Okay, not really. I'll explain.
As you know, I recently declared myself an expert on animated film. Then again, I blame my parents. As I said before, when I was a child, all they ever let me watch was child-friendly cartoons. They also bought me a few cartoons on VHS. I still have many of these VHSs. I'm going to watch one very soon, one I haven't seen in years.
I'm going to watch a short film by Disney. Ah yes, how better to appreciate cartoon movies than with something from the house Ol' Walt built? After all, if it were not for Disney, nobody would respect animation as much as live-action film. But today, instead of watching a big-budget blockbuster, I'm watching a twenty-something minute long short. That's all the VHS contains. And it's about Christmas.
Yes, I'm going to watch Mickey's Christmas Carol. Which is something of a misnomer, because it's not Mickey Mouse you see the most often, it's Scrooge McDuck. More on that later. My mom and dad bought this for me when I was around 6 or 7. On the first day of Christmas vacation for every one of my school years, I would watch this film, as to get me into the Christmas spirit. And I kept doing this until I was 13 or 14, when I discovered better versions of Dickens' story, and also having read the original Christmas Carol.
Nonetheless, I am a whore for most Disney things, and I did experience a spiritual reawakening for all things Disney when I played Kingdom Hearts I and II back in January, so let's get started.
Before I go, keep in mind, in the short, nobody refers to each other by their usual names. You see, the Disney characters are like actors playing the parts in Dickens' play, and as such, they refer to each other by their character names, not their real names, if you will. Writers like to speak as if Disney cartoons are real performers, and it looks like I'm about to do the same.
So it's start off with still images in the opening credits showing many Disney stars playing their characters in A Christmas Carol. The opening sequence is accompanied by a theme song, a Christmas Carol if you will. It's a good song. Also, somewhere in the credits, I saw John Lasseter's name. Yeah, this must've been long before he made Toy Story. Anyways, enough of that.
The real star, Scrooge McDuck, plays the part he was, quite literally, born to play, that of Ebenezer Scrooge. Now, I don't recall Ebenezer having such a thick Scottish accent before, but that's okay. It starts on Christmas eve, with Scrooge working his business, and being tyrannical to Bob Cratchit, played by Mickey Mouse. Now, Mickey was well-casted here; Cratchit is the everyman, and so is Mickey. Even though Scrooge does everything he can to make Cratchit's life miserable, it does not faze him, for he always is in high spirits. Then, we also meet Fred, Scrooge's nephew, who's played by McDuck's real life nephew, Donald Duck. ("He totally looks the part!") Now, maybe it's just me, but I think this part was mis-casted. When I think of Donald, I think of someone who's quick to violence and unable to make sound judgments. And yet, the bad boy of the Walt Disney Company is playing Fred, who's a really really nice guy. Scrooge only says, "Bah, humbug!" to him, though.
Then, two charity raisers come in, one looks like a mouse, the other, a mole. They're collecting money for the poor. Scrooge tells them to bugger off, so to speak. The work day ends, Cratchit returns to his home, and Scrooge to his. When Scrooge goes back home, he is visited by the spirit of Jacob Marley, his old business partner. Jacob is played by . . . Goofy. Yes, the, Goofy, the same Goofy who can't drive worth shit on the freeway, and always says, "Gawrsh!" Talk about miscast. He tells Scrooge that he must spend eternity as a wandering ghost with chains for his sins when he was alive. He warns Scrooge that, "Your chains will be heavier than mine!" unless Scrooge heeds the words of three more spirits that will visit him later that night. When Marley leaves, he, uh, falls down stairs and screams, "GAH-OH-OH-WHEE!" Yeah, Goofy playing Jacob Marley; that's something else.
So eventually, the Spirit of Christmas Past shows up. The Past Spirit is played by Jiminy Cricket, making him the most cheerful Past Christmas Spirit I've ever seen. Scrooge sees part of his past play out. We learn he was enamored with a woman named Isabella, played by Daisy Duck. Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Daisy like Scrooge's nephew's girlfriend? Eh, I'll chalk it up as coincidence. However, as we learn, Scrooge came to love money more than Isabella, and as such, he left her. Scrooge in the present begins to regret this decision. And as Jiminy reminds us, "You fashioned these memories yourself."
