarnados, y las dos dormiremos juntas.

...

–¡Quiero entrar en el coche! gritó la niña ladrona.

Y fue preciso acceder a su voluntad, porque no consentía en que le rehusasen nada.

–Bueno, dijo después; ahora quiero que pongan a la viajera junto a mí.

Y se hubo de poner a ... a su lado.

Esta última y la hija de los ladrones se hallaban, pues, sentadas en el coche, que rodaba sobre los fosos y las raíces de los árboles, internándose en la profundidad de los bosques.

La carroza se detuvo: ... habían llegado al centro del patio del castillo de los ladrones, gran edificio agrietado de arriba abajo; los cuervos y las cornejas pasaban y repasaban por las aberturas; pero estas aves eran salvajes, y en nada se parecían a las cornejas del príncipe y de la princesa.  ...

Poco después entraron en el castillo.

En medio de una gran sala baja, con el suelo embaldosado, ardía un gran fuego; el humo llegaba hasta el techo, saliendo después por donde podía; y en una olla enorme hervía la sopa; mientras que en tres asadores se hallaban atravesados algunos cuartos de jabalí, un pequeño corzo entero, diez o doce liebres y quince o veinte conejos.

Era la cena de los ladrones.

–Esta noche dormirás conmigo en mi lecho, dijo la hija de aquéllos.

VIII El castillo de la reina de las nieves y lo que sucedió allí

Poco a poco, a los musgos y a los líquenes sucedieron los brezos y rododendros; luego a los brezos y rododendros, zarzas y espinos; a las zarzas y espinos, abetos achaparrados, después otros más hermosos, luego verdes robles, y, por fin, oyeron cantar a los pajarillos; encontraron las primeras flores y divisaron, por último, un gran bosque de hayas y castaños.

De aquel bosque salió, montada en un magnífico caballo, que reconoció al punto por uno de los dos que habían sido enganchados a su carroza dorada, una linda joven que llevaba en la cabeza un gorro de color de escarlata y en la cintura dos pistolas.

Era la hija de los ladrones.

La arrogante amazona se había cansado de la vida que llevaba en el castillo del bosque, y, apoderándose de una gruesa suma de oro en la guarida de los ladrones, se llenó de él los bolsillos, sacó uno de los dos caballos dados por la princesa ..., montó en él y partió.

... le dio un golpecito en la mejilla, y le preguntó por el príncipe y la princesa.

–Están viajando por el extranjero, contestó la hija de los ladrones.

POSTSCRIPTUM DE MISS DERMARK

No os lo podéis creer, pero encontré la traducción de La Reina de las Nieves de Dumas al español, del siglo XIX, y os ofrezco mi trama secundaria favorita... ¡ya la tengo en francés en este blog y ahora os la presento en español! La publicó la Luis Tasso de Barcelona en 1858. Sería bueno enfrentarla a la versión francesa original, "Prince et princesse", en este blog. 

Por lo visto, M. de Verneuil también tradujo a Dickens (Dorrit, Oliver) y a otros anglófonos por vía del francés...

REVIEW: THE NUTCRACKER AND THE 4 REALMS

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE 4 REALMS
my own review, thoughts, and why yours truly adored this version

Slavic, French, Germanic, and British influences: First things first, the story is set in Victorian London and its environs (when not in the magical lands of the Four Realms); there is like this connection between Victorian Christmases and London that lasts all the way from Dickens.

Clara's family have a Germanic surname - and, just like at the source (all adaptations since Dumas except a few, such as The Nutcracker Prince -animated-, have omitted the older sister), Clara is the middle sibling, having grown up in the shade of marriageable, attractive proper lady Louise and annoying little military brat Fritz. Just like Stannis Baratheon and Ivan Karamazov, and Two-Eyes in the Magyar folktale, having to deal with issues of favouritism has predisposed her to be sharp. Their surname (more on that below) is just the same as in the original Prussian tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann, hence, we shall have to explain the adaptation sequence:

1. Prussia, 1816: E.T.A. Hoffmann, Nussknacker
2. France, 1844: Alexandre Dumas, Histoire d'un casse-noisette
3. Russia, 1892: Marius Petipa (choreographer) & Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (composer): Щелкунчик (Shtchelkunchik).

