Tag Archives: minnie mouse

December 8, 2013

A Mickey Mouse Christmas

By Joe

Mickey Mouse has appeared in many Christmas themed specials and shorts over the years.  I suppose that should be expected of a character who has been around for over 80 years.  I don’t think he’s appeared in more Christmas specials than any other popular character (the boys in South Park actually had a nice streak going on of a Christmas special nearly every year) but he’s certainly in the discussion.  Many of Mickey’s Christmas exploits took place on the big screen in the form of shorts, but have since become television staples during the Christmas season.  Rather than make an individual post here and there on certain ones, I’ve decided to make one long post that hits on the ones I’m most familiar with.  This list isn’t exhaustive as I’m sure there are more modern television specials that I’m not familiar with, but consider this a good start.  The following list is in chronological order, starting with the earliest.  They’re all available on DVD in some fashion, and the old shorts can be found on youtube as well (Disney is pretty lax with its old shorts when it comes to youtube, probably because the Treasures line of DVDs is out of print)

Mickey’s Good Deed (1932)

The original version was in black and white, but colorized versions exist today.

The original version was in black and white, but colorized versions exist today.

Mickey’s rise to fame nearly coincided with The Great Depression.  As such, it’s a pretty common site to see Mickey depicted poor and penniless.  In Mickey’s Good Deed, he’s a street performer looking to make a buck.  As far as we know, his only possessions are his cello and Pluto.  After a day of playing, Mickey and Pluto look to score some dinner and find that passer-byes have been tossing nuts and bolts into Mickey’s cup instead of coins.  Down on their luck, Mickey has a mishap that leads to the destruction of his cello, while a rich pig offers to buy Pluto for his bratty kid.  Mickey, of course, refuses but he soon happens upon a family of poor cats.  Wanting to give them a good Christmas, Mickey reluctantly sells his dog, dresses up as Santa, and gives the cat family a nice Christmas.  Pluto, meanwhile, is miserable as he’s abused by the bratty boy pig leading to the father tossing him out and spanking his kid.  Pluto is able to happen upon a despondent Mickey and we get a nice, happy ending.  It’s a cute little Christmas short that unfortunately is never shown on air because of one instance of perceived racist imagery.  A little balloon the Santa Mickey carries appears to depict a blackface character portrait on it.  This means the short is relegated to the vault section on the release Mickey Mouse In Black and White Volume 2.  Despite that, it’s actually been released here and there on VHS and DVD, including a colorized version on the most recent release Holiday Celebration with Mickey and Pals.

Toy Tinkers (1949)

It's all-out war when Chip and Dale sneak into Donald's house.

It’s all-out war when Chip and Dale sneak into Donald’s house.

I’m cheating here, because this is actually a Donald Duck short and does not feature Mickey, but who cares?  This Christmas themed short pits Donald versus perhaps his most famous antagonists:  Chip and Dale.  While out chopping down a Christmas tree, the mischievous chipmunks take notice and follow Donald back to his home where they see a nice, warm environment and bowls full of nuts.  The duo slip in and immediately start using the toys around the tree to transport the nuts out of there.  Donald, not one for charity, takes note and a full-scale battle breaks out over the nuts with the two using pop guns and toy cannons on each other.  It’s a silly, and fun short where Donald is mostly punished for his cruelty (and because it’s more fun to see Donald lose his temper) and things mostly work out for Chip and Dale.  Unlike Mickey’s Good Deed, this one will pop up from time to time on the Disney channel during the holiday season.  Otherwise, it can be found on some compilation releases and the Treasures release The Chronological Donald Volume 3.

Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952)

Pluto is very protective of his Christmas tree.

Pluto is very protective of his Christmas tree.

