Suggestive Plotline?

I'm a big fan of this ballet--of Tchaikovsky period--and grew up watching the 1977 Tony Charmoli version that we had recorded on our Beta. Therefore I was very excited to see another version of it a few weeks ago on television. While I was visually very pleased as the dancing and scenery are suberb, I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow just a tinge at some of the suggestiveness of this film, in particular the relationship with Clara & Drosselmeyer. I mean, clearly there is something in the direction that is rather suggestive on at least Drosselmeyer's side.

Firstly, he's now a mere clockmaker, not the godfather of Clara/Fritz, who clearly gives Clara the preferential treatment of the best gift among them all. Despite her dancing initially with him, she rejects him when he gets too close. Thus, he becomes angry and leaves in a huff (I almost thought at first he was thrown out the way they gathered his coat for him so quickly.) Later, the Mouseking clearly is depicted in Drosselmeyer's coat and then later Drosselmeyer appears again as a sorcerer in the court of the Prince, appearing irked at the Prince & Clara's closeness. Finally, as Clara & the Prince take flight over the Kingdom, the Drosselmeyer/Sorceror casts a spell and they lose one another, the Prince is transformed back into a Nutcracker, and Clara awakens sharply. The final shot is of Drosselmeyer alone in his dark workshop, his head in his arms looking sad and lonely.

I wonder where they were going with this? Clara is clearly intended to be a child of, at most, 13 (I do not know the actress's real age) and in her dream world she's played by an older actress. I just think it was an edgy idea and I wonder if it detracted from anyone else's enjoyment of the film or were you too carried away by the rest of it to really care? Personally, I thought they could have done without the, well, sexual tension between the characters. Drosselmeyer's character is more of a catalyst of the story; a way to get Clara into the dream world. He didn't need to be depicted as a villian as well and that just left a hinge of irriation for me.

I know a reviewer pointed out that this version was trying to get back to the dark roots of the original storyline with the traditional ballet attached but I was curious to know what do you guys think of the changes? Good or bad?

(Sorry for the superfluous text!)