[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iDLKzs5AtA]
Before seeing The Muppet Christmas Carol, Mickey's Christmas Carol was my favorite version of the Dickens classic. Just like the Muppet version, the Disney version had some great characters to fill the roles. Mickey is perfect as Bob Cratchit, and who better to play Ebenezer Scrooge than Scrooge McDuck? Goofy adds his own style to Marley's ghost, and Donald fits well as Scrooge's nephew Fred.
All three Ghosts of Christmas are great, too. The first, the Ghost of Christmas Past, is played by Jiminy Cricket. The Ghost of Christmas Present, my favorite of the three, is a character named Wilie the Giant, who made his first appearance as the Giant in Mickey and the Beanstalk, although, he's much friendlier in this role. Finally, as with many variations of the tale, the Ghost of Christmas Future appears as a silent, cloaked figure, but just before his time is up, we find that it is Pete under the hood. Side note: Pete, who is, unbeknownst to me until just now, a cat, is often at odds with Goofy, who is a dog, and Mickey, obviously a mouse. Those feuds make way more sense now.
Anyway, this song was the opening of the film, It's not my favorite Christmas song, but it does if the tone of the Disney version well. It sets everything up, right from the beginning. When this short was released in theaters in 1983, it was the first time Mickey had appeared on the big screen since 1953. The film is an animated take on another Disney project. Released in 1974, An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, told the same story but in an audio musical fashion. The song also kind of reminds me of the song the Whos down Whoville sing on Christmas morning. Kostal worked on several other films, including West Side Story, Mary Poppins, Pete's Dragon, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
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