Mickey's Christmas Carol

Mickey's Christmas Carol
Mickey Mouse series
Theatrical release poster with The Rescuers
Directed by	Burny Mattinson
Produced by	Burny Mattinson
Story by	Charles Dickens, Burny Mattinson, Tony L. Marino, Ed Gombert, Don Griffith, Alan Young, Alan Dinehart
Voices by	Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Hal Smith, Will Ryan, Eddie Carroll, Patricia Parris, Dick Billingsley, Clarence Nash
Music by	Irwin Kostal
Animation by	Glen Keane, Mark Henn, Ed Gombert, Dale Baer, David Block, Randy Cartwright
Layouts by	Michael Peraza, Jr., Sylvia Roemer, Gary M. Eggleston
Backgrounds by	Jim Coleman, Brian Sebern, Kathleen Swain, Tia W. Kratter, Donald A. Towns
Studio	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution Company
Release date(s)	October 20, 1983 (1983-10-20) (UK) December 16, 1983 (1983-12-16) (USA)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	26 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	The Simple Things (1953)
Followed by	The Prince and the Pauper (1990)

Mickey's Christmas Carol is a 1983 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company.^[1] It was directed and produced by Burny Mattinson. The cartoon is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol with Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit and Scrooge McDuck as his namesake and inspiration, Ebeneezer Scrooge. Many other Disney characters, primarily from the Mickey Mouse universe, Robin Hood, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, were cast throughout the film.

Mickey's Christmas Carol was largely an animated adaptation of a Disneyland Records 1974 audio musical entitled An Adaptation of Dicken's Christmas Carol. The musical featured similar dialogue and cast of characters^[2] with the exception of the first and last Christmas ghosts.^[3]

This was the first original Mickey Mouse theatrical cartoon produced in over 30 years. With the exception of rereleases, Mickey had not appeared in movie theaters since the short film The Simple Things released in 1953. Many additional characters seen in the film had also not appeared in a theatrical cartoon for several decades. The film was also the last time in which Clarence Nash voiced Donald Duck. Nash was the only original voice actor in the film as Walt Disney (Mickey Mouse) and Pinto Colvig (Goofy) had died in the 1960s, Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket) and Billy Gilbert (Willie the Giant) in 1971, and Billy Bletcher (Pete) in 1979.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1984, but lost to Sundae in New York. It was Mickey's first such nomination since Mickey and the Seal (1948).

Synopsis

On Christmas Eve 1843, while all of Victorian England is in the merry spirit of Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck) thinks only of the money he has made and of making more (apparently, he charges people 80% interest, compounded daily). While Scrooge's selfish thoughts cascade in his head, Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse), exhausted and underpaid, continues to work long and hard for him. Cratchit reluctantly asks for a "half day off" for Christmas, to which Scrooge replies it will be unpaid (in contrast to the original version where Scrooge is irritated at giving Cratchit Christmas off with pay). When collectors Rat and Mole, along with beggars on the streets, kindly ask for a simple donation, Scrooge responds to Rat and Mole that if he does, the poor will no longer be poor and thus they (the collectors) will be out of work, "and you [can't] ask me to do that, not on Christmas Eve." He also turns down his cheery nephew Fred (Donald Duck), who invites him to a wonderful holiday feast of plump goose with chestnut dressing, candied fruits, and cinnamon cake with lemon sauce, stating that such rich festive cuisine gives him digestive and other health difficulties. ("Are you daft, man? You know I can't eat that stuff! Here's YOUR wreath back!")

That Christmas Eve night, the ghost of Jacob Marley (Goofy), Scrooge's greedy former business partner, appears and scares Scrooge out of his wits when scrooge thinks Marley has come back to haunt him. Scrooge commends him for his ruthlessness. Marley chuckles "Yup", then recalls his sinfulness, and tells that because of his cruelty in life, he is doomed to wear heavy chains for eternity, or "maybe even longer". He warns that a similar fate, if not worse, will befall Scrooge unless he changes his ways. Marley/Goofy then leaves, falling down the stairs when he tries to avoid tripping over Scrooge's cane again and letting out his signature Goofy holler. Scrooge soon dismisses the incident, but is later awoken by the Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket). He shows Scrooge his past, when his growing love of money led him to cruelly break the heart of his fiance Isabelle (Daisy Duck) by foreclosing on the honeymoon cottage's mortgage. This is in sharp contrast to the original novel where Isabelle is the one who ends the engagement with Scrooge in a relatively amicable manner.

Not long after the first visit, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Willie the Giant) arrives, surrounded by turkey, mince pies, and suckling pigs. He shows Scrooge the poverty-stricken Cratchit family, who still keep a festive attitude in their home despite their hardships. Bob's young son, Tiny Tim, is revealed to be ill, and Willie foretells tragedy if the family's hapless life does not change. However, just when Scrooge is desperate to know Tim's fate, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the house both vanish. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (a hooded figure later revealed to be Pete) takes Scrooge to the future in a graveyard. When he sees Bob crying for Tiny Tim, who has passed away (indicated by Bob placing Tim's crutch on his memorial marker), Scrooge fearfully asks whether this future can be altered.

