December 24th, home of the medical adviser Stahlbaum. Everyone is preparing for Christmas, and the children - Fritz and Marie - are guessing what this time will be presented to them as a gift by the inventor and craftsman godfather, senior adviser to the court, Drosselmeyer, who often repaired watches in the Stahlbaum house. Marie dreamed of a garden and a lake with swans, and Fritz said that he likes parents' gifts that they can play more (godfather's toys were usually kept away from children so that they would not break), and the godfather could not make a whole garden.

In the evening, the children were admitted to the beautiful Christmas tree, near and on which were gifts: new dolls, dresses, hussars, etc. Krestnyi made a wonderful castle, however, the dolls dancing in it performed the same movements, and it was impossible to get inside the castle, therefore the miracle of technology quickly tired of the children - only the mother became interested in a complex mechanism. When all the gifts were taken apart, Marie saw the Nutcracker. Outwardly ugly doll seemed to the girl very cute. Fritz quickly cracked a pair of teeth for the Nutcracker, trying to crack hard nuts, and Marie began to patronize the toy. At night, the children put the toys in a glass cabinet. Marie lingered at the closet, placing her ward with all conveniences, and became a participant in the battle of the seven-headed mouse king and the army of dolls led by the Nutcracker. The dolls surrendered under the onslaught of mice, and when the mouse king was already getting close to the Nutcracker, Marie threw her slipper at him ...

A girl woke up in bed with an elbow cut in broken glass of a wardrobe. No one believed her story about the night incident. The godfather brought the repaired Nutcracker and told the tale of a hard nut: the king and queen had a beautiful princess Pirlipat, but Queen Myshilda, avenging her relatives killed by the mousetraps of the court watchmaker Drosselmeyer (they gobbled up the bacon intended for royal sausages), turned the beautiful woman. Only the clicking of nuts could calm her now. Drosselmeyer, in fear of the death penalty, with the help of a court stargazer, calculated the horoscope of the princess - the Krakatuk nut, cracked by a young man with a special method, will help her regain her beauty. The king sent Drosselmeyer and the starship in search of salvation; both walnut and a young man (watchmaker’s nephew) were found with his brother Drosselmeyer in his hometown. Many princes broke their teeth about Krakatuk, and when the king promised to give his daughter in marriage to a savior, his nephew came forward. He chopped a nut and the princess, sowing him, became a beauty, but the young man could not perform the whole rite, because the Mouse fell to his feet ... The mouse died, but the guy turned into a Nutcracker. The king ousted Drosselmeyer, his nephew and stargazer. However, the latter predicted that the Nutcracker would be a prince and ugliness would disappear if he defeated the mouse king and a beautiful girl fell in love with him.

A week later, Marie recovered and began to rebuke Drosselmeyer that he had not helped the Nutcracker. He replied that only she could help, because he rules the bright kingdom. The mouse king got into the habit of extorting her sweets from Marie in return for the safety of the Nutcracker. Parents were alarmed by the fact that they got mice. When he demanded her books and dresses, she picked up the Nutcracker and sobbed - she was ready to give everything, but when there was nothing left, the mouse king would want to bite her herself. The Nutcracker came to life and promised to take care of everything if he could get a saber - this was helped by Fritz, who recently resigned the colonel (and punished the hussar for cowardice during the battle). At night, the Nutcracker came to Marie with a bloodied saber, a candle and 7 golden crowns. After giving the trophies to the girl, he led her to his kingdom - the Land of Fairy Tales, where he got through his father’s fox coat. Helping the Nutcracker sisters with the housework, offering to crush caramel in a golden mortar, Marie suddenly woke up in her bed.

Of course, none of the adults believed her story. About the crowns, Drosselmeyer said that this was his gift to Marie for her biennium and refused to recognize the Nutcracker as his nephew (the toy stood in its place in the closet). Dad threatened to throw out all the dolls, and Marie did not dare to stutter about her story. But once, on the threshold of their house, Drosselmeier’s nephew appeared, who in private confessed to Marie that he had ceased to be a Nutcracker, and made an offer to share with him the crown and throne of Marzipan Castle. They say she is still the queen there.