No doubt that Princess Tutu is inspired by the ballet Swan Lake. The image of Princess Tutu and Princess Kraehe are the White Swan and the Black Swan respectively, not to mention the Prince named from Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. By contrast, it’s hard to realize that Princess Tutu is also greatly inspired by the ballet The Nutcracker and its original tale. We know that Drosselmeyer shares the same name with the character in Nutcracker and Mouse King and its ballet adaptation; we are familiar with the music used in the anime like “Miniature Overture,” “Waltz of the Flowers,” “March,” “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” etc. But what else?
This essay is going to provide clues to the connection among Princess Tutu, The Prince and the Raven, the Nutcracker, and Nutcracker and Mouse King. But first, I would like to summarize that the anime Princess Tutu and the tale The Prince and the Raven are two different but related stories. It would be easier to understand the topics elaborated later.
In the beginning of Princess Tutu, the narrator tells us
that the tale The Prince and the Raven isn’t finished due to the
author’s death. The dead author gives a duck a magical pendent to restart
the tale. For the characters of Princess Tutu, they are involved in
the tale The Prince and the Raven and end it at last; for the
audience, Princess Tutu is a new story related to but different
from The Prince and the Raven. Therefore, we can consider
Princess Tutu the sequel to The Prince and the Raven OR a
related story ending The Prince and the Raven.
Here’s why Princess Tutu is greatly inspired by
The Nutcracker and Nutcracker and Mouse King to a certain
extent.
(The charts were made and submitted to
the 20th anniversary Autumn events
(Sept. 25th) held by Princess Tutu staff on September 17 2022. And I decided
to post them on Tumblr and my blogger)
A. The storytelling style of Princess Tutu resembles E. T. A. Hoffmann’s German tale Nutcracker and Mouse King
The Prince and the Raven, like “The Tale of the Hard Nut” told in Nutcracker and Mouse King, is used to stimulate the heroines’ interest to the heartless Prince and sacrifice themselves to do anything for him. Both storytellers of “The Tale of the Hard Nut” and of The Prince and the Raven are named Drosselmeyer. Besides, the storytellers as well as creators of Nutcracker and Mouse King and Princess Tutu are from our world.
The endings of “The Tale of the Hard Nut” and The Prince and the Raven are unsettling until the heroines help the heroes end the battles against the evil monsters. Nevertheless, fighting against powerful villains is not easy. The heroines not only endure sufferings from villains but are questioned and against by people around them. Despair, perplexity, and helplessness get the girls when they run into difficulty at last.
Indeed, Nutcracker and Mouse King is more than a fairy tale full of fantasy and with happy ending. The tale especially depicts how the little girl Marie suffers from the distrust of her beloved parents and is accused of daydreaming and lying when she tells them her journey to the Kingdom of Dolls with the Nutcracker Prince. Worst of all, even her dear godfather Drosselmeyer isn’t on her side before she breaks the curse of Madam Mouserinks. To sum up, the road to happy ending is full of bitterness and trials in both Nutcracker and Mouse King and Princess Tutu.
B. The titles consist of similar elements
The two-act ballet The Nutcracker is adapted from the German tale Nutcracker and Mouse King. However, both main ideas are different. The tale focuses on conservative social values (family) against the little girl’s dream. Yet she passes the trials and earns her own happy ending. On the other hand, the ballet is more likely expressing a sweet Christmas dream (or a journey) and showing the audience beautiful ballet performance. Therefore, we can regard the tale and the ballet as different stories, and then compare their titles to the anime Princess Tutu and the tale The Prince and the Raven:
|
Hero vs. Villain
|
Gift
|
|
|
From Our World
|
Nussknacker und Mausekönig
(Nutcracker and Mouse King) |
Casse-Noisette
(The Nutcracker) |
|
From Anime
|
Prinz und Rabe
(The Prince and the Raven) |
プリンセスチュチュ
(Princess Tutu) |
The title of four stories consists of character(s). The four stories can be classified into two groups: “Hero vs. Villain” and “Gift.” Let’s look at the “Hero vs. Villain” first: (1) Nutcracker and the Prince are the cursed princes and heroes; (2) Mouse King and the Monster Raven are wicked villains and annoying animals for human beings; (3) both tales are written in German.
As for the second group “Gift”: (1) the Nutcracker and the magical pendent are gifts given by givers called Drosselmeyer; (2) the Nutcracker and Princess Tutu are the media leading the heroines into fantasy journey; (3) the ballet and the anime are presented in ballet and classical music.
