At midnight, magical dust travels about the room, and Clara awakens to see her Nutcracker suddenly alive, and fighting an army of mice led by the wicked Mouse King.
The Nutcracker explains that he was also transformed by the Mouse King, and he and Clara decide to find the Sugarplum Princess, the only person who can undo the spells on both of them.
While Mint and Candy prepare a boat, Clara and Nutcracker manage to free a group of flower fairies who had been trapped in a well by the Mouse King.
The group reaches the Princess's island, but it is revealed to be a trap and the Nutcracker, Mint, and Candy are caged and carried off by the Mouse King's bat henchman Pimm, leaving Clara behind.
Eric is crowned king and the couple, who have fallen in love, dance as the citizens celebrate and the land is restored to its former natural beauty, ultimately sharing a kiss.
The shrunken Mouse King returns riding on Pimm's back, and snatches Clara's locket, opening it before being knocked out of the sky with a snowball.
All the non-human characters were keyframed, while the humans were motion-captured with the Motion Analysis system (including Filmbox and Eva software) to achieve a rotoscopic look.
The animators spent one week working with the New York City Ballet at Acclaim Motion Capture Studio in Long Island, taking three days to motion-capture the dancers.
[20] ER would also pre-sell the TV rights in countries like Germany, France, Italy, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia by May 2003.
"[13] Marylin Moss of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film as wholesome entertainment for young girls, writing "Barbie is all gentle and generous and not afraid of a villain or two.
"[26] A review in Parenting noted the film "explores how self-confidence and kindness can enable girls to realize their dreams".
[27] Peter Dobrin of The Philadelphia Inquirer called Barbie in the Nutcracker a "smart effort" with a "compelling story".
[28] R. Pitman of The Video Librarian wrote, "the colorful animation, kid-friendly script, and excellent "highlights" score [...] all make for pleasant family viewing, and the fairy dances (clearly inspired by sequences in Peter Pan and Fantasia) truly sparkle.
[33] Entertainment Weekly reviewer Eileen Clarke awarded the film a grade of "B Minus", writing that it did not feature as much ballet as she expected.
Joe Leydon of Variety called it a "generic fantasy-adventure", observing similarities to The Wizard of Oz, and wrote, "Pre-adolescent girls may be charmed by sugary sweetness of "Barbie in the Nutcracker."
But they shouldn't expect their parents, or even slightly older siblings, to join them for repeated viewings of this made-for-video trifle.
"[35] While enjoying the "few amusing lines and clever situations", Robert Gottlieb of The New York Observer did not like the film's animation, describing the characters' appearance as "semi-rigid celluloid aliens with glazed expressions and enamel smiles".
""[37] Reviewing the film for Common Sense Media, Joly Herman deemed it a "lackluster holiday tale", finding that Clara is a more passive heroine than those in later Barbie movies: "She helps the Nutcracker with some of his tasks, and she stands up to the Mouse King in a scary confrontation, but she's more interested in being the romantic link than the heroic one.
[41] The toy line included Barbie as Clara/the Sugarplum Princess, Ken as Prince Eric, Kelly and Tommy as their feature characters, and a horse and candy sleigh.