Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)

This is a very nice adaptation from Disney of the classic "A Christmas Carol." It stars Mickey, Donald and Daisy as some of the main Carol characters, playing Bob Cratchit, Nephew Fred and Belle. Ebenezer Scrooge is voiced by Mister Ed actor Alan Young, and Scrooge will take on a more significant future role as "Scrooge McDuck" in the cartoon show, Ducktales.

This classic Charles Dicken's story is portrayed very well in this cartoon, very touching and moving about gruff Ebenezer trying to mend his ways after being visited by the Christmas ghosts of the Past, Present and Future. The spirit of Christmas and goodwill is thoroughly emphasized in this movie and you could definitely see a special Disney touch to this feature.

I'm sure the kids and the entire family will enjoy watching this cartoon short during Christmas time.

Grade A

Fmovies: This is a very nice adaptation from Disney of the classic "A Christmas Carol." It stars Mickey, Donald and Daisy as some of the main Carol characters, playing Bob Cratchit, Nephew Fred and Belle. Ebenezer Scrooge is voiced by Mister Ed actor Alan Young, and Scrooge will take on a more significant future role as "Scrooge McDuck" in the cartoon show, Ducktales.

This classic Charles Dicken's story is portrayed very well in this cartoon, very touching and moving about gruff Ebenezer trying to mend his ways after being visited by the Christmas ghosts of the Past, Present and Future. The spirit of Christmas and goodwill is thoroughly emphasized in this movie and you could definitely see a special Disney touch to this feature.

I'm sure the kids and the entire family will enjoy watching this cartoon short during Christmas time.

Grade A

Charming Disney Christmas short has ALAN YOUNG voicing the Scrooge McDuck character as Ebenezer Scrooge in this colorful, well animated Disney short from the early '80s. One of the more subtle lines goes to McDuck when visited by The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket): "I thought you'd be taller!"). Other familiar Disney characters take turns at playing roles, including Goofy as Jacob Marley's ghost and Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit.

The Victorian atmosphere of London is nicely displayed and all of the background work is up to the usual Disney professional standards. The music is pleasant and only the brief running time is a bit of a disappointment, since the story is so compressed and is over just as you begin to settle into it for enjoyment.

A "must see" for any Disney buff and well worth watching to get into that holiday mood.

Mickey's Christmas Carol fmovies. The return of Walt Disney's most famous cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, to the silver screen after a prolonged 30-year absence was via this wonderful, Oscar-nominated animated short subject – a Disneyfication of Charles Dickens' Christmas perennial which, surprisingly enough for being made during a period of low ebb for the studio, succeeds far better than it ought to. Ebeneezer Scrooge is played by Scrooge McDuck (voiced by veteran actor Alan Young) while Mickey Mouse portrays his overworked underpaid employee Bob Cratchit; also making a welcome appearance (and adding to the fun) is Donald Duck as Scrooge's happy-go-lucky nephew, Goofy as the clumsy (what else?) ghost of Jacob Marley, Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Willie the Giant (of the BEANSTALK fame) as the Ghost of Christmas Present. At 26 minutes, the narrative is necessarily overly condensed but the familiar characters (ironically enough) come so vividly to life here that one is, just like Dickens' own Oliver Twist, left asking for more!

P.S. Initially, it wasn't my intention to watch this Disney short over the Christmas period – in fact, I practically forgot that I actually owned it on DVD as part of the "Walt Disney Treasures" 2-Disc Set of MICKEY MOUSE IN LIVING COLOR VOLUME 2! However, recent enthusiastic comments I've read on an online Forum made me spring for it sooner rather than later...

Charming Disney Christmas short has ALAN YOUNG voicing the Scrooge McDuck character as Ebenezer Scrooge in this colorful, well animated Disney short from the early '80s. One of the more subtle lines goes to McDuck when visited by The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket): "I thought you'd be taller!"). Other familiar Disney characters take turns at playing roles, including Goofy as Jacob Marley's ghost and Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit.

The Victorian atmosphere of London is nicely displayed and all of the background work is up to the usual Disney professional standards. The music is pleasant and only the brief running time is a bit of a disappointment, since the story is so compressed and is over just as you begin to settle into it for enjoyment.

A "must see" for any Disney buff and well worth watching to get into that holiday mood.

Disney characters fill the roles in this adaptation of the Dickens novel, with Scrooge McDuck obviously playing the role of cold blooded, greedy businessman Ebenezer Scrooge. His timid, overworked employee Bob Cratchit (Mickey) and nephew Fred (Donald) try to instill in him the Christmas spirit, but it's no use. However, in the attempt to make Scrooge see the light, he's visited by a succession of ghosts, starting with his deceased partner Jacob Marley (Goofy), who show him the progression of his character over the years, and the possible consequences.

All in all, this is very likable, and often very funny, in the Disney tradition, and the talent involved do a decent job (at least this viewer thinks so) in balancing the serious moments and sentiment with some broad humour and slapstick. Goofy, not surprisingly, does a fair bit of it, turning Marleys' ghost into a clumsy bumbler. Admittedly, the main criticism of the special arises from condensing Dickens' novel into a half hour piece; it definitely feels a little rushed (although the very young, and those with short attention spans, may have no complaints on the matter).

Still, there's much to enjoy, and it's amusing to see so many characters from so many Disney productions over the years cast in the various roles. Willie the Giant / The Ghost of Christmas Present is particularly funny, especially when he's searching for a particular house, lifts the roof off of one, and there's a scream heard. His reaction is priceless.

The vocal performers are all excellent, especially Alan Young who always was an inspired choice for the voice of Scrooge. The animation is fine and the song composed for this special ("Oh, What a Merry Christmas Day", by Fredrick Searles and Irwin Kostal) is a reasonably good one. Some of the smaller fry may find the sequence with Pete / The Ghost of Christmas Future a little spooky, but overall this definitely makes for pleasant family viewing.

Eight out of 10.