Mickeys Christmas Carol

Plot

On Christmas Eve in 19th-century London, Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck), a surly money-lender, does not share the merriment of Christmas. He dismisses two gentlemen's collecting money for charity and declines his nephew Fred (Donald Duck)'s invitation to Christmas dinner. His loyal employee Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse) requests to have Christmas Day off, since there will be no business for Scrooge on the day, to which he reluctantly agrees.

Scrooge continues his business until just before midnight and then leaves for home. In his house, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley (Goofy), who warns him to repent his wicked ways or he will condemned in the afterlife like he was, informing him that three time-travelling spirits will visit him during the night. As Marley leaves, he falls down the stairs after he avoids tripping over Scrooge's cane.

Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket), who takes him back in time to his early life. They visit his time as an employee under Fezziwig. Fezziwig throws a Christmas party, Scrooge attends and meeting a young woman named Isabelle (Daisy Duck), whom he falls in love with. However, the Ghost shows Scrooge how Isabelle left him when he chose his wealth over her. A distraught Scrooge dismisses the Ghost as he returns to the present.

Scrooge next meets the gigantic, merry Ghost of Christmas Present (Willie the Giant). Scrooge and the Ghost visit Bob's house, learning his family is surprisingly content with their small dinner, Scrooge taking pity on Bob's ill son Tiny Tim. The Ghost informs that Tiny Tim will likely not survive until next Christmas and he fades away.

Smoke fills the streets, revealing the Ghost of Christmas Future (later revealed as Pete), who appears as a silent, cloaked figure; the Ghost takes Scrooge into the future. Escorted to a cemetery, Scrooge discovers that Tiny Tim has died. He then overhears two weasel gravediggers who are amused that no one attended the funeral of an unnamed colleague whose grave they were digging. After the weasels leave to take a break from their work, the ghost points out Scrooge's own grave, revealing that he was the man who died. Realizing this, Scrooge vows to mend his ways as the ghost shoves him into his empty coffin sitting in a deep grave atop the fires of Hell.

Awakening in his bedroom on Christmas Day, Scrooge decides to surprise Bob’s family with a turkey dinner and ventures out to spread happiness and joy around London. He donates much of his money to the charity workers and wishes his nephew Fred a Merry Christmas as well. Scrooge then goes to the Cratchit house, at first putting on a stern demeanor, but reveals he intends on raising Bob’s salary and making him his partner in his counting house. Scrooge and the Cratchets celebrate Christmas.

Opening street scene

Party at Fezzywig's

Closing street scene

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, including Gladys Knight & The Pips, Bob Mills, and Warren Oates.

Reception

Film critic Leonard 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.” 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.

However, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert of At 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.

Mickey's Christmas Carol was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Animated Short Subject of 1983.

Releases

Mickey's Christmas Carol premiered in the UK on October 20, 1983 alongside a re-issue of The Jungle Book, and was released in the US on December 16, 1983, with a Christmas 1983 re-issue of The Rescuers. It has been broadcast on various television stations throughout the years. It started on NBC (1984–1990), then on to The Disney Channel (1987–1999; 2002–2006), and CBS (1991–1996), occasionally on ABC (2000, 2003), before moving permanently to ABC Family (2001–2015). It was aired on Toon Disney in 2008. The run on ABC Family includes Winnie 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 a Goofy holler. In Canada, it airs on CBC, 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 shown unmatted. 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 short film was released several times on VHS and laserdisc throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Some editions featured The 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 the Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites DVD collection, as well as in the Walt Disney Treasures set Mickey Mouse in Living Color - Volume 2; however, the latter is the only DVD to be released in its theatrical 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio, however it is simply cropping the 1.33:1 version. The short is also on the Disney 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; however, it was further cropped to 1.78:1 widescreen and featured a heavy use of noise reduction. Various other shorts were included in the DVD.

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, and The 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) 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 on The Nightmare Before Christmas. Later broadcasts simply reduced the timeslot to half an hour, showing Mickey's Christmas Carol by itself.

A clip of this film in Swedish was shown on Donald Duck's 50th Birthday to illustrate Donald's international appeal.

This short film was featured in Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse. The shot of Mickey holding Tiny Tim's crutch is also seen in the opening of Epic Mickey.

Production credits