Hello,
everyone! Are you ready for another
edition of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR? I certainly hope you are because I have a really fun topic idea
to talk about for the fourth day of the calendar.
Yes,
we're on Day #4, and as you may have noticed, I have temporarily
gone back to the old theme days. It
just makes it easier to keep track of all of the topics that I have already
done. And for TUBE
TALK THURSDAY,
we're going to be taking a look at a Christmas special that I absolutely
remember from my childhood. It's a
television special that combines a classic Christmas tale with one of the most
popular toys of the 1980s, and it is a special that I have probably seen about
a couple dozen times. I suppose it
makes sense, considering that I was seven and a half when this special first
aired on television.
How
many of you out there have a nutcracker doll on display at your home for the
holidays? I know that I have a couple
of nutcracker ornaments hanging up on our family Christmas tree. And my sister has a collection of nutcracker
dolls that probably exceeds over two hundred.
Seriously, if you visit her at home, the nutcracker dolls take over a
whole portion of her living room.
Of
course, nutcracker dolls do more than decorate homes and crack walnuts open
with their gigantic mouths. The
nutcracker happens to be the star of a famous holiday ballet show!
As
many of you know, "The Nutcracker" is a two-act ballet with music
composed by Tchaikovsky. The ballet
itself was inspired by the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King"
by E.T.A. Hoffmann. All I have to do is
post the main theme of The Nutcracker and it will instantly jog your memory,
like so.
Would
you believe that the very first performance of The Nutcracker took place almost
122 years ago, on December 18, 1892?
And would you believe that initially, The Nutcracker failed to catch
on? Of course, this was nothing to do
with Tchaikovsky's compositions...if anything, the music was more popular than
the actual ballet! But by the time the 1960s
rolled around, "The Nutcracker" was finally starting to get
recognized for its greatness and has been performed by various ballet companies
all over the world each Christmas season.
So,
what do you think you would get if you took "The Nutcracker" and
combined it with a cartoon that featured a bunch of loving, caring teddy bears
and their kind-hearted animal cousins?
Well,
you might get something called "Care Bears Nutcracker Suite", that's
what!
Originally
airing in the United States on December 10, 1988 (in Canada, the cartoon aired
on Christmas Day, 1988), the Care Bears Nutcracker Suite also doubled as the
three-part series finale of "The Care Bears Family" cartoon series,
which ran from 1986-1988. And honestly,
I think that if the cartoon series had to end, this was definitely a great
series of episodes to do it with.
First
things first, I like the fact that this episode starred some Care Bears who
really never got much of a chance to shine during the whole series. As I recall, early episodes were very
Tenderheart and Braveheart centered, while later episodes seemed to focus
mostly on the Cheer Bear/Champ Bear/Bright Heart Raccoon/Treat Heart Pig
quadrilateral.
The
two main stars of this special? Grumpy
Bear and Funshine Bear. Complete polar
opposites, but they certainly made a great team.
Of
course, Baby Hugs and Tugs, Brave Heart Lion, Tenderheart Bear, and Lotsa Heart
Elephant also made appearances in this special Christmas feature.
The
Care Bears Nutcracker Suite begins at a public school where a group of children
are busy practicing for a Christmas play.
Their teacher, named Miss Walker, decides to gather the children
together to tell them a story. The story,
of course, is "The Nutcracker".
But there's a twist to the story.
This story begins in Care-a-Lot - the home of the Care Bears and Care
Bear Cousins.
Yes,
believe it or not, Care Bears celebrate Christmas too. And naturally, all of the Care Bears are
busy decorating trees, wrapping presents, and forcing their little star friends
to pose as Christmas lights all season long.
(Okay,
I made that last part up.)
Well,
that is, everyone except Hugs and Tugs.
The Care Bear Cubs are only interested in trying to find the absolute
perfect ornament for the Care Bear Family Christmas Tree. Remember that point for later.
But
before you know it, the Christmas festivities are put on hold when Funshine
Bear reports that a little girl named Anna is feeling sad and depressed, and
Funshine requests the aid of another Care Bear to help her try and cheer Anna
up. Of course, this sets the stage for
Grumpy Bear to join Funshine Bear on the mission.
Once
both bears arrive on Earth, they quickly discover what is wrong. Anna's best friend recently moved away, and
with Anna's little brother Peter being too distracted by pirate games and
seeking adventure, she is feeling alone for the holidays. Grumpy and Funshine try to cheer Anna up,
but in the midst of everything, a flash of light appears in Anna's bedroom, and
a portal opens up.
(The
portal might I add is exactly the same one that Beastur used to go through on
"My Pet Monster". I suppose
since both "My Pet Monster" and "Care Bears" were produced
by Nelvana, it was inevitable that they would share similar animation
techniques.)
In
the case of Anna, it isn't a scary purple monster that comes out. Instead, it happens to be a life-sized,
talking nutcracker doll! But
unfortunately, he is followed by an army of gigantic rats who do their best to
try and drag Mr. Nutcracker back inside!
Of
course, Funshine, Grumpy, Anna, and Peter are not willing to let their new
friend go without a fight, and they easily defeat the rats who scurry back
inside the portal. Of course, this
leads the Care Bears and the children to wonder what the heck is going on, and
Mr. Nutcracker explains that the group of rats - lead by the Rat King - were
cohorts of a man known as the Evil Vizier, a ruthless dictator who makes it his
mission to take over the land known as Toyland. Mr. Nutcracker also explains that the Prince of Toyland has gone
missing, and that the Prince's ring has also gone missing, which could spell
doom for Toyland if the ring falls in the wrong hands.
At
the same time, the Vizier has captured the Sugar Plum Fairy - one of the
closest allies of the former Prince of Toyland. You see, the Sugar Plum Fairy has actually hidden the Prince's
ring inside of a walnut, and she is the only one who knows where the ring
is. And naturally, the Vizier believes
that by capturing Sugar Plum, she will eventually crack and reveal where the
ring is. But Sugar Plum is not willing
to give up the secret at all.
At
the same time, the Care Bears and Anna team up with Mr. Nutcracker to try and
stop the evil Vizier from taking over Toyland.
Of course, Peter wants to help too, but is initially relegated to
babysitting Hugs and Tugs. But somehow,
the three find another portal to Toyland, and they embark on their own
adventure, with Peter wanting to find adventure, and Hugs and Tugs trying to
find an ornament that they can call their very own.
I'm
sure you see where this is going, right?
Yep, somehow, the walnut ends up in the possession of Hugs and Tugs, and
the rest of the Care Bears soon discover that keeping Anna and Mr. Nutcracker
safe is not the easiest job in the world.
So,
how does this tale end? Well, I really
shouldn't spoil it for you. After all,
some of you may not have seen it. All
that I will reveal is that Mr. Nutcracker might have a deeper connection to
Toyland than initially thought, and that there is a rather ingenious surprise
twist at the end of the story.
All
in all, it's a great adaptation of "The Nutcracker". Definitely check it out.
No comments:
Post a Comment