The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Is In A Constant Battle Between Being Derivative And Being Weird

It is late in the evening. Rain comes down outside an office on the Disney lot as a group of Disney executives contemplate what their next big blockbuster should be. What public domain fantasy-IP can they turn into a motion picture next? They've already done so many, there can't possibly be any left....and then somebody remembers that The Nutcracker Suite exists, why not make a movie based on that famous piece of ballet music? Disney's adapted that material before with a Mickey Mouse short and kind of sort of in a Fantasia 2000 segment, surely a live-action adaptation is only the next logical step for the studio! Those Disney executives likely thought they had a surefire family movie hit on their hands, but what they got is The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, a movie that excels most when it's just being as odd and campy as possible.

Editorial: The Modern Disney Animation Resurgence Is Nothing Short Of Fantastic

An awesome image Wired made for their magazine to celebrate recent features
from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Hooray for Bolt and Winnie The Pooh
getting some recognition! 

With Big Hero 6 on the horizon, many have shifted their attention to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and specifically their numerous recent achievements. Seriously, the studio has been on fire lately, churning out one entertaining feature after the other. As this awesome and in-depth Wired article notes, the last few years have restored luster to the company, with the phenomenally successful Frozen just clinching that the company has reformed itself.