Christmas is edging closer, and that means hot cocoa, snow, and of course lots and lots of Christmas-themed movies. If you don’t want to watch movies about snowmen or Santa Claus, try diving into the world of the nutcracker with our list of the fifteen best nutcracker movies and where to stream them.
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How We Have Ranked the Best Nutcracker Movies
In order to provide the best recommendations for you, we have compiled our list based on IMDb ratings. Keep reading to discover the highest-rated nutcracker movie, and see if you can recognize any of the other best nutcracker movies on our list.
15. Nutcracker Massacre (2022), Tubi and Prime Video
If you want a blend of horror and Christmas, try out the Nutcracker Massacre. When a struggling novelist decides to visit her family for Christmas, a mysterious human-sized nutcracker becomes possessed and wrecks havoc on the festive season. You will not want to sleep with a nutcracker in your room after watching this film.
- IMDb Score: 3.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: N/A
14. The Secret of the Nutcracker (2007), Peacock and Hulu
A slight twist on the original nutcracker movie comes in the film The Secret of the Nutcracker. Clara is 12-years-old, but that doesn’t stop her embarking on a dangerous mission to rescue her father who is being held in a POW camp. With the help of Drosselmeyer, she may be able to achieve her Christmas miracle.
- IMDb Score: 5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 17%
13. Nutcracker and the Magic Flute (2022), Prime Video
In The Nutcracker and the Magic Flute, it is New Year’s Eve and Marie learns that her mother is being forced to marry the revolting money lender Mr. Ratter. As a show of goodwill, Ratter gives Marie a doll named Nutcracker, and later she magically becomes the same size as her childhood toys who come to life. Nutcracker turns out to be Prince George, who has been put under a spell. Marie must come together with her toys to the Land of Flowers in order to save the world from falling under the control of the rat people.
- IMDb Score: 5.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: N/A
12. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018), Disney+ and Hulu
One of the better known nutcracker movies today is The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, where Clara need a magical key to unlock a box containing a priceless gift. When a golden thread leads her to the key, it instead disappears into a strange parallel world. In this world she meets a solider named Phillip, a group of mice, and regents that preside over the three realms. In order to retrieve her key though, Clara and Phillip will have to travel to the fourth realm, and restore harmony to the unstable land along the way.
- IMDb Score: 5.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 34%
11. The Nutcracker (1993), Youtube and Hulu
If you enjoy watching the Home Alone series starring Macaulay Culkin, make sure to add The Nutcracker to your list, as Culkin appears as the Nutcracker Prince, who protects Marie. This live-action adaptation of the ballet has Marie awaken to find that toys and mice have grown large, and a villainous rodent ruler tries to torment her. As the Prince protects Marie, they float through several dance sequences and meet the Sugarplum Fairy and her dashing cavalier.
- IMDb Score: 5.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: N/A
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10. Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001), Apple TV and Prime Video
Barbie fans, if you have not watched this movie, you should now. Barbie in the Nutcracker has Clara awakening one night to find her nutcracker doll coming to life, and battling against the Mouse King. Clara is then shrunk by the Mouse King, and must race to find a princess who can reverse the magic.
- IMDb Score: 6.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 59%
9. Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale (2007), Prime Video and Tubi
Tom and Jerry was one of my favorite shows growing up, and it only makes sense that they have a holiday special that would make it one our best nutcracker movies list. Jerry starts the short film dancing with a music-box ballerina in an enchanted kingdom that is filled with candy forests and singing snowflakes. He is as happy as can be, that is until Tom comes and crashes the party.
- IMDb Score: 6.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 64%
8. A Nutcracker Christmas (2016), Peacock and Pluto TV
The Hallmark Channel dominates the holiday season, and brings their own twist to the nutcracker story with A Nutcracker Christmas. In the film, a rising ballet star is ready to take the stage for her dream role when she receives horrible news that her sister has died. Years later, she has vowed to never dance again, but a Hallmark encounter with an old flame may just change her mind.
- IMDb Score: 6.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 43%
7. Nutcracker Fantasy (1979), Prime Video and Youtube
Nutcracker Fantasy is a Japanese-American stop-motion animated film that is loosely based on Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet. In the film, a girl’s love and courage are tested as she attempts to help a handsome solider who is under the spell of a two-headed mouse.
- IMDb Score: 6.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 74%
6. The Nutcracker Prince (1990), Youtube
The Nutcracker Prince is a Canadian animated romance fantasy film that takes another look at the famous ballet, earning its spot on our best nutcracker movies list. In the film, a girl and her nutcracker doll join a Christmas battle between toy soldiers and the minions of a mouse king.
- IMDb Score: 6.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 72%
5. Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (1986), MGM+ and Pluto TV
The Nutcracker: The Motion Picture is a Pacific Northwest Ballet performance that is set during Christmas Eve and festivities are well under way. Clara is especially excited when her godfather Droseelmeier arrives with a bag full of gifts, including a wooden nutcracker. When everyone falls asleep that night, Clara visits the Christmas tree to inspect the mysterious nutcracker when she finds herself immersed in a dream world both dark and enchanting.
- IMDb Score: 6.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 71%
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4. The Hard Nut (1992), Prime Video and Youtube
The Hard Nut earns the fourth spot in our best nutcracker movie list, and is a ballet that is set to Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and is choreographed by Mark Morris. The ballet also takes inspiration from the comic artist Charles Burns, whose archetypal concepts of guilt, childhood, and post-war America bleed into this performance.
- IMDb Score: 7.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: N/A
3. The Nutcracker (1973), Youtube
The 1973 version of The Nutcracker is a Soviet/Russian animated film from the Soyuzmultfilm studio, and was directed by Boris Stepantsey. Instead of being solely based on Tchaikovsky’s ballet, it more closely resembles the E.T.A. Hoffman’s 1816 short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” which originally inspired the ballet.
- IMDb Score: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: N/A
2. The Bolshoi Ballet: Live from Moscow – The Nutcracker (2010), Prime Video and Youtube
If you prefer to watch a ballet-based film about the nutcracker, try watching The Bolshoi Ballet: The Nutcracker which was filmed in the Bolshoi Theatre. Choreographer Yuri Grigorovich immerses himself in Hoffman’s imagery and takes cues from the traditional staging of Marius Petipa’s scenario. The best of the Bolshoi Ballet appear in this performance, and it is a must-see on our best nutcracker movies list.
- IMDb Score: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: N/A
1. The Nutcracker (1977), Apple TV and Prime Video
Last but not least on our best nutcracker movies list is 1977’s The Nutcracker. This television adaptation of Baryshnikov’s Nutcracker is considered “the most romantic version ever” and stars Mikhail Baryshnikov in his prime, and costars Gelsey Kirkland in the American Ballet Theatre.
- IMDb Score: 8.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 75%
Christmas is a time full of cheer and holiday-themed movies, so make sure to get into the spirit by checking out these fifteen best nutcracker movies on their respective streaming services. Then check out some of our other Christmas-themed articles to fill your December with Christmas films.
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