From now through May 2015, Ghibli Museum, Mitaka and The Tokuma Memorial Cultural Foundation for Animation present:

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King ~ A Fairy Tale Treasure Exhibition

Brought to fame by Tchaikovsky’s music, the ballet The Nutcracker is based on the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, written 200 years ago by the German author Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann.

Hayao Miyazaki’s encounter with The Nutcracker, a children’s picture book based on the ballet adaptation published by Tokuma Shoten, sparked a fascination for this story that has captured the hearts of many young girls. Reading the picture book and the original novel over and over again, an epiphany came to Miyazaki, “This is a ‘Fairy Tale Treasure’!” Thus he began to brainstorm on an exhibition that presents the mysterious charm of “The Nutcracker.”

In this exhibition, Hayao Miyazaki introduces the story of The Nutcracker and presents his interpretation from various perspectives through hand-drawn illustrated panels. There are also a large model of a ballet theatre’s stage and a room presenting The Nutcracker’s lovely illustrations, drawn by its illustrator Alison Jay, inviting young children into the world of the picture book. As for the key person of the story, “The Nutcracker” himself, where is he from and what does he do? Visitors will have a chance to find out and maybe experience cracking a walnut or two.