(harpsichord music) - [Narrator] Once not too long ago, and not too far from here, a little boy got 12 tin soldiers for his birthday.

- Toy tin soldiers!

Thank you, Mother!

- You're welcome, Son.

Do you like them?

- This one has a bugle.

- And this one has a mustache.

- And a sword.

He's the general.

- [Narrator] All the soldiers were brothers, for they'd all been made from the same tin spoon.

But there hadn't been quite enough tin for the last soldier.

- Look, Mother, he has only one leg.

- Hmm.

You're right.

- Should I keep him?

- It's up to you, Son.

- He can stay.

Of course, he won't be able to do very much.

- Well, you can't do as much as someone who's big, but I still love you.

Why don't you try?

- No, he'll just have to watch.

Hup, hup, hup, hup.

- [Narrator] He spent the whole day playing with his toys.

- Are you having fun?

- I've spent the whole day training my soldiers.

- Are they good soldiers?

- I think they will be, but the bugler needs a good bit of practice.

- Well, what about this one?

- He can't do anything.

He has only one leg.

- Well, maybe he'll be able to do something tomorrow.

Ready for bed?

- I'm not sleepy.

- Mmm-hmm.

Let's put up your toys.

- Why mother?

They won’t go anywhere.

- Well, you never can tell.

- [Narrator] The little boy went to bed looking forward to playing with his toys again the next morning, especially his new tin soldiers.

As soon as the little boy was gone... (ominous music playing) - All together now.

- One.

(military bugle playing) Two.

(bugle continues) Three!

(bugle stops) - Attention!

(bugle plays again, poorly) Fall in.

Count off.

- One.

- Two.

- Three.

- Four.

- Five.

- Six.

- Seven.

- Eight.

- Nine.

- Ten.

- Eleven.

- Who's missing?

- Me.

I'm still in the box.

I can't get out.

Oof.

Thank you.

- [Narrator] The one-legged soldier was a good, steadfast trooper, but he just wasn't as nimble as his brothers, so he was asked to stand aside.

- But I can do more than just watch.

I know I can.

- No, you might get hurt.

- Just give me a chance to try.

- No.

Bugler, forward.

(plays poorly) - [Soldiers] Ugh!

- Bugler, quiet!

Charge!

(soldiers shout indistinctly) - Take cover!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Charge!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Bang!

- Oh!

- Oh, no!

(bugler plays) - Ha ha!

That was a lot of fun!

(soldiers laughing) - I'm glad it was only a game.

I hope it'll never be for real.

Can I march with you next time?

Or maybe the time after next?

- Good game!

- Yeah, that was fun!

(puppets argue on stage) (bird sings) - May I help you?

- Can you help me?

That's the question.

- Oh, well, I hope so.

Of course, I only have one leg, so I may not be able to.

- The important thing is that one of my legs is bent.

That’s why I always fall whenever I try to sing, I sing very well.

- I can help you.

(bird sings again) - Thank you, soldier!

- It was a soldier's duty.

- You are a very good soldier!

- I wish I could prove it more often.

The general is afraid I'll hurt myself.

- He must like you very specially.

- I don't want to be liked in a special way.

I want to be liked in a regular way.

- I'm very special.

- I wish I could show them.

- I'm very special.

- What?

Oh, why?

- Oh... you’ll have to take my word for it.

(trumpets fanfare) - Who is that?

- Columbina.

(vocalizes beautifully) (applause from other toys) - Her voice is beautiful.

- Almost as beautiful as mine.

- Who are they?

- Actors from the toy theater.

Pierrot loves Columbina.

And so does Harlequin.

- Say yes.

Confess.

I am the best.

I am the light of delightfulness.

- No, have me.

Can’t you see, I am much better than best could be.

- Columbina loves me.

- You??

Ho ho ho!

Me!

- You??

Me!

- Me!!

- Let's fight like gentlemen.

(slapping) - They both love her.

- I cannot blame them.