Despite what it’s title suggests, Pluto’s Christmas Tree is actually considered a Mickey Mouse short instead of a Pluto one, for some reason.  It’s also one of the few shorts to feature Jimmy Macdonald as Mickey Mouse, as Walt found he didn’t have the time to voice the character any longer.  Pluto’s Christmas Tree is actually fairly similar to Toy Tinkers.  Mickey and Pluto set out to get a Christmas tree and they settle on one that happens to be occupied by Chip and Dale.  Once inside the house, Chip and Dale immediately start to make themselves comfortable in the Christmas tree while Pluto takes notice.  Pluto tries, in vain, to point out the chipmunks to Mickey who just sees Pluto’s antics as the usual.  Eventually he can’t take it anymore and attacks the tree, finally revealing the chipmunks to Mickey who basically has the opposite reaction as Pluto.  The short ends with Christmas carols, where the chipmunks take issue with Pluto’s singing voice.  This is another wildly entertaining Chip and Dale story mostly full of slapstick humor.  This one is really easy to get ahold of as it’s been released several times on VHS and DVD and is one of the most well-received Disney shorts.

Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

Not a Christmas season goes by where I don't watch this one numerous times.

Not a Christmas season goes by where I don’t watch this one numerous times.

Mickey’s Christmas Carol is fairly recent compared with the other shorts.  It’s also quite easy to catch on television or find on DVD and was even recently rereleased on Blu Ray (along with Pluto’s Christmas Tree, among others) this year.  It’s the classic Dickens’ tale with Mickey as Bob Cratchit and Minnie as his wife.  Scrooge McDuck is, naturally, the film’s Scrooge while other Disney characters show up in supporting roles.  As far as takes on A Christmas Carol go, this one is my favorite as it’s both funny and poignant and the inclusion of Disney characters somehow makes it more relatable.  The recent re-release does make it all the more obvious that one giant Christmas release from Disney is necessary.  Mickey’s Christmas Carol is also how many were first introduced to the longest running voice of Mickey Mouse, Wayne Allwine (who passed away in 2009), and also marks the final performance of the original Donald, Clarence “Ducky” Nash.

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999)

Once Upon a Christmas is far from timeless, but it is nice to see all of the Disney characters together at Christmas time once again.

Once Upon a Christmas is far from timeless, but it is nice to see all of the Disney characters together at Christmas time once again.

Once Upon a Christmas is a traditionally animated direct-to-video collection of three shorts starring Donald, Goofy, and Mickey.  It’s shown annually on television still and represents the modern Mickey Mouse and friends.  The first short, titled Stuck on Christmas, stars Donald and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie and is a take on the story of What if Christmas Were Every Day?  In it, the three boys wish it could be Christmas every day and are then forced to deal with the consequences.  It’s a bit like Groundhog Day, in that the boys need to be considerate of others and have the perfect day to undo the spell.  The second short, A Very Goofy Christmas, stars Goofy and his son Max as Goofy tries to prove to Max that there is a Santa Claus after their neighbor Pete informs him there’s no such thing.  The third short, Mickey and Minnie’s The Gift of the Magi, once again depicts Mickey as rather poor as both he and Minnie try to scrounge up some money to buy each other the perfect Christmas gift with both discovering the only thing that matters is having each other.  The animation on all three is pretty well done and it’s kind of fun to see modernized versions of the characters.  Aside from the Mickey short, the others tend to run a bit too long and run out of steam towards the end.  It’s a solid Christmas special but falls short of being a classic due mostly to the pacing issues.

Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas (2004)

Another direct-to-video Christmas special, Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas is naturally the sequel to Once Upon

The CG look for the characters just doesn't do it for me, and as you can see here, the backgrounds suffer too.

The CG look for the characters just doesn’t do it for me, and as you can see here, the backgrounds suffer too.

