YMMV / The Nutcracker Prince

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Whether the Mouse King is a Jerkass Woobie or not. Hints of his possibly being so are his return of Clara's slipper to Clara the next night, hinting some hint of (somewhat perhaps grudging) kindness, which shows a small displaying hint of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. While he does threaten Clara's kitten later on, it is slightly justified when Clara offered him some chocolates (despite first glance at distrusting before she reassured him), she did trap him and crushed his tail in the progress and took that fury out in forcing her to decide.
• Cult Classic: By far one of the better adaptations of the story.
• Fan Nickname: Some fans give the Mouse King the name Hiram and his mother the name Selene due to their true names not revealed from their title names in this version.
• Jerkass Woobie: Not everyone believes this, but the Mouse King, out of all people, may fit into this. He was abused by his mother, had his tail crushed many times, and even though he considers Clara his enemy, he still gave back the slipper when he could have just gone to the Nutcracker in sleep mode instead. Towards the end of the film he even starts losing all his senses and makes one final stand while internally bleeding that ultimately makes him look as pitiful as he is frightening. Many viewers (even Roger Ebert himself) couldn't help but feel like the guy got a raw deal.
• Moral Event Horizon: The Mouse King, while normally a Laughably Evil buffoon, crosses the line when he threatens to kill Clara's kitten if she doesn't hand over the Nutcracker.
• Ron the Death Eater: Rather bizarrely, Roger Ebert took this attitude towards the titular hero due to him looking to no other option of resolving the conflict except slaying the Mouse King. Then again, his complaint was about the fact that this was a Christmas movie for kids where the protagonist has no choice but to murder his enemy, so his issue had more to do with the premise than the character himself.
• Spiritual Adaptation: While the movie's style and tone was made similar to the Disney Renaissance movies, it does make it the closest thing to a Disney movie adaptation of the Nutcracker, and a better one than the official 2018 Disney live-action adaptation that bombed financially and critically.
• Vindicated by History: When it was first released, the movie itself bombed in the Box Office. However, over time thanks to the VHS releases, it became a Cult Classic to many.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: After being stabbed by the Nutcracker, the Mouse King's chest is visibly bleeding. In a kids' movie.
• The Woobie: Hans. He tries to save his uncle, Drosselmeier by breaking the princess' curse in order to save the latter's life. When he does do so, he's cursed into the form of an inanimate nutcracker by the spiteful Mouse Queen, with her son trying to hunt him down for crushing his tail accidentally. He is asleep for years till he's re-awoken to fight the Mouse King, completely unaware of the situation. When he finally defeats him, he's denied Clara's hand in marriage in the Doll Kingdom due to her own dreams. Thankfully, he's revived as a human being at the end of the film.

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