(Columbina sings) - But she does not love them.

(giggles) - She could never love a one legged soldier, could she?

(soldier singing) (Columbina sings in return) (They sing together) (music playing) Columbina?

On behalf of my eleven brothers, and also myself, hello.

(Columbina sings) - The general?

No, I'm just a soldier.

(Columbina sings) - But my leg.

(Columbina sings) - And still, you like me the best?

(Columbina sings) - But something troubles you.

What is it?

(Columbina sings) - You're afraid of the Jack in the box.

- [Narrator] The Jack in the box wanted Columbina to come and live with him.

It was dark inside his box, and dusty, and scary.

She didn't like Jack, and she said she would never go.

So he bothered her, and he yelled at her, and he scared her every day.

- Hey!

You stay away from Columbina!

- I won't.

- She's mine.

- She's not.

She says, no.

- I say so.

I live in a box.

My name is Jack.

Ask me again, I'll give you a crack.

I spring and scream.

I’m big.

I’m mean.

I'm the baddest, the baddest, the most un-gladdest Jack in the box you’ve ever seen.

So watch out, you one legged soldier.

- I'm not afraid of you.

- You just wait until tomorrow.

- Columbina, time to rehearse with me.

- Not you, me.

- You?

Me!

- [Both] Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.

- You are a very good soldier.

It was Jack who bent my leg.

He doesn't like my singing, and my singing is simply delightful.

- Don't worry.

We're here to protect you now.

- Halt.

Attention.

You were ordered never to do anything.

- Oh!

I can't stand arguments.

- But I had to do something.

- Silence.

You disobeyed.

Keep yourself in close custody.

- Yes, sir.

- About face.

March.

- They don't understand.

I'm the same as them.

I can do things.

(Columbina sings) - Even if I have only one leg.

(Columbina sings) - You think I did right?

(Columbina sings) - Why, thank you.

(Columbina sings) - [Narrator] Columbina was worried.

Afraid the Jack in the box would take revenge on her soldier.

(Columbina sings) - [Narrator] The tin soldier was not afraid, or maybe just a little afraid, as he watched the other toys play through the night.

With the first light of the new day, they all pretended they were toys again, so the little boy could play with them.

- Soldiers, today we will march and continue your training, except you.

Don't want you to get hurt.

- [Narrator] While the little boy was arranging his toys, Jack in the box was ready with his revenge.

- He’s out the window!

Mother!

The one legged soldier!

- Oh, I hope we can find him.

- I want my one legged soldier.

- He's gone, but I'll get you another one son.

- But it won't be him.

- [Narrator] The tin soldier thought to himself, “What will happen to me now?” - Well, I say he doesn't look like a caterpillar.

- Well then, he probably isn't one.

- He doesn't look like a June bug, either.

- Oh, then, I'm almost sure he isn't one.

Yes, couldn't possibly.

- He doesn't look like.

- Yeah, his head is on the bottom.

Is that right?

- Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Possibly not.

Let's turn him round and see.

- Well, we can try.

- Thank you.

- He's, uh...

He looks like, uh...

He must be a, (stammers) What kind of insect are you?

- I'm no kind of insect.

I'm a tin soldier.

- Oh, I'm an army ant, myself.

What regiment are you from?

- The regiment of the boy in the big house.

Can you help me get back?

- Well, well, well, we can try.

Yeah, sure, we're...

But why?

- Why?

I want to get back to my regiment and to my friend, the canary.

And to Columbina, who likes me the best.

- Yes.

But where is this regiment, canary, Columbina?

- Ha ha!

She lives up there.

- In there?

So there is something above the forest.

Like, I always thought.

- I won't believe it untill I see it.

- Oh, tell us which way to go.

- That way?

- [Narrator] They walked and walked for a long time, and they told each other many things.

- And I said to Jack in the box, “You stay away from my Columbina!” - Oh ho, well done, Tin Soldier!

- Quite so!