This last adaptation - the Russian ballet based on the French Woolseyised translation of a Prussian fairytale - is the one that comes to mind to the general public across the globe.
It can be argued that all the intermediate adaptations have also left their mark:

The Sugarplum Fairy speaks French to give a more sophisticated impression, and the Nutcracker himself is named Philippe.

While the Slavic influences come in the form of a surprise-holding clockwork Easter egg that Clara inherited from her late mother, and which opens with a key the girl has not yet received (this is not unlike a Fabergé egg, but made by Herr Drosselmeyer), the Kremlin-esque palace of the Land of Sweets (the main setting for most of the film), and the roly-poly clown henchpeople of Mother Ginger's (the smallest of whom looks just like Ubu Roi!), who fit inside one another just like nesting dolls.

Most of the Prussian element from the original source is not only present within the characterisation of Clara's society family, but also with the heavy importance of the military in the Four Realms, including the uniforms of the mook army of tin soldiers, not to mention the fact that the Nutcracker here is not a prince, but a mere officer (more on that a few paragraphs below).


Stahlbaum instead of Silberhaus: The surname of Clara's family is here the one they have in the original Prussian fairytale. It was first Dumas who changed it (even explaining to the little French reader that "Silberhaus" translates to "Maison d'Argent"!), and this French version was the one most well-known in Russia, the one that Tchaikovsky, the choreographer Marius Petipa, and the audience heard in their Russian society childhood. But this adaptation makes them Stahlbaums once more, just like at the source: after all, a steel tree is something far harder and more nature-like than a silver house.

And there is a lot of arboreal symbolism in this adaptation to go along with it - Clara enters the Winter Realm through a tree trunk, the Easter egg has a tree-branch design on it - which may also refer to Yggdrasil, which comes as no surprise given that Herr Drosselmeyer is even more Odinic here than in any of his previous incarnations...


Odinic Herr Drosselmeyer: The missing eye and advanced age of the Stahlbaum children's adoptive grandfather (yes, here he was Mary Stahlbaum's guardian, making the maiden surname of the siblings' late mother Drosselmeyer; instead of their honourary uncle like in the source material and most adaptations) were, in all the previous incarnations of the character, a few Odinic allusions to establish him as a particular mentor archetype.

The Four Realms turns these associations to Odin up a notch (aside from making his connection to the Stahlbaums even closer) by having Herr Drosselmeyer as a Renaissance scholar who keeps a well-stocked library (that can rival that of the Beast last springtime!), a lot of clockwork and steampunk devices he has invented (the Easter egg McGuffin was a gift for the recently-orphaned Mary, just placed in his care, to open up), and even a whale shark and a blue whale mounted on the ceiling of his workshop/laboratory in the cellar of the Drosselmeyer estate!

He even has a feathered friend who serves as his eye in the Four Realms and guides Clara on her quest; even if we're not talking about two ravens, but a single eagle-owl for a pet and watcher, nevertheless it's a magnificent, regal specimen of Bubo bubo, most surely a female because of her size. All in all, it's quite impressive, and the fact that Clara even inherited the Drosselmeyer penchant for learning things and making gadgets from her mother and adoptive grandfather (three generations of Ravenclaws) cannot get clearer than this!


The Nutcracker Officer (not your Prince Charming): Seriously, the enchanted prince is overrated. Nowadays, many people ask themselves why an enchanted love interest has to be royalty... et voilà, Philippe in this adaptation is but a middling army captain!

I totally adored Philippe's defrosting, from dutiful officer who will never leave his post to Clara's not romantic love interest, but rather her more senpai figure and partner-in-adventures during the final battle and their heartwarming leavetaking, showing that intellectual relationships can also cause the same harrowing emotion. Also, the fact that he was a race-lifted chocolate hussar gives his pairing with Clara a smattering of Othello and Desdemona that was a quite positive surprise and added a lot to their chemistry!


The Flower Regent and the Snow Regent: Now, believe me, the Snow Queen, as conceived by Andersen developing winter goddesses a little further, is a character that has very rarely been gender-flipped. I can only think of Jack Frost (the evil adult in Rainbow Magic, NOT the mischievous child in Rise of the Guardians) and Simon Petrikov from Adventure Time, as well as Hetalia's General Winter, as other few and far-between instances of a Rule 63:d winter royal. Voilà that we can add another instance to our list!

