Mickey's Christmas Carol

Did You Know?

• This was the first original Mickey Mouse theatrical cartoon produced in over 30 years; Mickey had not appeared in movie theaters since the short film The Simple Things (1953).
• The graveyard sequence was the first time Disney tested the animation photo transfer process.
• This film was the last time that Clarence Nash voiced Donald Duck before his death in 1985.
• The film was largely adapted from the 1974 Disneyland Records audio musical An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, with several differences in which characters played certain roles.
• The DVD print reveals that the graveyard scene includes tombstones containing famous performers, including Gladys Knight & the Pips, Bob Mills, and Warren Oates.

Plot

On Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck), a surly moneylender in Victorian era London who hates Christmas, refuses to give money to a panhandler outside his counting 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 partner Jacob 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 the Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket), who shows him visions of a past Christmas party hosted by Scrooge's old boss Fezzywig (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, merry Ghost 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 son Tiny Tim (Morty Mouse).

As Scrooge asks about Tiny Tim's fate, this ghost disappears and the Ghost of Christmas Future (Pete) takes Scrooge to a cemetery 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 own coffin which opens to show the flames of Hell, 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.'

Musical numbers

Multiple musical numbers were featured in the 1974 record and 1982 reissue, but were removed from the film. The 1974 version included: Side One: 'Money' - Scrooge, Cratchit; 'The Way Christmas Ought To Be' - Scrooge, Cratchit; 'Being Tight Is Not Alright' - Marley; 'Under The Mistletoe Pt. 1' - Chorus; 'Under The Mistletoe Pt. 2' - Chorus. Side Two: 'We Have Love' - Cratchit Family; 'What A Glorious Christmas Morning' - Chorus; 'They Won't Know Me' - Scrooge; 'The Way Christmas Ought To Be (reprise)' - Scrooge, Cratchit, Chorus; 'What A Glorious Christmas Morning (reprise)' - Chorus.

The 1982 reissue included: Side One: 'Oh, What A Merry Christmas Day' - Chorus; 'Money' - Scrooge, Cratchit; 'The Way Christmas Ought To Be' - Scrooge, Cratchit; 'Being Tight Is Not Alright' - Marley; 'Under The Mistletoe' - Chorus. Side Two: 'We Have Love' - Cratchit Family; 'What A Glorious Christmas Morning' - Chorus; 'The Way Christmas Ought To Be (reprise)' - Scrooge, Cratchit, Chorus; 'What A Glorious Christmas Morning (reprise)' - Chorus. The opening song, 'Oh, What A Merry Christmas Day' was made for the cartoon, and appeared as the opening of the reissued record.

Some songs were shortened. 'Money' and 'We Have Love' have extra verses in the 1974 version that were cut out. The first part of 'Under The Mistletoe' was removed, along with Scrooge's short number, 'They Won't Know Me.' The reprise to 'The Way Christmas Ought To Be' lyrically stays the same, but the keys are different.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10 based on 8 reviews. 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, losing to Jimmy Picker's Sundae in New York. Colin Greenland reviewed Mickey's Christmas Carol for Imagine 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'. In 2019, Robert Keeling of Den 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'.

Releases

Mickey's Christmas Carol premiered in the UK on October 20, 1983, alongside a re-issue of The Rescuers. In the United States, it first aired on television on NBC, on December 10, 1984.