Post by Rob W. Case on Dec 19, 2023 18:32:19 GMT -6
This is probably one of the most acclaimed short films from Walt Disney Pictures that has been most impactful. It is also one of the most distributed short films that Disney ever produced, as its rewatchability becomes all the more prevalent especially at Christmas. This is Walt Disney’s animated short film Mickey’s Christmas Carol.
When Walt Disney Pictures took on the project of reaching young audiences with their own rendition of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”, they did so with old familiar Disney friends, like Mickey Mouse, Jiminy Cricket, Donald Duck, Goofy, and a host of many other Disney characters to present the timeless classic in a short, 25-minute animated feature film.
The Story:
Meet Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck), a money hungry, penny pinching miser who cares more about business than he does people. Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse) is Scrooge’s overworked, underpaid counting clerk, whose son is dying from disease. Donald Duck plays Scrooge’s nephew Fred, who has the spirit of Christmas in him, and despite his attitude and personality, invites his Uncle Scrooge to join him and his family for Christmas.
As Christmastime nears, Scrooge has no regard or respect for the holiday. Late on Christmas Eve, Bob asks Scrooge if he can come in late to work because its Christmas, and he gives Bob a hard time. After he closes up shop and goes home to unwind, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his partner Jacob Marley (Goofy). Marley is eternally tormented by carrying a host of heavy chains shackled to his spirit because of the life he led while on earth, but Scrooge is awarded a grace that Marley didn’t take advantage of. Marley warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits.
Scrooge meets the spirit of Christmas past (Jiminy Cricket), who shows Scrooge what he used to be like before he allowed greed and business to win over the affections of his heart and leave those who once had them out in the cold. Scrooge then meets the spirit of Christmas present (Willie the Giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk), who shows Scrooge how his current ways are impacting people, especially Bob’s youngest son Tiny Tim, who is sick and using a crutch to walk. This then leads to the Spirit of Christmas Future (Bad Pete) smoking a big cigar as the gravediggers (the laughing weasels) finish burying a man, and mocking him for not having any friends to mourn him. Scrooge asks who the name is on his tombstone, and as the Ghost strikes a match to light a new cigar, the light from that match reveals Scrooge’s name. The Ghost says, “why yours Ebenezer. The richest man in the cemetery” and then starts laughing as he slaps Scrooge on the back, knocking him into the hole. Scrooge holds on to a vine in the dirt, as the coffin at the bottom of the hole opens up, revealing billows of smoke and the fires of hell growing brighter, awaiting him. The vine snaps, and Scrooge falls below, as he vows to change from the man he once was.
Some interesting facts about Mickey’s Christmas Carol:
There are some interesting tidbits about this special that is pretty unique. When this special first ran in 1983, it ran as an added attraction to the theatrical re-release of Walt Disney’s 1977 film The Rescuers, starring Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor as two mice on a rescue mission to save a little orphan girl named Penny, who was abducted by a villain named Madame Medusa. This was Mickey Mouse’s first theatrical appearance in over 30 years. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1984, and debuted on television that Christmas season on NBC. When the film was distributed in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s on VHS, it was added to Disney’s line of what they called “Disney’s Mini-Classics”.
My Take:
I love this rendition of “A Christmas Carol” with Mickey Mouse, Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and a host of many other classic Disney characters. I remember seeing this special on television when I was a kid, and it aired on ABC as a yearly tradition for many years thereafter. I loved the use of many Disney characters all throughout the story, like Jiminy Cricket, from 1940’s Pinocchio as the Ghost of Christmas Past. There were also other characters that were in this that I didn’t know of until years later. Years later, many characters used in this rendition were used from other Disney classics from the 1940’s and before. For example, Willie the Giant, the Ghost of Christmas Present, was from Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free in the story Mickey and the Beanstalk from 1947. Fezziwig was played by Mr. Toad, as well as the mole, and the rat that looks like Sherlock Holmes (the Basil Rathbone version) were from the movie Ichabod and Mr. Toad from 1949, featured in the story The Wind in the Willows. The laughing weasels during the graveyard scene were also from the same movie, and used five years later in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Judge Doom’s henchmen. Pete, who was the Ghost of Christmas Future was for years, the villain in many of Mickey Mouse’s early cartoon shorts. He would be brought back in other ways later on, particularly in the cartoon series starring Goofy Goof Troop. Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Alan Young) would also be played by Scrooge McDuck, who would star in his own cartoon series Duck Tales, taking care of his nephews Huey, Duey, and Lewy.
As for the story, I like the spirit and the ambiance of it as well as the art. It is an instant version of "A Christmas Carol", its loaded with many classic characters, and the pace of the story runs fast. It is one of those programs that if you put on at Christmastime, it makes you feel like you did when you first saw it as a kid, or if you watch it for the first time, its timeless appeal has a captivating effect. It is one of my favorite Christmas specials, and one that I pull out from time to time out of my collection to watch. It’s not hard to see why after 40 years, this short film has still got it.
The film is rated G and runs 26 minutes in length.
To view the original 35 mm trailer for the short film, please click on the “Play” button below.