C. The givers Droßelmeier and Drosselmeyer are provocateurs
D. D. Drosselmeyer is named after and based on Christian Elias Droßelmeier in Nutcracker and Mouse King, which adapted into the ballet The Nutcracker. Both Drosselmeyers of Princess Tutu and of The Nutcracker succeed the original one’s mysterious and eccentric characteristics. Their appearances or dressings shows that they are surely different from common people. Since The Nutcracker simplifies and sweetens the original tale, it’s more likely to find out that how similar Christian Elias Droßelmeier and D. D. Drosselmeyer are:
|
Name
|
Full name: Christian Elias Droßelmeier (Christian Elias Drosselmeier) |
Pen-name: Drosselmeyer Name on his tombstone: D. D. Drosselmeyer |
|
Role
|
。The storyteller of “The Tale of the Hard Nut” 。Playing a provocateur in Nutcracker and Mouse King |
。The storyteller of The Prince and the Raven 。Playing a provocateur in Princess Tutu |
|
Relationship with Main Characters
|
。Marie’s godfather 。The giver of Marie’s Nutcracker 。Nutcracker’s uncle |
。Fakir’s ancestor 。The giver of Duck’s magical pendant 。The creator of the Prince |
|
Appearance
& Costume |
。Hairstyle: bald, wearing an artistic periwig made of spun
glass 。Build: short and scrawny 。Face: full of wrinkles 。Eyes: covered with a big, black patch on his right eye 。Wearing: a hat, yellow coat and yellow jacket |
。Hairstyle: white, long and curl 。Build: tall and thin 。Face: with goat beard and wrinkles 。Eyes: light orange bulging eyes 。Wearing: a huge hat with colorful feathers, a red coat, and a teal jacket |
|
Characteristic
|
Weird and mysterious | Mad, weird and mysterious |
|
Profession
|
。Building and repairing clocks 。Inventing mechanical toys |
。Spinning stories and making them come true, especially
tragedies 。Stopping time of reality shortly (might be related to his spinning ability and the mechanism hidden in the church) 。Building mechanical dolls, like Edel |
|
Ballet
|
。Title: The Nutcracker 。Name: Drosselmeyer 。Role: Marie/Clara’s godfather & the giver of the Nutcracker 。Appearance/Costume: weird 。Behavior: eccentric 。Profession: building mechanical dolls (Other details depend on the libretto) |
|
Obviously, Christian Elias Droßelmeier is the main model of D. D. Drosselmeyer. The latter dresses like the former, plays similar roles, and is skilled of clockwork. As mentioned above, Droßelmeier and Drosselmeyer are cunning storytellers. They know how to intrigue the heroines to save the cursed princes. At the same time, they watch the battle coldly and barely assist the heroes and the heroines.
Even the processes of encouraging the heroines to dedicate themselves to the Princes are similar:
Marie notices Nutcracker on the Christmas table.
→ Droßelmeier gives Marie Nutcracker.
→ Marie involves in the battle between Nutcracker and Mouse King.
→ Droßelmeier tells Marie “The Tale of the Hard Nut.”
→ Marie decides to help Nutcracker break through the curse from Mouse King’s mother, Madam Mouserinks.
Duck sees the beautiful Prince dancing on her pond.
→ Drosselmeyer gives Duck the magical pendent secretly.
→ Duck incidentally witnesses a crow entrapping Mytho in falling off the window for saving a fledgling.
→ Drosselmeyer tells Duck that Mytho is the Prince who fights against the Monster Raven but loses his heart at the end.
→ Duck is willing to transform into Princess Tutu to help the Prince restore his heart broken by forbidden magic for sealing the Monster Raven.
While being chased and attacked by crows, Rue bumps into the Prince near the Fountain of Warriors.
→ Rue owns the Prince without serious rivals until Princess Tutu shows up.
→ Rue witnesses Princess Tutu turning back heart shards to the Prince.
→ Drosselmeyer reminds Rue of “Princess Kraehe” and “who is the heroine of this story?”.
→ Rue is willing to transform into Princess Kraehe to win the love from the Prince.
However, D. D. Drosselmeyer is more than a Droßelmeier in the tale or a Drosselmeyer in the ballet. His character setting is also based on villains like Von Rothbart of Swan Lake, Coppelius of The Sandman, and Coppélius of Coppélia. These models create his character depth and make him stand out from all Drosselmeyers.
D. Duck and Rue are based on Clara and Marie somehow
“All right then, everybody, I will pass them out in turn, so please line up. Miss Clara...Miss Marie...” (ep. 21 “The Spinners,” Princess Tutu)
In episode 21, Mr. Cat gives away pairs of pointe shoes in class. The first and second student he calls are named after the heroines in the ballet The Nutcracker and the original tale Nutcracker and Mouse King respectively. Some ballet adaptation would introduce the little girl as Marie or Masha (the Russian spelling of Marie).
