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Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

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Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Mickey Mouse is standing at the left side of the image is holding a candle holder with a brightly burning candle, positioned on the right side of the image, with both of his hands. Mickey is wearing his traditional red shorts with white buttons and yellow shoes and as usual, is happily smiling. In the background on the left side of the picture stands a decorated Christmas tree with colorfully wrapped gifts lying under it. The video cover includes the film and company's title.
Directed by
Screenplay by
  • Charlie Cohen
  • Thomas Hart
  • Scott Gorden
  • Tom Nance
  • Carter Crocker
  • Richard Cray
  • Temple Mathews
  • Eddie Guzelian
Based on
Produced byJim Ballantine
Starring
Edited byElen Orson
Music byJ. Eric Schmidt
Production
company
Distributed byWalt Disney Home Video
Release date
  • November 9, 1999 (1999-11-09)
Running time
66 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas is a 1999 American animated Christmas anthology comedy fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation.[1]

The film includes three features: Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas (featuring Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Daisy Duck and Scrooge McDuck), A Very Goofy Christmas (featuring Goofy, Max and Pete) and Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi (featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Pete, Daisy and Mortimer Mouse).[3] Other Disney characters also make cameos in the film.

The film won the Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 5th Kecskemét Animation Film Festival in 1999.[4] A sequel, titled Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, was released in 2004. Unlike Once Upon a Christmas, the sequel is a computer-generated film rather than a hand-drawn and has five segments.[3]

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 then go downstairs to open their presents, although they are supposed to wait for Daisy, Uncle Scrooge and Aunt Gertie to arrive. The boys then take their new sleds from Uncle Donald (not reading the included card) and go sledding before having Christmas dinner, where Donald yells at them to learn some manners. As Donald, Daisy, Uncle Scrooge and Aunt Gertie sing carols, the boys play with their new toys.

Later, it is time to go to bed and having enjoyed the day immensely, the boys wish for it to be Christmas every day. Their wish is granted and at first they are joyful. After a few days however, they begin to become tired of Christmas and realize that every day will be exactly the same. They 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 at dinner. It turns out to be a terrible Christmas for everyone, especially Donald.

Shortly after, the boys read the card that was given to them earlier by Donald and Daisy. The card wishes them love and explains that Christmas is not just about presents, it is also about being with family. The boys feel guilty and decide to make amends by making the next day the best Christmas ever. As the boys spread love and cheer by giving Aunt Gertie kisses and helping Daisy with dinner, Donald begins to become suspicious. Whilst singing carols, Donald confronts the boys, demanding to know what they are up to. An outraged Daisy snaps at Donald, accusing him of spoiling a perfect Christmas. Huey, however, admits that Donald was right and that he and his brothers forgot something. Huey, Dewey and Louie pull out their gift for Uncle Donald - a sail boat made out of their sleds. Genuinely surprised, embarrassed and touched, Donald thanks his nephews with a warm hug. At the end of the next day, the boys finally realize the true meaning of Christmas and the time loop ends, leading to the day after Christmas.

A Very Goofy Christmas

Goofy and Max are getting a letter mailed to Santa Claus. However, as soon as they get home, their neighbor Pete tells Max that Santa does not exist, saying that it is impossible for him to fly around the world in one night. Things begin to 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 stays up all Christmas Eve to keep an eye out for him while Max, still bitter, just wants to move on. After mistaking a Beagle Boy (who was robbing Pete's house) for Santa, Goofy eventually gives up hope of Santa coming. Max then does everything that Goofy did, to try and make him happy, including posing as (a very small) Santa himself. In the end, the real Santa actually comes and gives Max the gift he had asked for earlier (as well as burying Pete's house next door in snow as punishment). When Max asks Goofy if Santa forgot his present, Goofy answers that every year he asks for the same thing and he always gets it - Max's happiness.

This segment chronologically precedes the cartoon series, Goof Troop and its film A Goofy Movie.

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 bonus to buy a present with. When Mickey offers a small tree to a poor family who can not afford to buy a special 10-footer tree, his greedy supervisor Pete steals Mickey's money and dismisses him. Pete inadvertently puts his lit cigar into his pocket with Mickey's money without noticing, which triggers a sequence that ends up setting himself, the money and his trees – including the 10-footers – on fire, much to Pete's dismay. 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 gold chain. The shop closes when he gets there and the owner who is just leaving is not interested in the harmonica, but changes his mind after hearing Mickey play it. Back at Minnie's house, Mickey gives her the chain for her watch, which she no longer has and Minnie gives him a case for his harmonica, which he also no longer has. However, Mickey and Minnie get emotional seeing how far they went to profess their love and they will still be able to celebrate a happy Christmas. As in The Gift of the Magi original story, the thought behind each gift is what counts.[5]

Finale

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 all the three segments.

Voice cast

Home media

The film was originally released on VHS and DVD on November 9, 1999.[3] It was later re-released on VHS and on DVD (as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection) on November 7, 2000. Coinciding with its 15th anniversary, the film was released in a 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray and DVD with Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas on November 4, 2014.

In 2000, the film was part of McDonald's Happy Meals toys as one six titles highlighted as the Disney Video Showcase Collection. Each toy came as one of three interlocking characters from the film (Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto) packaged in a simulated video case.[6][7]

Reception

The film holds a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/5.[8] Common Sense Media rated the movie a 3/5. In a very positive review the production is praised for its "old school" style: "The animation is reminiscent of the old Disney of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, a style that somehow feels more authentic than the 3D animation used nowadays."[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Littleton, Cynthia (April 23, 1999). "Gurney, Price earn Disney promotions". Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "28th Annie Awards". annieawards.org. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c 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. pp. 193–194. ISBN 9781476672939.
  4. ^ "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas". Disney Movies. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999)". Blockbuster Online. Blockbuster LLC. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  6. ^ "McDonald's Happy Meal Toys 2000 – Disney Video Showcase Collection". kid-time.net. March 4, 2018.
  7. ^ "Meal Toy catalog : Meal Toy › Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas: Mickey". colnect.com.
  8. ^ "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 8, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  9. ^ Larrouilh, Clementine. "Christmas Classics: 'Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas'". Westwood Horizon. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
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