Steadfast Tin Soldier (1955)

[Music] There were once 25 tin soldiers, all brothers, because they all came from the same old tin spoon. They were shoulder arms, sir, and they wore splendid red tunics and blue trousers. [Music] The very first thing they ever heard when the lid was taken off the box in which they were lying was 10 soldiers. It was a little boy who shouted this. He had been birthday. He put them up on the table. Each soldier was the very image of the other except for one who was a little bit different. He had only one leg because he was the last to be made and there wasn't enough tin to go around. Still, there he stood as firmly on his one leg as the others on their two. And as it happened, he's the soldier this story is all about. [Music] There were a lot of other toys on the table where the tin soldiers had been put, but the one you noticed first was a beautiful castle. Through its tiny windows, you could see right into the rooms. In front of it were some small trees standing around, a little mirror which was supposed to represent a lake with wax swans reflected in it as they swam. Everything was very pretty. And yet the prettiest of all was a little lady who was standing at the open door of the castle. She was wearing a skirt of the clearest muslin and a narrow blue ribbon draped over her shoulder like a scarf with a glittering spangle in the middle. The little lady was holding up both her arms. You see, she was a dancer, and besides, she had kicked one of her legs so high in the air that the tin soldier couldn't make out where it was, and imagined she only had one leg like himself. That's the wife for me, he thought to himself. But she's so grand. She lives in a castle. I've only got a box, and there are 25 of us to that. There's no place for her. All the same, I must see if I can get to know her." Then he laid down at full length behind a big box that was on the table, because from here he could keep his eye, who continued to stand on one leg without losing her [Music] balance. Later in the evening, all the other tin soldiers went back into their box, and the people in the house went to bed. [Music] [Music] [Music] And now the toys began to play games, visiting, fighting, and dancing. The tin soldiers rattled in their box because they wanted to join in, too. But they couldn't get the lid off. The nutcrackers turned somers sauce. The slate pencil had some fun on the slate. And there was such a noise that the canary woke up and began to join in with some twittering in verse. [Music] The only two who didn't budge were the tin soldier and a little dancer. She stood perfectly upright on tiptoe with both arms stretched up while he was just as staunch with his one leg. His eyes never left her for a moment. [Music] Suddenly the clock struck 12 and clack up threw the lid in the big box. Tin soldier, will you please keep your eyes to yourself? But the soldier pretended not to hear. All right, you just wait till tomorrow, said the goblin. [Music] And when tomorrow came and the little boy got up, a tin soldier was put away by the window. And whether it was the goblin or the draft that did it, all at once the window flew open and the soldier fell out headirst from the third story. It was a terrible [Music] fall. The maid servant, the little boy, came down directly to look for him. And although they very nearly stepped on him, they never saw him. If only the tin soldier had called out, "Here I am," they would have found him easily enough. But he didn't think it would be right to shout out as he was in uniform. Presently, it began to rain more and more heavily until it was a regular [Music] downpour. When it was over, two street boys came by. "Gosh, look at that," said one of them. "There's a tin soldier. Let's send him for a sail." So he put the tin soldier aboard a boat made out of newspaper. And away he sailed down the gutter with the two boys walking alongside. How the waves did rock in the gutter. And what a strong current there was. Well, after all, it had been a real downpour. The paper boat bobbed up and down and went around so fast the tin soldier became quite dizzy. But he kept staunch and never moved a muscle. He still looked straight ahead at shoulder arms. All at once, the boat drifted in under a broad culvert. "I wonder where I'm coming to now," he thought. "I'll swear it's the fault of that goblin. If only the little lady were here in the boat, it could be twice as dark for all I'd care." Just then, a great water rat appeared who lived under the culvert. Where's your passport? Show me your passport. Stop him. Stop him. He hasn't taken the toll. He hasn't shown his passport. The current grew stronger and stronger. The tin soldier could already see daylight ahead with the culvert ended. But he could also hear a roaring sound that might well bring dismay to the bravest man. Now he had come so near that there was no stopping. The boat dashed out and spun round and round and filled right up with water. It was bound to sink. The tin soldier was now up to his neck. The boat sank deeper and deeper. At last, the water closed over the soldier's head. He thought of the pretty little dancer that he would never see again. And the old song rang in his ears. On, on, brave warrior, on where death awaits thee. [Music] All of a sudden, he was swallowed by a large fish. Oh, how dark it was inside. Even worse than it was in the culvert. But the tin soldier was still staunch, still at shoulder arms as he lay at full length. The fish start darted about, making the most terrifying twists and turns. At last, it lay quite still. A lightning flash went through it and there was broad daylight and someone called out a tin soldier. The fish had been caught, taken to market and sold. And here it was in a kitchen. The maid picked up the soldier by the waist with her two fingers and carried him into the parlor where a little boy wanted to see this extraordinary man who'd been traveling around inside a fish. Although the tin soldier felt no pride in it. Then he looked around and well, what wonderful things can happen. The tin soldier found himself in the very same room he had been in before. There they were, the same toys on the table, the same beautiful castle with the same pretty little dancer who still stood on one leg and kept the other one high in the air. She too had been staunch. The tin soldier was so moved that he could have wept tears of tin only, well, that would not have been right. He looked at her and she looked at him, but neither of them said a single word. Suddenly, the small boy took the soldier and threw him straight into the stove. He had no reason for doing this. The jack in the box was surely behind it all. The tin soldier stood in a complete glow. The heat that he felt was tremendous, but whether it came from the actual fire or from love, he had no idea. He looked at the little [Music] lady. She looked at him and he could feel that he was melting. But still he stood staunchly at shoulder arms. Then a door opened. The draft caught the little dancer and she flew like a sil right into the stove to the tin soldier. Flared up like a flame and was gone. The tin soldier was melted down to a lump. And when cleared out the ashes the next morning, she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But all that was left of the dancer was her spangle, and that was burnt as black as coal. [Music]