As mentioned before, The Prince and the Raven and Princess Tutu are related but different stories. They both have the Prince, the Monster Raven, and of course, the Princess (heroine). Evidently, Duck is the first heroine in Princess Tutu and Rue is the Princess getting married with the Prince at last.
Here’s why Duck plays Clara and Rue is the Marie:
(A) A beautiful but cruel human-girl dream for Duck
1. Getting the gift from Drosselmeyer, she dreams at the beginning and wake at last
In most ballet adaptation, Clara makes a sweet dream at the night she gets a nutcracker from Drosselmeyer, and Duck is no exception. The magical pendent given by Drosselmeyer is the heart shard of the Prince. It transforms Duck into a human girl and even Princess Tutu who can dance gracefully. Like the Nutcracker Prince in Clara’s dream, it gives Duck a chance to go through school life, dancing ballet, making friends and saving the Prince. Once the magical pendent is turned back to the Prince, she becomes a stranger to the human world, just like Clara waking up from the dream in the Land of Sweets. Besides, in the booklet of Japanese DVD volume 6, the creator of Princess Tutu, Ikuko Itoh, said:
I asked Ms. Ritsuko Okazaki to incorporate the word "dream" in the lyrics when she wrote the theme song for Princess Tutu. The desire for children to nurture dreams of tomorrow, and also for adults to remember what it felt like to dream... I wanted her to put those wishes into the song.
According to the article title, “Even After We Wake From the Dream,” it’s obvious that Ms. Itoh defines Duck’s adventures in the human world as a dream. A dream to dream and to realize.... Both Duck and I saw one of our dreams come true. There were also things we lost along the way, but now we've both begun to nurture new dreams.[1]
2. She turns into the prima donna in her “dream”
There are numerous versions of The Nutcracker, especially the prima donna and the ending. The one who dances “Pas de Deux” and “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” would be the prima donna in The Nutcracker. One of the most common adaptations is that the little girl Clara turns into a lady and dances “Pas de Deux” with the Prince as well as “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” in her dream. And Duck fits the role, somehow.
Before transforming into Princess Tutu, she is so clumsy and insignificant that even sensitive Fakir isn’t aware of her alter ego as wise and graceful Princess Tutu in the beginning. We can tell that the transformation of Duck consists of the magical girl transformation and the ballet elements of The Nutcracker. Interestingly, it’s Drosselmeyer that turns young Clara to a lady in some ballet adaptations!
Nonetheless, Princess Tutu dances “Pas de Deux” of Swan Lake with the Prince at the end of episode 13, not “Pas de Deux” of The Nutcracker. In fact, Princess Tutu is merely a memory of the heart shard “Hope” of the Prince. The real Princess Tutu has already vanished into speck of light before the Prince and the Monster Raven flew out the tale. This may strongly imply that Duck’s adventures are a dream. Despite Duck/Tutu as the prima donna in Princess Tutu, with the power of magical pendent to bring back the smile of the Prince, she couldn’t live with the Prince happily ever after unless a miracle happens to her.
3. Yet, she helps everyone win the victory over the Monster Raven and Drosselmeyer
The Nutcracker Prince almost loses the battle against Mouse King. Clara is so anxious that she throws her shoe to Mouse King and makes a chance for the Nutcracker Prince stabbing him with his sword. What Duck has done in episode 26 is similar.
Once Duck returns the last piece of the heart shard to the Prince, the never-ending war between the Prince and the Monster Raven breaks out again. The Prince nearly surrenders to the reality and the control of Drosselmeyer. He couldn’t eliminate the crows guarding the Monster Raven, for they are townspeople infected with the Raven’s blood. He decides to break his heart again and wait for the time to defeat the Monster Raven, and then follows Princess Rue. But Duck wouldn’t allow it happen. She dances with the crows and purifies them eventually with her potential power “hope.” And that is her “SHOE.” The Prince takes the opportunity to save the Princess, annihilating the Monster Raven. At the same time, Drosselmeyer submits to “hope” and gives up manipulating the reality and the characters.