Shiver is a gender-flipped equivalent to the Snow Queen... and that, though done before (see above), is really refreshing (pun intended).

Hawthorne appears to be a plant-person and is quite hilarious as comic relief. He even seems to take pride in being a literally rose-haired sweety dressed in a floral pastel three-piece suit to match.
Interestingly, when it comes to their whiskers, moustaches, and beards, both of the season-themed royals have frost and flowers, respectively, for facial hair - I appreciate the cleverness in that detail that adds a plus to their character designs.
PS. Did anyone else ship Shiver and Hawthorne? Or imagine them as younger versions with less facial hair? Anyone else had any wet dreams about that...?


Clara's Costumes

 
Soirée Gown: This lilac-leaning-on-royal blue dress -for every heroine in a Girls Underground classic except Gerda, who is most frequently depicted in red, has to wear blue (Alice, Dorothy, Wendy)- is worn by Clara at the Christmas soirée of the Drosselmeyer estate. It's pretty modest, even austere, contrasting also with her more mature older sister Louise in lace-collared pink brocade, and showing off more chest with that décolletage.

Coronation ("Josephine") Gown: This gown is worn by Clara during her coronation, upon learning that her late mother was royalty of the Four Realms, and at court shortly thereafter. It's an empire-style dress with a high waist and puffy sleeves brocaded in gold thread, reminiscent of the one Empress Josephine wears in the painting by David.

Her hairstyle, a spiral chignon set with pearl-drops and ribbons and leaves of gold thread, is also reminiscent of Josephine...

Hussar's Uniform: During most of the film, Clara is uniformed, being the only female hussar in Philippe's company.

Still, in spite of her shako, chignon (that frequently loosens into a queue), and finely soutached Prussian blue pelisse, she wears a skirt over her Wellingtons! Fortunately, this crimson skirt, its end embroidered with gold thread to fit the rest of the uniform, is loosely fitting and worn without petticoats, making Clara as free when it comes to movements as if she had worn trousers.

Victory Gown: This dress is worn by Clara in the finale, before returning to the real world where her mentor, father, and siblings anxiously await her. It's quite similar to the Josephine gown, but also has the white peacock motif of her royal ancestry.


The Military Men's Uniforms: Given that we've already talked about Clara's uniform, why not have a peek at what Philippe and the other guys wear into battle as well?

As we can see, our nutcracker captain looks dashing in his Prussian-style steel helmet and soutached (ie gold-braided) crimson hussar's pelisse, quite similar to Enjolras'. But his skin colour adds something even more adorable and fits perfectly in with the uniform.

The royal guards wear crimson hussars' pelisses to match Philippe's, since they are under his command. However, they all wear shakos instead of helmets, including the officers right below Philippe in the hierarchy.

Unlike the royal guards, the tin soldier mooks wear Prussian blue, with red details and hatted with shakos. The officers wear ... to distinguish them from the rank-and-file.

Mother Ginger the Rat Queen vs. the Sugarplum Fairy (Highlight for spoilers!):

Though she is as present in Dumas as in the source tale, most adaptations low the Rat Queen out of the group picture, leaving the role of antagonist wholly to her son and heir. Only a graphic novella made in Spain and the 2010 film The Nutcracker in 3D (the one set in Vienna Austria in the Roaring 20s, where Clara is renamed Mary, Fritz is renamed Max, and she has to go forth to seek her little brother whisked away into the rodent-occupied kingdom - also, Herr Drosselmeyer is replaced with Albert Einstein, and the rodent usurpers have a Nazi theme to them) did I know before Four Realms as previous adaptations that keep the fearsome matriarch as the real antagonist, and one to be reckoned with.
In this version, not only does Mother Ginger command all of these rodents - but the Rat King is not her child by blood, but rather a hive-mind made of all the rodents she has raised, that clump together in whatever arrangement suits their purpose best; in a way not quite unlike Ygramul the Many, but made of rats instead of bugs. Think the Other Mr. Bobinsky, from Coraline, and you get the idea.

