Continuity mistake: After her romantic dance night with the Nutcracker, Marie finds herself in bed and has one arm up on the pillow, and the other out beside her. As the camera changes and her dad says “Well she’s finally waking up” her other arm is suddenly up on the pillow as well.
Continuity mistake: Nutcracker and Marie dock their boat and get out and the Nutcracker’s sisters run out crying. There are some large candy canes on each side of the dock, 4 on the right side and 5 on the left. The camera cuts to a side view as his sisters begin hugging him, the candy canes are suddenly in different angles and heights. Also there are more. 7 on the right side, and 6 or 7 on the left.
Other mistake: When in the Swan boat, Marie has her arm hanging out with her fingers dragging the water, making waves. She is lying down and back in the boat, with a wing obstructing her view. Yet somehow the reflections of the waves show her face, perpendicular to the boat. Not parallel like her face actually is to the boat, and also somehow reflecting her face despite both a swan wing being in the way, and her being down in the boat out of view of those waves.
Continuity mistake: When you first see the Swan boat going down the river with Nutcracker pushing it along with the pole, he is rocking back and forth and you see that he is behind the large swan wings. But in the next shot, he is in front of the wings as he pushes.
Revealing mistake: Marie and Nutcracker go down the river in a swan shaped boat, and Nutcracker is standing up on the back moving the boat along with large pole. In the water, you can see the reflection of the boat and Marie the way they are supposed to be. But the reflection of Nutcracker is not moving, and the pole is not reflected.
Continuity mistake: After the fruit people fall down, the camera pans over to a Christmas tree with lots of large red ornaments on it. You see The Nutcracker’s reflection come up on one as they move closer, and the reflection shows he has his arm outstretched pointing at something. The camera then cuts back to show Nutcracker and Marie, but his arm is not extended. He then lifts his arm to point.
Continuity mistake: Nutcracker and Marie walk by some large suckers as he says "We’re not in your closet anymore, Marie. We’re in Christmas Wood." There a lots of giant suckers to their right. The angle changes as they walk, and suddenly there is only one sucker where they just came from.
Audio problem: The Nutcracker pulls on a string in Marie’s wardrobe and a letter lowers from a sleeve of one of her dresses. Nutcracker grabs it and turns back saying “Hurry! Everyone will be waiting.” The dialog is not at all in sync with his mouth at this part. You hear him speak, and he almost finishes the line before his moves begin to move. Then once the audio stops, you see his mouth continue to move like he still speaks for a bit.
Continuity mistake: When Marie takes the Mouse King’s crowns off the Nutcracker’s sword, the camera cuts to behind the Nutcracker once they come off, and suddenly his sword becomes twice as thick.
Audio problem: After the Nutcracker kills the Seven Headed Mouse King and knocks on the bedroom door, Marie goes to open it. But you hear the sounds of the door creak opening a half second before her hand even touches the handle.
Continuity mistake: During their fight, the Seven Headed Mouse King knocks the Nutcracker’s sword away and the Nutcracker escapes by grabbing the draw string of the curtains and swings up to a small table. The Mouse King looks up at him a moment, right next to the draw string, very close to the table. He then runs towards it. The shot cuts to a different angle and suddenly he is much further away, running towards the table.
Continuity mistake: During their final fight, the Mouse King knocks the Nutcracker back against the wall and prepares to finish him off. The Nutcracker counters by grabbing the rug the Mouse King is standing on and tripping him, leaving the rug wrinkled and messy. A few shots later, the rug is suddenly perfectly placed on the floor again.
Continuity mistake: When Marie is shown waking up to the sounds of the sword fight, there is a shelf like mantel thing on the wall beside her with items on top. A bit later when she gets up to go see, the mantel becomes thinner and the items on top squeezed closer together.
Continuity mistake: When Marie gets up to go see the fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King, a far shot of the two battling shows them next to a window and curtains. It then cuts to a close up or them, and suddenly the draw string appears for the curtains that was not in the previous shot.
Continuity mistake: In this version of the story, the Mouse King has seven heads. But in his last fight with the Nutcracker when they are first shown, it is obvious that the Mouse King only has 4 or 5 heads at that moment.
Continuity mistake: When Marie wakes up to the sounds of the Nutcracker and Mouse King fighting, the nightstand beside her bed that was there in previous scenes is gone. But a few shots later, it is back beside her bed.
Continuity mistake: Fritz pulls a toy soldier out of a line of 3 and removes its sword to give Marie. You can see in the far shot that the other two soldiers are still in there in the china cabinet where he pulled the 3rd from, and a toy cannon on the shelf below them. It cuts to a close up of Marie, then back to a far shot, and suddenly the other toy soldiers and cannon are gone, only china being visible.
Audio problem: After Marie gets done explaining to Fritz why she needs a sword from one of his toy soldiers, he responds "So the Nutcracker will kill the Seven Headed Mouse King?" Then Marie leans forward and says "Right... What so you say?" But it is Fritz's lips that move when she says "right".
Continuity mistake: When Marie gets frustrated at the dinner table and slams her fists down, saying she didn't imagine it, you can see her fork on her plate. In all following shots where her plate is visible, her fork is lying on the table beside her plate.
Continuity mistake: At the dinner table Marie says "I swear by the love I feel for Nutcracker." In the shot where she says that line, Drosselmeier's wine glass disappears. Also a few shots before this, he suddenly has two glasses of wine for one shot.
Answer: The original 1816 story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by ETA Hoffmann features the seven-headed Mouse King. Since then there have been numerous adaptations and re-imaginings of that story in literature, on stage and screen in different forms. In the classic versions the Mouse King has seven heads wearing seven crowns, other versions he has only one head, and in a few versions three heads. In the original and other adaptations the number seven is specified several times: Marie Stahlbaum is seven yrs old; the seven-headed Mouse King; the seven steps backwards; seven little crowns. The makers of this animated movie chose to feature the classic Mouse King.
Super Grover ★