Clara Stahlbaum received a mysterious gift from her godfather, Drosselmeyer, during her family's Christmas party. To her surprise, the gift was a beautiful wooden nutcracker doll. That midnight, the toys came into life. Suddenly, Clara found herself in the middle of a battle between the toy soldiers, led by the Nutcracker, and the mice lead by the seven-headed Mouse King. By Clara's quick-thinking, she helps the Nutcracker as she clouts her shoe to the Mouse King, and won the victory. And so the story ends, as the curse on the Nutcracker was broken, turning the Nutcracker back to a boy. Despite its scary appearance of having a long beard, large head, big teeth, and grimy look, it was believed that nutcrackers serve as protectors against the evil spirits and also a traditional herald of good luck and goodwill.