He then overhears the laughter of two gravediggers (Weasels from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad). They are humored by the fact that no one attended the funeral of the man whose grave they were digging. After the weasels leave to take a break from their work, Scrooge and the ghost approach the lonely grave, where the ghost lights a cigar, revealing Scrooge's name on the tombstone. The ghost gives him a shove into his grave calling him "the richest man in the cemetery." Scrooge falls towards his coffin as the lid opens and fire burst out. Scrooge clings to a vine but it snaps and Scrooge falls into his grave, shouting his repentance, as the ghost laughs cruelly.

Suddenly, he is back home on Christmas morning. Having been given another chance, he throws his coat over his nightshirt, dons his cane and top hat, and goes to visit the Cratchits, cheerfully donating generous amounts of money along the way and telling Fred that he will come after all. He tries to play a ninny on Bob, dragging in a large sack supposedly filled with laundry and announcing gruffly that there will be extra work in the future. But to the Cratchits' joy, the sack is instead filled with toys and a big turkey for dinner. Scrooge gives Bob a raise and makes him his partner in the counting house, and Tiny Tim proclaims the original character's famous line of "God bless us, everyone!"

Cast

Opening titles for Mickey's Christmas Carol in sepia tone with Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit. This was the last piece of animation to feature full opening credits and end with "The End".

Main cast

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
Will Ryan	Pete	Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Clarence Nash	Donald Duck	Fred, Scrooge's nephew
Patricia Parris	Daisy Duck	Isabelle ("Belle" in the novella)
Nonspeaking	Mr. Toad	Fezzywig ("Fezziwig" in the novella)
Nonspeaking	Minnie Mouse	Mrs. Cratchit
Nonspeaking	Millie or Melody Mouse	Martha Cratchit
Nonspeaking	Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse[4]	Peter Cratchit
Dick Billingsley		Tiny Tim
Hal Smith	Rat	Collectors for the poor
Will Ryan	Mole
Wayne Allwine	Otto	Beggar
Wayne Allwine	Weasels	Gravediggers

Extras

Opening street scene

• The Big Bad Wolf, collecting for charity
• The Three Little Pigs, caroling

Party at Fezzywig's

• Lady Kluck, dancing with Secretary Bird
• Rabbit children, clapping
• Uncle Waldo; clapping, later dancing
• Grandma Duck; clapping, later dancing
• Horace Horsecollar, dancing with Clarabelle Cow
• Gus Goose, dancing with Clara Cluck
• Angus MacBadger, dancing
• Chip and Dale, dancing
• Huey, Dewey, and Louie, decorating Christmas tree

Closing street scene

• Skippy Bunny and Toby Turtle, playing in the street
• Mother Rabbit and Grandma Owl, standing in the street
• The Practical Pig, chasing two of the Three Little Wolves
• Cyril Proudbottom, pulling Donald's cart

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 references to famous performers, including Gladys Knight, 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”.^[5] 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.^[6]

However, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert of At the Movies gave it “two thumbs down”. Siskel felt there wasn't enough emphasis on Mickey's character and that it didn't 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.^[7]

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

Releases

It was broadcast on television on NBC (1984–1990), CBS (1991–1998), ABC (2000, 2003), ABC Family (2001-present), Toon Disney (2008), and some local stations KOVR-TV in Sacramento, California (1997). The run on ABC Family included Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too and was part of their "25 Days of Christmas", but with several abrupt edits.

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 release to retain the film's widescreen aspect ratio.

The aforementioned broadcasts in the 1980s and early '90s 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 1993 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.

See also

• List of A Christmas Carol adaptations
• List of Mickey Mouse cartoons

Notes

1. ^ This was the last theatrical release to be distributed under the Buena Vista label. Future releases would be under the Walt Disney Pictures/Productions label.
2. ^ Dickens' Christmas Carol by Disneyland Records at MouseVinyl.com
3. ^ The Ghost of Christmas Past was Merlin from The Sword in the Stone instead of Jiminy Cricket while the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was the Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in her hag guise.
4. ^ The film does not specify which mouse plays whom, but the 1974 musical identifies Tiny Tim as Morty.
5. ^ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New American Library. p. 79. ISBN 0-452-25993-2. 
6. ^ Robin, Allan (1999). Walt Disney and Europe. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 261. ISBN 0-253-21353-3. 
7. ^ At the Movies, December 1983

External links

• Mickey's Christmas Carol at the Internet Movie Database
• Mickey's Christmas Carol at the Big Cartoon DataBase