Mickey's Christmas Carol

From Christmas Specials Wiki

Directed by:	Burny Mattinson
Written by:	Burny Mattinson, Tony L. Marino, Ed Gombert, Don Griffith, Alan Young, Alan Dinehart
Release date:	December 16, 1983
Running time:	25 minutes
Characters:	Scrooge McDuck Mickey Mouse Donald Duck
Merchandise:	{{{merch}}}

Mickey's Christmas Carol was a theatrical featurette, featuring established Disney characters enacting A Christmas Carol. The production, hailed as Mickey Mouse's big-screen comeback (despite his limited supporting role) was inspired by an earlier Disney record conceived by Alan Young and Alan Dineheart. Young also debuted as the voice of Uncle Scrooge McDuck, here playing Ebenezer Scrooge, and would reprise the role in nearly every subsequent production, notably DuckTales. The featurette also marked the first outing for Wayne Allwine as the voice of Mickey Mouse as well as Clarence Nash's final performance as the voice of Donald Duck.

In addition to Scrooge McDuck, the Disney cast of characters included Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit, Donald as nephew Fred, Daisy Duck as Scrooge's first love, Minnie Mouse as Mrs. Cratchit, one of Mickey's nephews as Tiny Tim, Goofy as the Ghost of Jacob Marley, Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Willie the Giant (Fun and Fancy Free, 1947) as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Pete as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Mole and Ratty (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, 1949) as the charity collectors, Mr. Toad himself in a silent role as Fezziwig, and scores of other cameos from the theatrical shorts and films.

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 over NBC on December 10, 1984, and was rebroadcast for several years, usually accompanied by Christmas and winter-themed theatrical shorts such as The Art of Skiing and Pluto's Christmas Tree to fill out the running time.

The featurette was the final cartoon played in the direct-to-video animated movie, Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.

The special stopped airing on television in 2000. It later aired on ABC Family on December 10, 2008, but with many abrupt edits. On Christmas Day in 2008, Mickey's Christmas Carol was finally aired on Toon Disney as a stand alone 30 minute spot, as opposed to being shown as a segment in Mickey's Magical Christmas.

Cast

• Alan Young as Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck)
• Hal Smith as Jacob Marley (Goofy) and Ratty
• Wayne Allwine as Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse) and Mole
• Will Ryan as Willie and Pete
• Eddie Carroll as Jiminy Cricket
• Patricia Paris as Daisy Duck
• Dick Billingsley as Tiny Tim
• Clarence Nash as Fred (Donald Duck)

Disney

Movies and Specials: Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) • Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too! (1991) • The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) • Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) • The Santa Clause (1994) • Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) • Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving (1999) • Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001) • The Santa Clause 2 (2002) • Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004) • The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006) • A Christmas Carol (2009) • Prep and Landing (2009) Shorts: Mickey's Good Deed (1932) • Santa's Workshop (1932) • The Night Before Christmas (1933) • Toy Tinkers (1949) • Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952) TV Episodes: A Jolly Molly Christmas (1990) • It's a Wonderful Leaf (1991) • Have Yourself a Goofy Little Christmas (1993) • Miracle at the 34th Precinct (1993) • Doug's Secret Christmas (1996) • A Christmas Cruella (1997) • Don't Be Elfish (1998) • Yes Mikey, Santa Does Shave (1998) • Holiday Time (2000) • Heck of a Hanukkah (2000) • Seven Days of Kwannza (2001) • The Blight Before Christmas (2002) • Pete's Christmas Caper (2002) • Clarabelle's Christmas List (2002) • Xtreme Xmas (2002) • Happy Holidays, Mr. Gruff! (2002) • Escape Clause (2003) • A Very Possible Christmas (2003) • Topper (2003) • On Whiskers, On Lola, On Cheryl and Meryl (2005) • Christmas at the Tipton (2005) • Christmas Break (2005) • Giftmas Story (2007) • Dick Daring's All-Star Holiday Stunt Spectacular V (2008) • Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation (2009)