Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas is a 1999 direct-to-video animated Christmas anthology film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation[3] and won the Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 5th Kecskemét Animation Film Festival in 1999.[4]
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas | |
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VHS front cover | |
Directed by | Alex Mann Bradley Raymond Jun Falkenstein Bill Speers Toby Shelton |
Screenplay by | Charlie Cohen Thomas Hart Scott Gorden Tom Nance Carter Crocker Richard Cray Temple Mathews Eddie Guzelian |
Starring | Wayne Allwine Russi Taylor Tony Anselmo Diane Michelle Tress MacNeille Alan Young Bill Farmer Corey Burton Shaun Fleming Jim Cummings Jeff Bennett Gregg Berger Kylie Dempsey Taylor Dempsey Andrew McDonaugh Pat Musick Frank Welker Mae Whitman April Winchell |
Narrated by | Kelsey Grammer |
Music by | J. Eric Schmidt |
Edited by | Elen Orson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Walt Disney Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 66 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The film includes three features: Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas (featuring Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Scrooge McDuck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie), A Very Goofy Christmas (featuring Goofy, Max, Pete and the Beagle Boys) and Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi (featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Pluto).[5] Other Disney characters also make cameos in the film.
A sequel, titled Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, was released in 2004.[5]
Stories
Donald Duck: Stuck On Christmas
Inspired by the 1892 short story "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells. Huey, Dewey and Louie wake up one Christmas morning and open their presents, even though they are supposed to wait first for Daisy, Uncle Scrooge and Aunt Gertie to arrive. After the boys take their new sleds from their Uncle Donald (not reading the included gift card) they go sledding and have Christmas dinner in which Donald yells at them to learn their manners. While Donald, Daisy, Uncle Scrooge and Aunt Gertie sing carols, the boys play with their new toys.
Later, it is time for the boys to go to bed and having enjoyed the day immensely, the boys then wish for it to be Christmas every day. Their wish is granted and at first, the three are joyful. After a few days, however, they begin to get tired of Christmas and soon realize that every day will be exactly the same as the day when they first made their wish. They then decide to change the course of action of the next day by playing tricks and pranks, including swapping the cooked turkey with a live one for the dinner table. The day turns out to be a bad Christmas for everyone, especially Donald.
After this, the boys finally read the card that was given to them which they had previously disregarded. The card is from Donald and Daisy, it wishes them love and explains that Christmas is not just about presents, it is also about being with family. The boys instantly become guilty for their pranks and decide to make amends by making the next day the best Christmas ever. At the end of the next day, the boys finally realize the true meaning of Christmas and the time loop comes to an end, leading into the day after Christmas.
A Very Goofy Christmas
Goofy and Max are mailing out a letter to Santa Claus. However, as soon as they get home, Pete, the neighbor, tells Max that Santa does not exist, predicting that he cannot fly around the world in one night. Things get worse when Goofy poses as Santa for some kids and Max finds out that he tricked him. Goofy is determined to prove to Max that Santa does exist and even stays up all Christmas Eve to keep an eye out for him while Max, still bitter over Goofy's trickery, wishes for him to move on. But after a long time, and after mistaking a Beagle Boy (who was robbing Pete's house) for Santa and falling off the roof, Goofy gives up hope of Santa coming. Now, Max does everything that Goofy did to make his father happy, including posing as Santa. In the end, the real Santa actually comes and gives Max the gift he had asked for earlier (as well as blowing some snow on Pete's house when the cunning neighbor tries to flatter the legendary figure). When Max asks if Santa forgot Goofy's present, Goofy answers that, every year, he asks for the same thing and, every year, he always gets it: Max's happiness.
This segment of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas chronologically precedes the cartoon series, Goof Troop. Max is voiced by Shaun Fleming.
Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi
Based on the 1905 short story "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. Mickey wants to get Minnie a gold chain for her one heirloom, her watch, so he works at Crazy Pete's Tree Lot. Minnie wants to give Mickey something special for Christmas as well, so she works hard at her job in a department store to get a special bonus. When Mickey gives a short tree to a poor family who are unable to buy a Pete-10-Footer tree, his uptight and greedy boss Pete steals all of Mickey's money and dismisses him from the store. Then, Pete accidentally puts his still-lit cigar into his pocket with Mickey's money without noticing, which eventually sets himself, the money and his trees on fire, destroying his chance to sell his expensive 10-footers. Meanwhile, Minnie's bonus from her stingy boss Mortimer Mouse proves to be nothing but a fruit cake. After playing music for a toy drive with the Firehouse Five, Mickey has the idea that he can trade his harmonica for the chain. The shop closes by the time he gets there and the owner rejects it, thinking it is not worth anything, but changes his mind after hearing its music. Back at Minnie's house, Mickey gives her the chain for her watch and Minnie gives him a case for his harmonica. Of course, the irony is that Minnie no longer has her watch—just as Mickey no longer has his harmonica—so the gifts are essentially useless. As in The Gift of the Magi upon which this adaptation—penned by O. Henry—is based, the thought behind each gift is what counts.[6]
The film concludes with a medley of various songs, "Jingle Bells", "Deck the Halls" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", featuring the main characters from the three segments.
Cast
- Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse
- Russi Taylor as Minnie Mouse, Huey, Dewey and Louie
- Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
- Tress MacNeille as Daisy Duck (Stuck On Christmas and the finale), Chip and Aunt Gertie
- Diane Michelle as Daisy Duck (The Gift of the Magi)
- Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck
- Bill Farmer as Goofy, Pluto, Horace Horsecollar
- Corey Burton as Dale
- Shaun Fleming as Max Goof
- Jim Cummings as Pete, Police, Mailman, Fire Chief, Dad, onlooker, shop owner, and Santa Claus
- Jeff Bennett as Dad Firefighter #2, Mortimer Mouse, Store Announcer, Man and Costumer
- Gregg Berger as Mr Anderson, and Shopper
- Kylie Dempsey as Kid #2, and Little Girl
- Taylor Dempsey as Little Jimmy, and Kid #1
- Andrew McDonaugh as Boy
- Pat Musick as Distressed Woman, Angry Woman, Eccentric Lady, Shopper and Mrs Anderson
- Frank Welker as Turkey and Figaro
- Mae Whitman as Girl
- April Winchell as Clarabelle Cow, Mom, Old Woman, Firewoman, and Firefighter #1
- Kelsey Grammer as the Narrator
- Tommy Morgan provides Mickey's harmonica solos
Home media
The film was originally released on VHS and DVD on November 9, 1999.[5] It was later re-released on VHS and on DVD (as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection) on November 7, 2000. The film was released in a 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray and DVD with Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas on November 4, 2014.
References
- Littleton, Cynthia (April 23, 1999). "Gurney, Price earn Disney promotions". Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
- https://annieawards.org/legacy/28th-annie-awards
- Littleton, Cynthia (April 23, 1999). "Gurney, Price earn Disney promotions". Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
- "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas". Disney Movies. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
- Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 193-194. ISBN 9781476672939.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
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