Furthermore, she is in charge of this Gingerzord: an oversized clockwork/steampunk mobile suit based upon herself, with a circus tent for a petticoat -the centre of command would be in the chest or head of the mobile suit (never detailed). The tent-petticoat also contains enough room for hiding all of her rats and all of her roly-poly nesting-doll-clown henchpeople.
During the final battle, she was also a total badass, hiding inside the largest of all her henchpeople like a Trojan matryoshka to enter the palace, and then holding her own in battle with her tamer's whip, (SPOILERS) even though in the end she got practically tied with her own whip and then strapped to a table underneath the raygun... Luckily we never got to see that!
Mother Ginger is a badass, scarcely seen in anything but a masculine-looking outfit, quite skilled at using a whip in battle, and being a capable strategist, and is a Gadgeteer Genius and a heroic rebel who doesn't dress up until Clara's coronation after the climax.
At first, upon arriving in the Realms, Clara is told by the Sugarplum Fairy that it is her royal duty to stop a potential military invasion: Mother Ginger, in the misty and autumnal Realm of Amusements (full of carnival attractions, fog, rodents, autumnal woodlands, and amanita mushrooms), is planning to invade the other season-themed realms and become the sole ruler of all the Realms. There happens to be a dynastic crisis: With the High Queen of the Four Realms dead, Mother Ginger has turned against the other regents in hope of becoming the new queen. Only the true inheritor of the throne can save the day. Furthermore, both Sugarplum and Clara want a wind-up key that is in Mother Ginger's power: the key to the Easter egg which Clara inherited from her late mother.

However, (HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILERS) it all turns out to be a decoy and the Sugarplum Fairy, so affable and cultured, is the real usurper, who needed a scapegoat to declare war against and take over that Realm, and then those of Frost and Flowers, with an army of tin soldiers brought to life using a steampunk raygun which the late Queen Mary had invented, and to which Mother Ginger had been entrusted the key. The same key which activates the life-giving raygun and opens Clara's mysterious Easter egg (which, if you are curious only contains a mirror, showing that like mother like daughter and thus everything Clara needs are the talents she inherited; and the mechanism to the musical box). In the late going, Clara realizes that "Everything you need is inside" has a double meaning. The egg is actually a music box with a mirror, literally showing her that everything she needs (courage, skill, etc.) is inside HER. She later applies this to the remaining regents, explaining how they can rule the Four Realms on their own while she returns to the outside world. The nostalgia comes from it being Mary's final gift to her, serving as a reminder to her daughter that everything she needs is inside and the song it plays being meaningful to the widowed Benjamin Stahlbaum (was it the first tune that he and Mary danced together, or the one that played during their wedding feast?).
That was the reason why Sugarplum (btw, it was so funny to see her eat her own cotton candy hair when she got tense! What would it taste like, cotton candy?) needed to have Clara head for the Realm of Amusements and fetch the key for her.


Which brings us to the question of the season: is Evil All Along a dead horse trope? Looking back at Sheev Palpatine, Hans in Frozen, or Ernesto in Coco... they all descend from Shakespeare's Iago, the prototype for this kind of villain, and hence the rarity of female twist villainesses. I can only think of Heloïse de Villefort and Dawn Bellwether, but still neither of them has been done with such a complexity as Sugarplum, who at first appears to be a true-to-life mentor and even shown doing funny things, like eating her own cotton candy hair... which threw us completely off-kilter. It could not be more satisfying when she got zapped by her own raygun, to which Clara had reversed the polarity, and became once more a porcelain doll

Fridge Brilliance

• Why is Sugar Plum the villain? Because too many sweets are bad for you!
• Mother Ginger's main weapon of choice is a whip. It's a "ginger snap.
• In the end, Clara decides that she will return to London while the four regents — Mother Ginger (who is innocent), Philippe (who replaces Sugar Plum), Shiver, and Hawthorne — will rule together and equally.

!


The invasion - putting on the reich... Fire Nation and Galactic Empire parallels, anyone?

It was also interesting to see the nutcracker and rat king fighting alongside each other, instead of against each other - as allies instead of enemies - isn't this a refreshing surprise consequence of the change of antagonist?

To cut a long story short, the way this film handled the steampunk aesthetic, the period costumes, and the source materials really took my breath away. I was wowed, having never seen such a version of the Nutcracker story, and this one kept me hanging on the edge of my seat...

• Scenery Porn: Goes along with Gorgeous Period Dress. Narnia-esque snow covered fir forest, red Slavic castle with waterfalls, gilding everywhere... You name it.