Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Mickey’s Christmas Carol ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Director: Burny Mattinson. Cast: Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Hal Smith, Will Ryan, Eddie Carroll.

Let tell you straight way that I think this short Oscar winning film from 1983 is one of the best adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol I’ve seen (yes, better than Scrooged and The Muppets version. There you go, I’ve said it!): it’s amazing how they’ve managed to keep the spirit and the essence of original story and squeeze it all into a mere 30 minutes.

It has that typical warmth of Christmas and all the wonderful cliché connected with it, the snow, the mistletoe, the decorated trees and so on, but also it embraces the darker side of the story (one sequence in the graveyard where Scroodge is pushed into a grave is particularly strong) and the most poignant too (the super-sweet Tiny Tim is instantly lovable and the moment where we see his tombstone is heart-breaking).Technically, the short is faultless: from the beautiful snow falling and footprints left on the ground, to the see through effect of the ghosts, to the camera moves as Scoodge is taken for ride by the Giant (or Ghost of the Christmas Present) or when it flies over the rooftops of the town grabbing Jiminy Cricket tight, to the warm reds and yellows of the interiors in contrast dark blues and cold exteriors.

Not to mention the joy of seeing every favourite classic Disney character making an appearance, even if just a brief one.I’ve seen this short dozens of times and it never grows old, never disappoints me and it always leaves me with a smile and a feeling of happiness…

Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?