Mickey's Christmas Carol
Film information
Release Date(s)	December 16, 1983

Mickey's Christmas Carol is a twenty-four minute animated short film produced by Walt Disney Mini Classics and originally released in the United Kingdom on October 20, 1983 by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. As the title suggests, it is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, featuring familiar Disney characters in the roles of the characters.

The production, hailed as Mickey Mouse's big-screen comeback (despite his limited supporting role) was inspired by Disney's A Christmas Carol, a 1972 Disney record conceived by Alan Young and Alan Dineheart (not to be confused with the similarly-titled 2009 film). Young also debuted as the voice of Scrooge McDuck, here playing Ebenezer Scrooge, and would reprise the role in nearly every subsequent production, notably DuckTales. The featurette also marked the first theatrical outing for Wayne Allwine as the voice of Mickey Mouse (who had previously voiced the character in animation produced for the 1977 Mickey Mouse Club TV series) as well as Clarence Nash's final performance as the voice of Donald Duck.

The film was released on December 16, 1983, and packaged together with a re-release of the 1977 film The Rescuers. It was billed as Mickey's "big-screen comeback" because his last appearance on film, the short "The Simple Things", was thirty years previous, in 1953.

The featurette made its television debut on NBC on December 10, 1984, and was rebroadcast there until 1990, then on CBS from 1991 to 1998. These broadcasts spanned a full hour, with the first half consisting of Christmas- and winter-themed theatrical Disney shorts, including Donald's Snow Fight, Pluto's Christmas Tree, and The Art of Skiing. Each of the segments was preceded by a narrative wraparound segment in which one of the characters (Donald, Pluto (with Mickey translating), Goofy, and Mickey, respectively) would talk about his favorite Christmas, thus leading into the cartoon in question. From 1989 onwards, The Art of Skiing was removed from the annual broadcast, replaced at the end of the hour by a new different segment each year. The 1993 telecast, for example, featured a behind-the-scenes featurette on The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The special was also featured, with its opening credits edited out, as the last cartoon played in the direct-to-video compilation film Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. Also, a short snippet of the film appeared in the ABC/Walt Disney Animation special Prep & Landing.

The special last aired on ABC in 2000 and 2003. It later aired alongside Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too on ABC Family as part of the "25 Days of Christmas" programming on December 10, 2008, but with many abrupt edits. On Christmas Day in 2008, the special was finally aired on Toon Disney (now known as Disney XD) as a stand-alone 30-minute spot, as opposed to being shown as a segment in Mickey's Magical Christmas.

Characters

• Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge
• Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit
• Donald Duck as Fred Honeywell (Ebenezer's nephew)
• Ratty and Mole as Collectors for the Poor
• Goofy as Jacob Marley
• Jiminy Cricket as The Ghost of Christmas Past
• Daisy Duck as Isabelle
• Willie the Giant as The Ghost of Christmas Present
• Minnie Mouse as Mrs. Cratchit
• Morty Fieldmouse as Tiny Tim
• Ferdie Fieldmouse as Peter Cratchit
• Melody Mouse as Martha Cratchit
• Pete as The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come
• J. Thaddeus Toad as Mr. Fezziwig

The above role casting is mostly the same as the version presented in the Disney's A Christmas Carol record, with the exception of the roles of the poor collectors and two of the ghosts. In the original record, the collectors were portrayed (ironically) by Foulfellow and Gideon, the Ghost of Christmas Past was played by Merlin, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was portrayed by Queen Grimhilde (in her witch form).

Cameo appearances include:

• Huey, Dewey, and Louie
• Horace Horsecollar
• Clarabelle Cow
• Grandma Duck
• Chip 'n' Dale
• Gus Goose
• Clara Cluck
• Zeke Wolf
• The Three Little Pigs
• Two of the Three Little Wolves
• One of the vultures from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
• Angus MacBadger, Cyril Proudbottom, the Weasels (from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)
• Skippy, Sis, Tagalong, Mother Rabbit, Toby Turtle, Lady Kluck, Otto, and Grandma Owl (from Robin Hood)
• Naboombu Secretary Bird (from Bedknobs and Broomsticks)
• Uncle Waldo (from The Aristocats)
• Toby Tortoise and Max Hare (from The Tortoise and the Hare)
• Peter Pig
• Paddy Pig

See also

• A Christmas Carol, a 2009 motion capture adaptation also by Disney
• Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo, a 2004 Easter film loosely based on A Christmas Carol

External links

• Mickey's Christmas Carol at the Christmas Specials Wiki