a Christmas, though the stories contain no obvious references to the previous ones.  Differing itself from its predecessor, Twice Upon a Christmas is entirely computer animated and the results are something less than spectacular.  The characters are mostly harmed by the transition to 3D models which makes sense considering they were never drawn for such a look to begin with.  This collection also contains five shorts which does address the pacing issues from the first set.  The shorts are:  Belles on Ice, Christmas: Impossible, Christmas Maximus, Donald’s Gift, and Mickey’s Dog-Gone Christmas.  The first one stars Minnie and Daisy as competitive figure skaters and is easily the worst of the set.  There just isn’t much to it.  Christmas: Impossible stars Huey, Dewey, and Louie as they sneak into Santa’s workshop to get on the nice list.  It’s kind of cute, but the CG really shows its limitations as the should-be wondrous Santa’s workshop is really unimpressive looking.  Christmas Maximus stars Goofy and Max, who’s now returning home for the holidays from college with his new sweetheart.  It’s only slightly better than Belles on Ice but is ultimately forgettable.  I also found Max’s look to be really off-putting for some reason.  Donald’s Gift is a rather simple Donald tale where his grumpiness and overall bad demeanor nearly ruin Christmas for his family, but he redeems himself in the end.  I’m a Donald sucker, so I was entertained by this one but it can’t hold a candle to Donald’s classic shorts.  Mickey’s Dog-Gone Christmas is definitely the strongest of the collection as Pluto runs away to the North Pole after Mickey gets mad at him.  There he befriends Santa’s reindeer and adopts the moniker Murray (Murray Christmas, get it?!) and even gets to fly.  The reindeer characters are entertaining, and the CG look actually works for Pluto, though I still prefer the traditional look.  Eventually Pluto is reunited by Santa with his depressed owner and everyone’s happy in the end.  Overall, this is a weak collection and the CG makes it hard to watch.  Check it out if you happen to catch it on TV, but don’t feel like you need to go out of your way to see it.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Film, Television

December 23, 2012

Mickey Mouse: In Living Color

By Joe
Mickey Mouse: In Living Color

Mickey Mouse: In Living Color

I love classic cartoons.  They just seem to be so much more developed than present day television shorts.  There’s an emphasis placed on the score and plot while not forgetting the laughs.  The most iconic of cartoon characters from this era include Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but is any more well known than Mickey Mouse?  The mouse that built an empire, Mickey was Disney’s original star.  While he ruled the world in the 20’s during his black and white career, he was eclipsed later on by other characters, most notably brand-mate Donald Duck.  Mickey was eclipsed more out of choice than anything.  He became the Disney brand which necessitated him becoming a more wholesome character.  Early portrayals had him playing the role of the trickster at times, but he evolved into more of a straight man (err, mouse) with Donald becoming the more devious character.

As a result, while he wasn’t the most watched cartoon character in the 1930’s he still received all-star quality toons.  When Disney set out to re-release collections of their classic shorts they wisely lead off with this set, Mickey Mouse:  In Living Color which covers the years 1935-1938.  Some of Mickey’s most famous shorts are contained on this set and all appear uncut (save for a minor audio change in “Clock Cleaners”).  Either Disney wanted to create strong demand for these collections, or the company failed to predict how popular they would become because now they can be hard to come by.  They’re worth it though for animation buffs and I’m going to tell you why.

I currently own three sets from the Walt Disney Treasures line.  This one as well as Donald Duck Volume 2 and Mickey Mouse: In Black and White Volume 2.  Picking a favorite is an exercise in futility, and this one is a great starting point for anyone.  It features a total of 26 shorts (listed at the end of this post) all starring Mickey with many featuring Donald, Goofy, Minnie and Pluto.  Perhaps starring is too strong a word as some of the ensemble pieces feature equal screen time for the trio of Mickey, Donald and Goofy and some feature very little of Mickey.  There’s also an easter egg short that’s kind of amusing as it was sponsored by Nabisco so it’s basically an extended commercial (and may have been the first Mickey cartoon to give him pupils).

Mickey and Donald are often friends but also often adversaries.

Mickey and Donald are often friends but also often adversaries.

A few feature Mickey playing off of Donald.  As I mentioned earlier, Mickey became relegated to the role of straight-man with Donald being relied upon for the comedy aspect.  Mickey’s most famous cartoon (other than “Steamboat Willy”) is probably “The Band Concert” where Donald tries to ingratiate himself to Mickey to hilarious results.  There’s also solo cartoons like “Thru the Mirror” which puts Mickey into the book “Through the Looking-Glass” and has him interacting with personified objects.  Fans of the 8 bit and 16 bit era Mickey video games will recognize several scenes from some of these cartoons.  “Thru the Mirror” is a visual delight and one of the stronger cartoons on the set.  For pure comedy there’s “Moose Hunters” which features the trio going after a moose and failing spectacularly.  Another I adore, partly because I had this cartoon on VHS as a kid, is “Mickey’s Trailer” which again features Donald and Goofy.  In this one, Goofy is towing Mickey’s camper while Mickey and Donald are inside.  Goofy, predictably “goofs up” and it leads to some amusing physical comedy.  There’s also a great sequence where Mickey has to get Donald out of bed and relies on the trailer’s technology to assist him.  Another nostalgic favorite for me is “On Ice” which used to be included, in quick clips, with the Mickey’s Christmas Carol broadcasts from the 80’s.  In it, Mickey teaches Minnie how to skate while Goofy tries to ice fish and Donald plays a prank on Pluto.  It’s one of the funnier cartoons included.