Then, Scrooge is visited by the Spirit of Christmas Present, who is played by . . . okay, um, remember that old short with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy where they re-enact Jack and the Beanstalk, and remember the Giant from that version of the fairy tale? Yeah, that's the Spirit of Christmas Present here; a jolly giant with a really cartoony voice. He takes Scrooge to Cratchit's house, where we find he and his family have close to nothing, since they are so poor. And one of Cratchit's sons, Tiny Tim, looks like he may be dying soon. By the way, Cratchit's wife is played by Minnie Mouse here. Scrooge feels bad for his employee. Just then, the Present Spirit disappears.
Scrooge is now in the Company of the Spirit of Christmas Future. The future Spirit shows Scrooge the cemetery, and there, we see Cratchit's family mourning the loss of Tiny Tim. Scrooge asks if this outcome can change. Then, a new grave is being dug. The two gravediggers are weasels with exaggerated accents. I think . . . they might've been two of the evil weasel characters from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but it's been a long time since I've seen that, so I'm not sure. Scrooge asks whose grave that is. The future Spirit says, "Why, yours Scrooge!" Now, this is a bit unorthodox. Traditionally, the Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come never speaks, and never shows his face. Yet, here, he does speak, and he's played by Pete, or, for you of my generation out there, that's "that inept villain from Kingdom Hearts II." He pushes Scrooge into the grave. The grave begins spewing smoke and fire, like it's the gateway to Hell. But right before Scrooge falls in, he finds himself back in his bedroom.
Scrooge is now a changed duck. He now realizes that he can spare his immense wealth while he's still alive. And now he travels through all of London, sounding much like Scrooge McDuck did in Ducktales, at least whenever he wasn't ripping off Indiana Jones, and also without saying stereotypical Scots phrases. ("Bless me bagpipes!") He finds the mouse and mole from yesterday who were collecting money for the poor, and donates a large amount of cash. He then runs into his nephew Fred, and tells him he will join him for dinner after all, despite saying, "Bah!" to his offer yesterday.
Then he visits Cratchit. He acts like the miser he was, just to scare Cratchit, then reveals that he's giving him a raise, and the whole day off, and toys for his children, and a large turkey for a meal. Tiny Tim says, "God bless us, everyone!" which I think is the first time "God" was ever mentioned in a Disney cartoon. And it ends.
As you can see, it's an abridged, not to mention Disney-fied, account of a Christmas Carol. Many of the darker elements of the original story were left out, especially during the segments with the Spirits of Christmas Past and Present. The animation was pretty good, well, this is Disney we're talking about. It looks better than most animated tv shows I've seen, but is not up to the quality of most animated films, as well as newer cartoon shows. The soundtrack was decent, kinda sounded like the music from old Disney shorts. The voices were good, but could've sounded better. Many of these characters also appeared in the KH games, and most of them were played by the same actors from this short, and it seemed like they sounded better in those games, but then again, this came out years before KH; less experienced, perhaps? Nonetheless, it's a rather charming take on a Christmas Carol. I doubt anyone else has played Bob Cratchit is a cute manner like Mickey did, for instance.
But still, why do I still own this VHS? It's not in widescreen, it doesn't come in surround sound, there's nothing else on the video. (I would've liked more bang for my buck; they could've fit more shorts on here.) I admitted it's not my favorite version of the story. Why do I still own it? Nostalgia? Because it was a gift from my family? Because I'm a whore for most Disney things? I don't rightfully know. However, I will say this; I reviewed Mickey's Christmas Carol because I wanted to do something a little different. Something other than, "Make fun of overrated games/comics/cartoons from Japan/internet fads." And also so I wouldn't obsess over another animated something I am obsessing over right now. But I'll get back to that animated something I am obsessing over in a future entry, I promise.
