Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts more than 100 performances throughout the year; it is especially known for its performance of the Stowell/Maurice Sendak Nutcracker, which it presented from 1983 through 2014 and produced as a feature film.

Maurice Bernard Sendak was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was affected by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak also wrote works such as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and illustrated many works by other authors including the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik.