Marie and Fritz Stahlbaum are given a toy nutcracker for Christmas from their godfather Drosselmeyer. This nutcracker turns out to be more than he seems; he's really Drosselmeyer's nephew transformed by a mouse queen's evil curse. With Marie's help, the nutcracker is eventually able to overcome his foe (the queen's vengeful son), regain his true form, and take Marie to the doll kingdom. After taking a grand tour, Marie falls asleep and wakes up in her own bed. When she tries to tell her parents, they think she's dreamed the entire thing and forbid her to speak of it again. However, Marie goes to her nutcracker in the cabinet and vows she would love him if he were real, even if he were ugly. This breaks the curse, and he asks her to marry him. Marie accepts, and in a year and a day he takes