This is even better than the summary I was trying to concoct -- especially since I haven't been to the Nutcracker since I was very young. I did take ballet, and I had many picture books that told the various stories (including the dark ones, like Giselle, Swan Lake, and others I can't recall the names of). I do remember that the Angelina Ballerina books were favorites, though I was definitely older than 2 by that point.
Mostly, I remember loving the costumes & the dancing, and not caring terribly much about the rest.

(The other reason the story is a bit fuzzy in my head is because Andy & I go to see this (NSFW) burlesque version yearly! Though it's remarkable how many story elements of the original are included; the adaptation was definitely done with love.)

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Thank you, this was Very helpful.

Also helpful was that the 1-hr version of the show skipped a lot of things...

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Tell her that, eons ago when dinosaurs walked the Earth, kids had toys that lacked batteries, so things were very boring at night. Later, when those kids grew up, they missed the way things used to be, and invented a story about their old toys that didn't make sense, but that didn't matter because it made them happy.

This story was turned into a show, 'cause people like to dance, and the show got popular because it reminded people about their old toys.

Today, people still go to the show because they remember liking the show when they were little even though very few living people actually remember playing with the original toys that sparked the whole thing.

Hmm... after reading that, it just might be as convoluted as the original story.

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