Original 1983 TV Commercial
"Mickey’s Christmas Carol" is available on the physical formats of VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray, and is available on multiple streaming sites. To view all streaming options, you can find them HERE.
When Walt Disney Pictures took on the project of reaching young audiences with their own rendition of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”, they did so with old familiar Disney friends, like Mickey Mouse, Jiminy Cricket, Donald Duck, Goofy, and a host of many other Disney characters to present the timeless classic in a short, 25-minute animated feature film.
The Story:
Meet Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck), a money hungry, penny pinching miser who cares more about business than he does people. Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse) is Scrooge’s overworked, underpaid counting clerk, whose son is dying from disease. Donald Duck plays Scrooge’s nephew Fred, who has the spirit of Christmas in him, and despite his attitude and personality, invites his Uncle Scrooge to join him and his family for Christmas.
As Christmastime nears, Scrooge has no regard or respect for the holiday. Late on Christmas Eve, Bob asks Scrooge if he can come in late to work because its Christmas, and he gives Bob a hard time. After he closes up shop and goes home to unwind, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his partner Jacob Marley (Goofy). Marley is eternally tormented by carrying a host of heavy chains shackled to his spirit because of the life he led while on earth, but Scrooge is awarded a grace that Marley didn’t take advantage of. Marley warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits.
Scrooge meets the spirit of Christmas past (Jiminy Cricket), who shows Scrooge what he used to be like before he allowed greed and business to win over the affections of his heart and leave those who once had them out in the cold. Scrooge then meets the spirit of Christmas present (Willie the Giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk), who shows Scrooge how his current ways are impacting people, especially Bob’s youngest son Tiny Tim, who is sick and using a crutch to walk. This then leads to the Spirit of Christmas Future (Bad Pete) smoking a big cigar as the gravediggers (the laughing weasels) finish burying a man, and mocking him for not having any friends to mourn him. Scrooge asks who the name is on his tombstone, and as the Ghost strikes a match to light a new cigar, the light from that match reveals Scrooge’s name. The Ghost says, “why yours Ebenezer. The richest man in the cemetery” and then starts laughing as he slaps Scrooge on the back, knocking him into the hole. Scrooge holds on to a vine in the dirt, as the coffin at the bottom of the hole opens up, revealing billows of smoke and the fires of hell growing brighter, awaiting him. The vine snaps, and Scrooge falls below, as he vows to change from the man he once was.
Some interesting facts about Mickey’s Christmas Carol:
There are some interesting tidbits about this special that is pretty unique. When this special first ran in 1983, it ran as an added attraction to the theatrical re-release of Walt Disney’s 1977 film The Rescuers, starring Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor as two mice on a rescue mission to save a little orphan girl named Penny, who was abducted by a villain named Madame Medusa. This was Mickey Mouse’s first theatrical appearance in over 30 years. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1984, and debuted on television that Christmas season on NBC. When the film was distributed in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s on VHS, it was added to Disney’s line of what they called “Disney’s Mini-Classics”.
My Take:
I love this rendition of “A Christmas Carol” with Mickey Mouse, Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and a host of many other classic Disney characters. I remember seeing this special on television when I was a kid, and it aired on ABC as a yearly tradition for many years thereafter. I loved the use of many Disney characters all throughout the story, like Jiminy Cricket, from 1940’s Pinocchio as the Ghost of Christmas Past. There were also other characters that were in this that I didn’t know of until years later. Years later, many characters used in this rendition were used from other Disney classics from the 1940’s and before. For example, Willie the Giant, the Ghost of Christmas Present, was from Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free in the story Mickey and the Beanstalk from 1947. Fezziwig was played by Mr. Toad, as well as the mole, and the rat that looks like Sherlock Holmes (the Basil Rathbone version) were from the movie Ichabod and Mr. Toad from 1949, featured in the story The Wind in the Willows. The laughing weasels during the graveyard scene were also from the same movie, and used five years later in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Judge Doom’s henchmen. Pete, who was the Ghost of Christmas Future was for years, the villain in many of Mickey Mouse’s early cartoon shorts. He would be brought back in other ways later on, particularly in the cartoon series starring Goofy Goof Troop. Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Alan Young) would also be played by Scrooge McDuck, who would star in his own cartoon series Duck Tales, taking care of his nephews Huey, Duey, and Lewy.
As for the story, I like the spirit and the ambiance of it as well as the art. It is an instant version of "A Christmas Carol", its loaded with many classic characters, and the pace of the story runs fast. It is one of those programs that if you put on at Christmastime, it makes you feel like you did when you first saw it as a kid, or if you watch it for the first time, its timeless appeal has a captivating effect. It is one of my favorite Christmas specials, and one that I pull out from time to time out of my collection to watch. It’s not hard to see why after 40 years, this short film has still got it.
The film is rated G and runs 26 minutes in length.
To view the original 35 mm trailer for the short film, please click on the “Play” button below.
Original 1983 TV Commercial
"Mickey’s Christmas Carol" is available on the physical formats of VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray, and is available on multiple streaming sites. To view all streaming options, you can find them HERE.