| Mickey's Christmas Carol | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Burny Mattinson |
| Story by |
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| Based on | A Christmas Carol byCharles Dickens Mickey Mouse byWalt Disney Ub Iwerks |
| Produced by | Burny Mattinson |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | James Melton Armetta Jackson |
| Music by | Irwin Kostal |
| Animation by |
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| Layouts by |
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| Backgrounds by |
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| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 26 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mickey's Christmas Carol is a 1983 AmericananimatedChristmasfantasyfeaturette, directed and produced byBurny Mattinson. The cartoon is an adaptation ofCharles Dickens's 1843 novellaA Christmas Carol, and starsScrooge McDuck asEbenezer Scrooge. The rest of the cast was filled mostly using characters from pre-existingDisney animated properties; notably from theMickey Mouse universe,Jiminy Cricket fromPinocchio (1940),The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), andRobin Hood (1973).
The featurette was produced byWalt Disney Productions and released byBuena Vista Distribution on December 16, 1983, with the re-issue ofThe Rescuers (1977).[1] In the United States, it was first aired on television onNBC, on December 10, 1984.[2]
Mickey's Christmas Carol was largely adapted from the 1974Disneyland Recordsaudio musicalAn Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, featuring similar dialogue and a similar cast of characters. The primary differences between the record album and animated featurette are the collectors for the poor were played byHonest John and Gideon fromPinocchio, theGhost of Christmas Past was played byMerlin fromThe Sword in the Stone and theGhost of Christmas Future was played bythe Evil Queen in her peddler disguise fromSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but in the animated version, the collectors for the poor are played by Ratty and Mole fromThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the Ghost of Christmas Past is played byJiminy Cricket fromPinocchio and the Ghost of Christmas Future is played byPete. Additionally this film was the last time thatClarence Nash voiced Donald Duck before his death in 1985.[3]
The film was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Film in1984, but it lost to Jimmy Picker'sSundae in New York.[4] It was the first nomination for aMickey Mouse short sinceMickey and the Seal (1948).
OnChristmas Eve,Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck), a surly moneylender in Victorian era London who hates Christmas, refuses to give money to a panhandler outside hiscounting house, declines his nephew Fred's (Donald Duck) invitation to Christmas dinner, and uses questionable logic to turn away two gentlemen (Rat and Mole) fundraising aid for the poor. His overworked and underpaid employee,Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse), requests to have half of Christmas Day off; Scrooge reluctantly agrees, but without pay. That night, the shackled ghost of his late business partnerJacob Marley (Goofy) appears to Scrooge and warns that three spirits will visit Scrooge during the night, and that he faces a worse fate if he does not change his wicked ways.
Later that night, Scrooge is visited by theGhost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket), who shows him visions of a past Christmas party hosted by Scrooge's old bossFezzywig (Mr. Toad), where the young Scrooge fell in love with Isabelle (Daisy Duck). Flashing forward to the counting house, Isabelle mentions buying a honeymoon cottage for when Scrooge agrees to marry, but Scrooge forecloses on the cottage, marking the moment he loved money more than her.
Scrooge next meets the gigantic, merryGhost of Christmas Present (Willie the Giant), who takes Scrooge to Bob Cratchit's house. Scrooge sees that their Christmas dinner for their family of five consists of barely enough food to feed one person, and becomes especially concerned when he sees Cratchit's ill sonTiny Tim (Morty Mouse).
As Scrooge asks about Tiny Tim's fate, this ghost disappears and theGhost of Christmas Future (Pete) takes Scrooge to acemetery in the near future to see the Cratchits mourning Tiny Tim's death. As Scrooge asks the spirit if the events can still be changed, they see two gravediggers (Weasels) remarking how no one came to mourn the man they are burying. After they leave, the Ghost reveals the tombstone bears Scrooge's name, and shoves Scrooge down into the grave while dubbing him "the richest man in the cemetery." Falling into his owncoffin which opens to show the flames ofHell, Scrooge vows to change his ways before finding himself in his bedroom on Christmas Day.
Filled with glee, Scrooge begins spreading happiness and joy around London, donating a sizable amount of money to the gentlemen's charity and reconciling with Fred. At the Cratchit house, Scrooge puts up a front acting like his old cruel self, then surprises everyone with gifts of a prize turkey, toys, and giving Cratchit a substantial raise along with making him his business partner, as Tiny Tim declares "God bless us, everyone."
| Voice actor | Character | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Young | Scrooge McDuck | Ebenezer Scrooge |
| Wayne Allwine | Mickey Mouse | Bob Cratchit |
| Hal Smith | Goofy | Jacob Marley's ghost |
| Eddie Carroll | Jiminy Cricket | Ghost of Christmas Past |
| Will Ryan | Willie the Giant | Ghost of Christmas Present |
| Pete | Ghost of Christmas Future | |
| Clarence Nash | Donald Duck | Fred, Scrooge's nephew |
| Patricia Parris | Daisy Duck | Isabelle ("Belle" in the novella) |
| Dick Billingsley | Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse[5] | Tiny Tim |
| None (characters have no spoken dialogue) | Peter Cratchit | |
| J. Thaddeus Toad | Fezzywig | |
| Minnie Mouse | Emily Cratchit | |
| Millie or Melody Mouse[6] | Martha Cratchit | |
| Hal Smith | Ratty | Collectors for the poor |
| Will Ryan | Moley | |
| Wayne Allwine | Otto | Beggar |
| Wayne Allwine andWill Ryan | Weasels | Gravediggers |
The film also includes unidentifiable dog, fox, pig, squirrel, bear, raccoon, goose, and chicken characters. The DVD print reveals that the graveyard scene also includes tombstones containing famous performers, includingGladys Knight & the Pips,Bob Mills, andWarren Oates.