Some of these shorts offer a nice glimpse at the era from which they’re from.  In the 30’s, the nation was still coming out of The Great Depression and the short “Moving Day” reflects that as Mickey and Donald face eviction from their landlord.  “Mickey’s Polo Team” features several caricatures of popular actors from that period including the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Harpo Marx.  This  particular toon should be a real treat for film buffs out there and adds another dimension to the viewing experience.  Another short I was familiar with before picking up this set was “Brave Little Tailor.”  This one is another visual treat as it pits Mickey against a giant.  The plot is setup when the king confuses Mickey’s boast of killing seven flies in one blow with killing seven giants with one blow.  Mickey attempts to correct the viewpoint but when he finds out Princess Minnie is his reward if he solves the kingdom’s giant problem he finds it hard to say no.

Mickey Mouse in "Thru the Mirror."

Mickey Mouse in “Thru the Mirror.”

The set comes housed in a tin with images printed on both sides.  Later sets would replace the back print with an insert instead which is actually beneficial as these tins are susceptible to shelf ware.  Leonard Maltin is the host on all of them and there’s a mini documentary included where he goes over Mickey in the 30’s.  He’s also present to educate the masses since these cartoons are not always politically correct.  There’s smoking in some, even by the protagonists, and some jokes that may be considered tasteless.  This set is fairly harmless in that regard when compared with others.  Other sets contain episodes dubbed as “From the Vault” that usually contain images that could be considered racist.  This one contains no such section which is a good thing as those Vault sections contain a mandatory word of caution from Maltin that can’t be skipped.  It just becomes annoying whenever you want to watch those episodes and you have to sit through it each time.  I did mention that there is one edit on “Clock Cleaners” and that’s because some people insisted a Donald Duck line contained the word “fuck,” which was an absurd claim to make since Disney would have never tried to get away with such in the 30’s, let alone now.  Nevertheless, the line was replaced to avoid confusion but it has been released uncut in other sets.  I don’t consider it a big deal though and it’s not something that should affect anyone’s purchasing decision.

Mickey gets to take on a giant in "Brave Little Tailor."

Mickey gets to take on a giant in “Brave Little Tailor.”

This is a wonderful collection of cartoons and anyone who enjoys the medium should try and track down a copy.  Even though these sets only exist in standard definition, the visual quality is very good.  Especially considering these cartoons are over 70 years old.  Some are better than others, but there aren’t any that appear to have deteriorated too bad.  Mickey’s face is pretty much always white and doesn’t appear dirty.  The only one that seemed a little rough around the edges to me was “On Ice,” but it was nothing that could dampen the viewing experience.  This is a fun set to watch and it’s great to experience the joy of these shorts as an adult and I’m sure kids today would still get a kick out of them.  To a lot of children Mickey is just a logo, a character that is featured prominently at Disney’s theme parks, but few have experienced him as a cartoon star.  This set is from an era where Mickey was king of the cartoon world, and it’s not hard to see why.

As promised, here’s the full list of the cartoons included as part of this collection:

  • The Band Concert
  • Mickey’s Garden
  • On Ice
  • Pluto’s Judgement Day
  • Mickey’s Fire Brigade
  • Thru the Mirror
  • Mickey’s Circus
  • Mickey’s Elephant
  • Mickey’s Grand Opera
  • Mickey’s Polo Team
  • Alpine Climbers
  • Moving Day
  • Mickey’s Rival
  • Orphans Picnic
  • Hawaiian Holiday
  • Moose Hunters
  • The Worm Turns
  • Magician Mickey
  • Mickey’s Amateurs
  • Clock Cleaners
  • Lonesome Ghosts
  • Mickey’s Parrot
  • Boat Builders
  • The Whalers
  • Mickey’s Trailer
  • Brave Little Tailor

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Film