Mickey's Christmas Carol

Thankfully, time has been nice to “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” released in 1983, mainly because the short abbreviates the Charles Dickens classic, but still keeps many of its themes and heart. Felix Vasquez said in his review, “In the end, it never sugarcoats the potential fate of Scrooge McDuck, nor does it deny that Tiny Tim will die eventually because he couldn’t afford to eat and purchase the medicine needed for him. That said, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is a classic animated special with your usual Disney Easter Eggs, while also telling the classic story of the Christmas spirit.”

Set in 1843, Scrooge McDuck is a man angry at the idea of Christmas arriving and refuses to let his bookkeeper employee Bob have a raise including extra coal to keep warm during the snowy winter ahead. Bob is played by Mickey Mouse who struggles for his money and really wants to make it home for Christmas to celebrate with his family. When Scrooge fires Bob and goes home, he is told that he’ll be haunted by three ghosts that him to separate parts of his life.

Not only do we get insight as to why he loathes the holiday, but also what people in his life think of him, and how he will inevitably end up when he dies. “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is really nothing but the retelling of the Dickens’ classic story but with Disney characters instead of human characters, but it still manages to be a cute and heartfelt film with some excellent production qualities. Vasquez ended his review by saying, “I really cared about what happened to these characters, and say what you want about Disney, but using their characters to convey classic literature ultimately exposed me, and likely many others, to actual literary classics.”

I remember seeing this short a long time ago, but only a little bit of it. It’s still a classic that holds up to this day. If you’re a fan of Disney shorts, this one is not to be skipped. Check it out on Disney+ for the holidays and have an enjoyable time.

Tomorrow I will be reviewing another classic Disney holiday special in “Disney Month 2021.”