The Story of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King
While there are significant differences between the versions of “The Nutcracker”, the one which the ballet is based on, and the most commonly known variation of the tale, begins in Nuremberg, Germany on Christmas Eve. It is here that an old toymaker and inventor named Drosselmeyer presents his godchildren with a number of gifts, including a nutcracker. That toy quickly becomes the favorite of young Clara and she is heartbroken when it is accidentally damaged by her brother. Drosselmeyer vows to repair the nutcracker, and while the rest of the family retires for the evening, Clara returns to the parlor to watch over the toy.
As the clock strikes midnight, Clara is surprised as the Christmas tree and the rest of the room begin to grow to dizzying heights. A flood of mice begins to pour into the room from under the floorboards, led by their sovereign - the Mouse King. A ferocious warrior often depicted with 7-heads, the Mouse King sees the Nutcracker and immediately challenges him to a duel.
Realizing the threat before them, the toys in the room come to life to face the mice and protect Clara. The Nutcracker takes command, leading an army of gingerbread men and tin soldiers against the rodent army as he personally faces the Mouse King in battle.
Although he fights valiantly against his foe, the Nutcracker’s wounds threaten to be his undoing, and the Mouse King presses his attack knowing that his opponent is injured. Worried that her champion is about to fall, Clara throws a slipper at the Mouse King, distracting him long enough for the Nutcracker to land a fatal blow and end the threat of the mouse army and their ruler…or does he?
The original 1816 version of this tale includes a passage stating that the Nutcracker “slipped from his arm the seven golden crowns of the Mouse-King”, presenting them as proof of his victory. However, we never see the body of this creature or any definitive evidence of his demise. Could this 7-headed ruler of the mice have survived his encounter with the Nutcracker? Perhaps he is hiding somewhere in the darkness, building up his vermin army as they wait for the chance to rise from the floorboards once again and continue the tale of “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”
Making a Holiday Tradition
As we mentioned at the start of this page, “The Nutcracker” has a long history of versions, starting with an 1816 publication that inspired Alexandre Dumas of “Three Musketeers” fame to retell the tale in 1844. That retelling became the basis of the Russian ballet that debuted in 1892.
It may be surprising to learn today considering the current popularity of “The Nutcracker” (it is performed by many ballet companies and the performance accounts for around 40% of ticket revenue for most North American ballet companies), but the early reaction to this performance was poor and reviews were dismal. Changes were made in subsequent performances of the ballet over the years, including the first complete performance of the ballet held outside of Russia in 1934 in England.
The first complete US performance of the ballet took place on Christmas Eve in 1944. Staged by the San Francisco Ballet, the production became an enormous success and the company has performed the ballet every Christmas Eve and through the Winter season since.
The New York Ballet first performed “The Nutcracker” in 1954. This performance helped to elevate the production to the holiday tradition it has become today.
The popularity of the ballet performance of “The Nutcracker” has led Hollywood to mine this story for content numerous times over the years. The 1940 Disney classic, Fantasia, features a segment that uses The Nutcracker Suite score.
Other movies have also retold this story, including a 2010 version with Elle Fanning and Nathan Lane (The Nutcracker in 3D) and a 2018 movie with Keira Knightly and Morgan Freeman (The Nutcracker and the Four Realms). Both of these films take substantial liberties with the story and with their depictions of the Mouse King, or the Rat King as the character is also commonly called.
In The Nutcracker in 3D, the Rat King is played by John Turturro and is presented as the totalitarian ruler of an army of mouse soldiers, while The Nutcracker and the Four Realms uses CGI to imagine the Mouse King as a shambling mass of mice that have come together to form a giant monster of a creature. This depiction likely takes inspiration from the concept of a “rat king”, which is a collection of rats or mice whose tails have intertwined together and are entangled with hair or another binding substance, creating a gruesome mass of rodents and filth.
For a more lighthearted take on this tale, there have also been numerous cartoons that have been inspired by this story, including versions featuring Barbie, the Care Bears, Tom and Jerry, Mickey Mouse and friends, and Scooby Doo!
The Mouse King in Figura Obscura
When Four Horsemen Studios began planning out the “holiday” Figura Obscura release for 2025, there was one question that first needed to be answered – did they want to continue with the “Christmas Carol” theme of the previous two years (The Ghost of Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Past having been released in 2023 and 2024 respectively), or did they want to take a year off from that story to explore something new?
Figura Obscura has always been about trying new things and being unpredictable (the line’s name was literally meant to mean “surprise figure”), so the decision to do something unexpected was an easy one. Now they just had to figure out what to do!
Eric Treadaway had always wanted to tackle the Mouse King from the Nutcracker, in part because the original text describes the character as being a mouse with “seven heads”. The idea of making a toy that could be displayed with 7 heads at once was a challenge that Eric absolutely wanted to tackle, and the team knew that the bizarreness of the Mouse King character would be perfect for Figura Obscura.
The Figura Obscura: Mouse King figure features a brand-new body, with many of the parts first seen on the Mythic Legions: Mwindajii the Cackler figure from the “Reign of the Beasts” wave. These parts include some of the new articulation that the studio has been adding to select figures recently, and the Mouse King includes double-jointed arms and legs, bicep swivels, butterfly joints, a waist cut and more! He is one of the studio’s most posable figures to date, while still retaining the ability to “pop and swap” pieces with compatible figures.
The most challenging part of designing the Mouse King figure was those aforementioned 7 heads. The figure includes a large collar attachment that holds these 7 heads (all of which are articulated), and that collar can also be removed and the figure displayed with only a single head. Most productions of “The Nutcracker” show the Mouse King with just a single head, and the studio wanted their Figura Obscura version to be able to displayed both ways – with a single mouse head or with the crazy 7-headed look! The ability to display the toy with a single head also alllows collectors to remove the figure's frilled collar and other "kingly" features to create a more plain rodent warrior - perfect for building out the Mouse King's army or for display with a Mythic Legions collection.
The Mouse King fugure also includes multiple hands, a bendy tail, a scepter and a sword as well a premium wired soft goods cape, all presented in a deluxe package covered in new artwork as shown in the next section of this feature.
The Mouse King’s Art
For the second Figura Obscura release in a row (the other being The Jersey Devil figure released in August 2025), the artwork on this figure’s packaging was done by Tom Tolman with art direction from Nate Baertsch. The front of the package shows the scene in the living room where the Mouse King and his army emerge to fight the Nutcracker and the rest of the toys. It is a festively decorated backdrop with a full illustration of the 7-headed Mouse King!
The inside panel of the box, which always provides a wonderful background for figure displays and photos, is a look at the lair of the mice and it is filled with fun little Figura Obscura Easter eggs. How many callbacks to other Figuras can you find hidden away in this piece of art?
The artwork on the Mouse King packaging was also used to create pins, mugs, and T-shirts (the later offered by RetroRags Limited) as well as in the small booklet that comes with each of these figures.
Surprise! Surprise!
For those Figura Obscura fans who were hoping to add to their “Christmas Carol” display this year and may be a little bummed not to see another addition from that story – do not worry. We promise that Dickens’ ghosts will return, but as we have always said, you never know what surprises may be roaming the halls of the Figura Obscura, and just when you think you know what is coming, this line will surprise you!
Stay tuned – there are lots more Figura Obscura to come...
