Walt Disney Animation Collection 7: Mickey's Christmas Carol – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Film, Reviews

mickeyschristmas

The Walt Disney Company has so much sitting in its vault that they could go through my great great great great grandkids’ lifetimes and still never come close to emptying it. No, I’m not talking about money either. I’m speaking of all the great films and animation they have sitting stored away that is just waiting to hit the airwaves again or be released on DVD or in a collection of some sort. That’s why this collection of animated shorts is so great because we are getting some of the awesome favorites I watched as a child but just can’t seem to catch anymore. Making matters even better is putting together a collection dealing with my favorite time of year, Christmas. And what better way to get your Christmas spirit rolling then with Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

The Disney-fied telling of the gothic ghost story puts all of our favorite, and random, Disney characters into the roles from the Charles Dickens’ classic. Mickey Mouse steps into the vagrant clothes of Bob Cratchit, but it is Uncle Scrooge who is in the spotlight as the greedy and Christmas-hating Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge will do whatever he can to make sure he makes money no matter who he has to step on along the way. But when faced with what his life has been like in the past, is currently now in the present, and will be like in the future…he realizes he must change his tune or risk a fate worse then death. The three spirits of Christmas aren’t going to push him but merely present him with the evidence because it is up to Scrooge to determine if he will change or continue the life of a miser.

Our second short is entitled Pluto’s Christmas Tree and it shows us our yellow friend is trying to help Mickey decorate his tree but the tree’s inhabitants, Chip and Dale, continue to thwart their attempts. The chipmunks only show up and wreak havoc when Mickey isn’t around so the blame always falls on poor Pluto, but our pampered pooch has a few tricks up his sleeve as well to make sure Christmas doesn’t get all “tied up.”

Short number three is one of the Silly Symphony entitled Santa’s Workshop. Set to music and song, we all get to watch as the elves and Santa get prepared for his long Christmas Eve ride throughout the world. The fourth and final short is called The Small One which gets away from the more well-known Christmas spirit and takes us back in time to the city of Bethlehem. A young boy is forced by his father to sell their incredibly weak donkey, but the boy is attached to the beast and just can’t force himself to get rid of him. Little did he know that this very creature would be the one that carried the Virgin Mary to the Inn so that she may give birth to the baby Jesus.

Disney’s Animated Collection 7 is not a bad set, but it really isn’t what one would expect for such a big holiday. “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is just awesome right along with “Pluto’s Christmas Tree,” but that is to be expected. “Santa’s Workshop” is just kind of there and it doesn’t take long to get dull and boring. Moving on to “The Small One” and we are graced with the rare religious cartoon to come out of any major studio. It is not bad whatsoever, but I can’t really expect many of the children to truly get a lot out of it. It moves along rather slow but tells a really great story that is quite spirit-tingling at times. And if someone reading this can help me out, please e-mail me or comment below. I saw “The Small One” as a child and it’s been quite a long time, but there seem to be a few things altered or changed in this version and I can’t quite place my finger on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The film is shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and it looks alright, but not really remastered or fixed up at all. Mickey’s Christmas Carol truly shows its age here as well as the other shorts included. It’s not that big a deal, but I would have like to have seen at least a little extra effort put in here.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and the sound never really its full capacity as every short mostly comes through the center speaker up front. Not that that’s a bad thing, but stereo sound would have been sufficient enough.

TrailersSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition, The Princess and the Frog, Up!, TinkerBell and the Lost Treasure, Ponyo, G-Force, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Choo Choo Express, Winnie the Pooh Seasons Of Giving: 10th Anniversary Special Edition, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, and Santa Buddies

This is truly not one of the better Animated Collections released by Disney so far but there is a bit of bias here because of my deep infatuation for Mickey’s Christmas Carol. That alone is enough to get me to purchase this DVD and throwing in the Pluto short makes it even better. Filling up the DVD with those other two shorts kind of makes me wonder if Disney threw this together at the last minute because I can think of numerous other Christmas shorts that would have been much more entertaining. Even with that fact looming and the absence of special features, Mickey’s Christmas Carol will always hold a special place in my heart and therefore I recommend this release to any and everyone. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.


Walt Disney Studios presents Walt Disney Animation Collection 7: Mickey’s Christmas Carol. Directed by: Burny Mattinson. Starring (voices): Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Hal Smith, Will Ryan, Clarence Nash, Patricia Parris, and more. Written by: Burny Mattinson & Tony Marino. Running time: 64 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: September 29, 2009. Available at Amazon.com