- [Narrator] And before they had gone ten feet, they were fast friends, the tin soldier, the army ant and the beetle.

And perhaps they would have found the house, but suddenly from the sky came a bird.

Nothing like the toy canary.

And it was after the fat Beetle.

- Stop!

Wait!

- [Narrator] Then he was out of the forest and rising faster than he'd like to think, until the bird decided he didn't like the taste of tin.

The Tin Soldier knew he was a long way from his Columbina.

Then the rain fell and fell and fell all over him, and it looked almost as if the Steadfast Tin Soldier were crying.

- Look, what I found.

- A broken toy.

It's only got one leg.

- No wonder they threw it away.

Let's see how good a soldier he is.

- Yeah, let's send him for a ride.

This matchbox can be his boat.

- And the top can be a sail.

- [Narrator] They set him down in a gutter that wasn't very big to a boy, but was a huge river to a tin soldier.

The tin soldier’s knee started shaking with fear, but he gazed straight ahead, steadfast and brave as he knew he must be.

The river widened and the water became murky and brown and thick with mounds of mud, and on one of these sat a huge water rat.

- Stop.

Who are you?

- A soldier.

- A soldier?

In a beautiful boat.

How can I get?

Ah!

A soldier.

What’s the password?

- I don't know.

You can't pass without saying the password.

However, I'll be glad to sell you one, and you have your choice of mud, sand, or weeds.

Now pay me.

- But I don't have any money.

- It costs one sail.

Now which password do you want?

- Sand?

You may pass.

Stop.

What's the password?

- Sand.

- But that's the old password.

It won't do.

However, I will sell you a new one for the price of one boat.

- May I see your permit to sell passwords?

- What permit?

- Selling a password without a permit is a very serious offense.

- I don't have a permit.

What am I going to do?

I don't need a permit.

Stop, stop.

You didn't say the password.

Stop!

- [Narrator] But the soldier was again caught in the tide.

He was swept into a huge tunnel.

It was dark inside, as dark as the box he used to share with his eleven brothers, and he thought of his Columbina, and of Jack in the box, and of how, but for him, he'd be home instead of on this terrible roaring river.

He was adrift.

And alone.

The paper matchbox became waterlogged.

His last thought was of Columbina.

And at that instant a fish swallowed him.

It became darker than the tunnel, darker than his box, as dark as midnight.

The soldier could feel the fish squirming and thrashing.

Then it stopped.

The fish had been caught.

- The tin soldier!

- [Narrator] And sold to, of all people the little boy's mother!

- You came back!

You returned from your mission!

The bravest soldier of them all.

I'm going to put you where you'll never get lost again.

- [Narrator] As soon as a little boy had gone, all the toys and soldiers, including the general, listened closely as the Steadfast Tin Soldier told of his adventures.

- Another bird?

Was it as pretty and nice as I?

- No, besides, it dropped me.

- A rat?

- He tried to trick me.

- An army ant?

- A fellow soldier and a friend.

- He's taking me with him next time.

- No.

- Oh?

- [Both} Me, me.

Me, me, me, me.

Me, me.

- I live in a box.

My name is Jack.

I was happy till you came back.

Now I'll show you.

I’ll bounce.

I’ll fly.

I’ll tear up Columbina and watch you cry.

- No, you won't.

- I'm so mad.

I'm so mad.

I'm so.

- [All] Hooray hooray!

(Columbina sings) - You've proven yourself, Soldier.

I've got to find a place for you.

- Sir, I can march, but I can't bugle.

- I'd like to try.

- With your permission, sir.

(tentatively plays the bugle) (plays more confidently) (plays the bugle well) - Everybody can do something, and you, Soldier, can bugle.

- [Narrator] It didn't matter that the Steadfast Tin Soldier had only one leg.

It never did.

- [Soldiers] Hooray!

- [Narrator] Columbina never left his side, and it was plain to everyone that this was just what they wanted.

And this sort of thing happens all the time.