Hi all,

I signed up for an account just to make this topic and hopefully get some new leads. I'm 26 years old and there's a VHS I used to watch as a kid (this would be 1997 or earlier), with a gorgeously filmed rendition of "The Nutcracker" played out with marionettes. I could be wrong in that maybe there were only a few songs from The Nutcracker, but for sure there were several vignettes / different scenes throughout the entirety.

I remember some of these scenes being a little "dark" for a young person like myself. There was one scene where two men dressed in traditional Arab clothes fought each other for the affection of a young woman, for example. Another scene had a bunch of frogs.

I wish I could provide more information.... Marionettes, before 1997 (I would guess it was made in the late 80s or early 90s), probably not American, with the Nutcracker.

I'm hoping there's a digital version out there somewhere I can watch but even just knowing the name of this video would offer me such a huge relief. Thank you so much for your time.

Either one of these?





Julie

Either one of these?





Julie

Hi Julie, unfortunately it's neither of those. It wasn't a stop-motion film; it was live-action and performed with I think stringed marionettes and hand puppets. I don't think there was any dialogue in the entirety of the film either -- just classical music. Thank you so much for the response, though.

Where did you live when you saw these?  The reason I ask is because often local stations get a hold of things that are not shown nationally.  Knowing where you lived might help others track it down.  It might also be something you could use to track it down. You could perhaps contact the local stations and see if maybe they had any info. They may or may not be willing to help out but it is worth a try.

I'll keep my eyes out for anything like this but it does not ring a bell.

PofA used to have an Audio Visual library.  They actually started collecting in 1979 so it might be possible it would be in the archive. They have recently moved that to library to the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.  Might be worth checking with them. http://bimp.uconn.edu/

What about this http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Nutcracker-Marionettes-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/B00008T59T

Julie

Here's another site that has it as well along with others with similar style..http://www.jimgamble.com/videos/videos.html

Julie