This was the first originalMickey Mouse theatrical cartoon produced in over 30 years.[7] With the exception of re-releases, Mickey had not appeared in movie theaters since the short filmThe Simple Things (1953). The graveyard sequence was also the first time Disney tested theanimation photo transfer process.[8] Many additional characters seen in the film had also not appeared in a theatrical cartoon for several decades such asHorace Horsecollar andClarabelle Cow. The film was also one of the final timesClarence Nash voicedDonald Duck before his death in 1985. Nash was the only original voice actor in the film asWalt Disney (Mickey Mouse) had died in 1966,Pinto Colvig (Goofy) in 1967,Bill Thompson (Scrooge McDuck),Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket) andBilly Gilbert (Willie the Giant) in 1971, andBilly Bletcher (Pete and the Big Bad Wolf) in 1979. It also marked the first time in animation that Scrooge McDuck was voiced by actorAlan Young (who had first voiced the character on the musical album); Young would continue to be the primary voice actor for McDuck, most notably inDuckTales, until the actor's death in 2016.
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10 based on 8 reviews.[9]
Film criticLeonard Maltin said that rather than being "a pale attempt to imitate the past", the film is "cleverly written, well-staged, and animated with real spirit and a sense of fun".[10] Robin Allan stated that the film calls to mind the similarities between Walt Disney and Charles Dickens, in terms of both the work they produced and their work ethic.[11]
However,Gene Siskel andRoger Ebert ofAt the Movies gave it "two thumbs down" as they were both disappointed. Siskel felt there was not enough emphasis on Mickey's character, in spite of the title, and that it did not rank with most of Disney's full-length animated features. Ebert stated that it lacked the magic of visual animation that the "Disney people are famous for" and that it was a "forced march" through the Charles Dickens story without any ironic spin.[12]
Mickey's Christmas Carol was nominated for anAcademy Award asBest Animated Short Subject of 1983,[13] losing to Jimmy Picker'sSundae in New York.
Colin Greenland reviewedMickey's Christmas Carol forImagine magazine, and wrote that "it is surprising how entertaining this is, perhaps because it is actually a Scrooge McDuck movie (of course), with the effete rodent very much in a minor role as Bob Cratchit".[14]
In 2019, Robert Keeling ofDen of Geek noted as it "not exactly a faithful retelling – surprisingly, the issue of Scrooge’s mother and sister dying never comes up – but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable and warm festive offering nonetheless".[15]
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Mickey's Christmas Carol premiered in theUK on October 20, 1983, alongside a re-issue ofThe Jungle Book (1967), and was released in theUS on December 16 of the same year, with a Christmas 1983 re-issue ofThe Rescuers (1977). It has been broadcast on various television stations throughout the years. It started onNBC (1984–1990) with 12 new additional sepia title cards illustrated byMichael Peraza Jr. to match the 12 he had done for the original film to help bridge the segments together. It went on to air onThe Disney Channel (1987–1999; 2002–2006), andCBS (1991–1998), occasionally onABC (2000; 2003) before moving permanently toABC Family/Freeform (2001–). It was aired onToon Disney in 2008. The run on ABC Family includesWinnie the Pooh and Christmas Too and was part of their "25 Days of Christmas", but with several abrupt edits including the "Chocolate Pot Roast with Yogurt" line and Marley tripping on the stairs and falling down, letting out aGoofy holler. In Canada, it airs onCBC, and has been aired every Christmas season since 1985. It typically airs the Sunday before Christmas. For many years, the short film would air on CBC as a one-hour program, as mentioned below. In addition,Mickey's Christmas Carol would be shownunmatted. In recent years, however,Mickey's Christmas Carol is only aired in a half-hour time slot and in high definition matted widescreen, presumably to be more suited for modern television screens.
The aforementioned broadcasts in the 1980s and early 1990s spanned a full hour, with the first half consisting of the following older cartoon shorts:Donald's Snow Fight,Pluto's Christmas Tree, andThe Art of Skiing. Each of the four items in the program was preceded by a narrative wraparound segment in which one of the Disney cartoon characters (Donald, Pluto (with Mickey translating), Goofy, and Mickey, respectively, all voiced by their original actors from the short) would talk about his favorite Christmas, thus leading into the cartoon in question. From 1988 onwards,The Art of Skiing was excluded from the annual broadcast, replaced at the end of the hour by one segment or another. The 1993 telecast, for example, featured a behind-the-scenes featurette onThe Nightmare Before Christmas. Later broadcasts simply reduced the timeslot to half an hour, showingMickey's Christmas Carol by itself.
A clip of this film in Swedish was shown onDonald Duck's 50th Birthday to illustrate Donald's international appeal.
This short film was featured inDisney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse. The shot of Mickey holding Tiny Tim's crutch is also seen in the opening ofEpic Mickey.
The short was released several times on VHS and LaserDisc throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It was released in the Mini-Classics line on September 28, 1989, September 25, 1990 and October 7, 1994. It was re-issued in the Favorite Stories line on October 2, 1996. Some releases featuredThe Making of "Mickey's Christmas Carol" as a bonus.
The short is also featured, without its opening credits, in the direct-to-home release,Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. It is also available on the ninth volume of theWalt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites DVD collection, as well as in theWalt Disney Treasures setMickey Mouse in Living Color – Volume 2; the latter is the only DVD to be released in its theatrical 1.66:1widescreenaspect ratio, but it is simply cropping the1.33:1 version. The short is also on theDisney Animation Collection Volume 7 DVD (1.33:1). On November 5, 2013, the 30th Anniversary Edition of this short was released on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray, but it was further cropped to 1.78:1 widescreen[16] and featured a heavy use ofnoise reduction. Various other shorts were included in the DVD.
