Legendary director Hayao Miyazaki's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King exhibit opens this weekend at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo.

Miyazaki was inspired after spending the New Year holiday reading E.T.A Hoffman's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which provided the inspiration for Tchaikovsky's famous The Nutcracker ballet. The whimsical story tells the tale of a young girl whose Christmas gift, a nutcracker, comes to life and defeats the evil Mouse King, and spirits her away to a wonderous kingdom filled with dolls.

The direction's fascination with The Nutcracker first began when he saw a children's picture book based on the ballet, published by Tokuma Shoten. According to the museum, he realized, "This is a 'Fairy Tale Treasure'!" and set to work on a Nutcracker exhibit.

In addition to a model of a ballet theater stage, dioramas, and illustrations by Alison Jay, the exhibit will also include hand-drawn illustrated panels by Miyazaki.

The exhibit will be at the Ghibli Museum from May 31 to May 2015. Check out Oricon News' coverage for pictures.

[Via Oricon News, Ghibli Museum; images from Famitsu]