(B) A trial full of sufferings for Rue to prove her love to the Prince
1. Rue meets the Prince when she is little
When Marie gets Nutcracker, she is seven years old in Nutcracker and Mouse King. She is a devout and reasonable child, well-behaved and well brought up, never disobeying her parents. Also, she cherishes her toys and dolls. She cares about wounded Nutcracker so much that she begs her mother to let her finishing taking care of it before going to bed. In Princess Tutu, it seems that Rue is very little when she meets the Prince. As she learns that the Prince and the Monster Raven are the only ones who would love her, she spends her whole time with the Prince and even seals away her memory of Princess Kraehe. This is her first time she disobeys her father.
Plus, Rue is the first one meeting the wandering Prince among other main roles as Marie discovers Nutcracker which none has noticed on the Christmas table. You can tell from the Prince’s costumes and the time of crows attacking Gold Crown Town.
2. The Monster Raven plays Rue’s father and abets her in occupying the Prince
Marie comes from a conservative family. Her parents demand her behaving well and never talking nonsense, even though she’s right about the invasion under Mouse King. Only her godfather Droßelmeier wouldn’t blame her (except in the last chapter). It seems that the eccentric godfather Droßelmeier is quite kinder than her family. He even tells her “The Tale of the Hard Nut,” encouraging her to save his nephew. Besides D. D. Drosselmeyer, the Monster Raven also plays the similar role and “her only family.”
Drosselmeyer assigns Rue the role “Princess Kraehe” but only arouses her sealed memory when the time comes. Relatively, the Monster Raven is more like Droßelmeier and the conservative family for her. He has brainwashed Rue into thinking that only he and the Prince could love her since she was little:
“The prince! He sealed me away. He's the enemy deserving of our hatred. Ah, but he is the one prince that you should marry, Kraehe. A prince who loves everyone should be able to sincerely love even a girl like you.” (ep. 24 “The Prince and the Raven,” Princess Tutu)
“Despite being a crow, you have been born into an ugly human body. And only I and the prince in the story can truly love a pitiful person like you.” (ep. 15 “Coppelia,” Princess Tutu)
Nevertheless, the Monster Raven would punish Rue harshly if she disobeys his orders, just like the conservative parents of Marie. Rue learns the Prince from her false father, obeys his orders to win the love of the Prince, and brings back heart shards once she gets it. It’s too late for her to realize she’s merely a human girl and he’s a completely evil villain incompatible with the Prince.
3. Rue has never given up the Prince despite his crow form
Marie is fond of Nutcracker once she discovers him no matter how ugly he looks. She even sacrifices her sweets, sugar dolls, dress and picture books to beg Mouse King not to bite Nutcracker. She’s loyal to Nutcracker and love him wholeheartedly, in spite of the fact that her family calls her a liar and daydreamer:
“Ah! Dear Herr Drosselmeier! If you were truly alive, I wouldn’t treat you like Princess Pirlipat, scorning you because, for my sake, you stopped being a handsome young man!”[2]）
Rue has done similar things. She doesn’t mind that the Prince is heartless in the beginning; she still takes care of the Prince in crow form after the truth is revealed. What’s more, she is willing to sacrifice her heart to save the Prince from the Monster Raven:
“Prince, don’t go! Don’t eat the Prince’s heart! Eat my heart instead! I love you! I have ever since I was little! I’ve always loved you!” (ep. 24 “The Prince and the Raven,” Princess Tutu)
Rue’s not as perfect and sacred as Princess Tutu. It’s all because she is afraid of being abandoned and unloved, and she is terribly regretful for hurting the Prince by soaking his heart shard in the Monster Raven’s blood. Fortunately, both the Nutcracker Prince and Prince Siegfried break the curse with the call of love from Marie and Rue respectively. Don’t forget that Princess Tutu is ballet anime. Prince Siegfried and Princess Rue dance “Pas de Deux” of The Nutcracker after they return to the story world.
(C) Conclusion
It’s not fate that controls Duck and Rue; it’s their choices and willingness that decide their destiny and endings. As a result, Duck, like Clara, travels to the human world and becomes Princess Tutu briefly. Rue and Prince Siegfried are the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier, concluding The Prince and the Raven by dancing “Pas de Deux.”
E. The brave but cursed Prince is waiting for the time to defeat the villains
Nutcracker is Droßelmeier’s nephew. He successfully breaks the curse of Madam Mouserinks on Princess Pirlipat and restores her beauty; but he fails at the last step, being cursed by Madam Mouserinks and becoming ugly. Only the true love can break the curse and turn him back to the handsome prince.
Prince Siegfried isn’t cursed by the Monster Raven in the beginning. He breaks his heart to seal the latter to protect innocent people. He pays the price for using the forbidden magic, making himself less charming, more helpless, completely passive and hopelessly incompetent. Only Princess Tutu can return his heart shards. But the risk is: while the Prince restores his emotions and power, the day that the Monster Raven revives is coming.
