Best known as the basis for Tchaikovsky's holiday-season ballet, the 1816 fairy tale recounts a child's passion for a nutcracker toy that comes to life, battles a seven-headed mouse king, and transports his young mistress to a fantasy world. This value-priced, unabridged edition of E. T. A. Hoffman's classic Christmas tale is timed to coincide with the release of Disney's live-action motion picture.