Unfortunately, his heart is polluted with the Monster Raven’s blood in the middle of the story. He becomes cruel and selfish, working for the Monster Raven. He turns to a crow eventually, suffering with his desire for endless love. This is somehow a curse of the Monster Raven. Only the true love can purify it and turn him back to Prince Siegfried.
The Prince often dances “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is danced by the prima donna in The Nutcracker. The prima donna can be the Sugar Plum Fairy or Clara depending on the libretto. Considering Princess Tutu ballet anime, it seems that the Prince is waiting for his prima donna to restore his heart. After all, the story needs the Princess to move on.
F. The combining power of Fakir and Duck becomes a new sword named “hope” for the Prince to defeat the Monster Raven
Fakir is extremely possessive to and over protective towards the Prince initially. He banishes others from getting closer to the Prince with threats and violence. However, Rue/Kraehe and Duck/Tutu have never given up interacting with the Prince. The three often have quarrels (or fight) over the Prince and it does really look like Marie and her brother Fritz fighting for Nutcracker in the beginning.
It’s Marie that persuades Fritz to support and give the sword of his toy’s soldier to Nutcracker to win the battle against Mouse King. And it’s Duck that motivates Fakir to be a Spinner and write stories for the Prince. Here we realize that both the Nutcracker Prince and Prince Siegfried need others to assist them to win the war, even though they are courageous and skillful in fight.
“Fakir, will you also write about me one more time? We'll combine our ‘we want to protect Mytho.’” (ep. 25 “The Dying Swan,” Princess Tutu)
Going through being kidnapped by Drosselmeyer, Duck works out that Fakir can write her story, for they share the same feeling of “guarding the Prince.” Because of that, their feelings become the power to support Prince Siegfried through Fakir’s spinning power and the unknown “hope” hidden in Duck’s heart. They lighten the hope in the darkest time, ending the manipulation of Drosselmeyer eventually. (Interestingly, their deeds prove that the pen is mightier than the sword.)
G. Conclusion
Lastly, I would like to indicate that the stage of Princess Tutu, Gold Crown Town, is based on Nördlingen, to the south-southwest of Nuremburg which is the hometown of Droßelmeier and his nephew Nutcracker (young Droßelmeier). Besides, the model of Gold Crown Academy is the restaurant Heilig-Geist-Spital in Nuremburg.[3] Alexandre Dumas even sets the stage in Nuremburg in his adaptation version (1844), the Tale of the Nutcracker.
In the booklet of Japanese DVD volume 6, the executive director of Princess Tutu, Junichi Sato, said:
We decided to mark the finale of Princess Tutu with the "Overture Miniature" from The Nutcracker. That's right. Just as Rue and Mytho were freed from Drosselmeyer's story and set out for their own story world, the story of the duck which has left the nest of our hands is just beginning.[4]As the Oak says, “The beginning will end and the ending will begin.” Duck restarts the story The Prince and the Raven and ends it in Princess Tutu. Her short life as human girl fits her character music " Miniature Overture." Now we can expect a new story for Duck written by Fakir, which is full of hope.
References:
[1] Ikuko Itoh. (2007). 夢か醒らめても (Even After We Wake From the Dream). In Princess Tutu Volume 6 ABSCHIED. US: ADV FILMS. (Original work published 2003).
[2] E. T. A. Hoffmann. (2007). Nutcracker and Mouse King and the Tale of the Nutcracker: Nutcracker and Mouse King (Joachim Neugroschel, Trans.). New York, NY: Penguin Group. p. 59. (Original work published 1816).
[3] Ikuko Itoh. (2004-?). 夢徒然〜とろいめらい〜 第七回 金冠學園のナイショ．ニュルンベルクとザルツブルク. from http://www.imagica.com/shop/tutu/background/no_1/no_2/no_3/no_4/no_5/no_6/no_7/main07.html (closed).
[4] Junichi Sato. (2007). No title (Can a mere duck do something so miraculous?). In Princess Tutu Volume 6 ABSCHIED. US: ADV FILMS. (Original work published 2003).
Relating articles:
The Connection Between Odin’s Discovery of the Runes and the Testimony of the Oak
※Princess Tutu Is Greatly Inspired by The Nutcracker, and Nutcracker and Mouse King is submitted to Schwanengesang- Princess Tutu 15th Anniversary Anthology and is permitted to post on the Internet.
Chinese translation:《彩夢芭蕾》深受《胡桃鉗與老鼠王》和《胡桃鉗》影響
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