Mickey's Christmas Carol (25:36)
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I think this was originally supposed to be a TV special, but that release got delayed, and it was instead released as a theatrical short in 1983, accompanying a rerelease of The Rescuers. (It was released a couple months earlier in the UK, with a rerelease of The Jungle Book.) Personally, I think it's too long for a short film to play before a feature film, but whatever. It was later released on TV as a special annually starting in 1984, and I think it definitely fits that format better. I have no idea when I first saw it (or how many times I saw it), but it's definitely nostalgic to me. I watched it on Disney+ in 2023, so I could refresh my memory and write a review. Before doing so, I thought I'd only remember one scene, with the Ghost of Christmas Future, but I ended up finding a lot of things familiar about the short film. And I quite enjoyed it. I'd say it's one of my favorite adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" ever.

Scrooge McDuck plays Ebenezer Scrooge, and he's one of the nastiest, most miserly versions of Scrooge that I've ever seen. Mickey Mouse plays Bob Cratchit, his assistant at a counting house (and apparently it had been over 30 years since Mickey last appeared in a Disney cartoon). Goofy plays the ghost of Scrooge's deceased partner, Jacob Marley, who visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve to warn him of the fate that awaits him in the afterlife, but gives him a chance for redemption. He'll be visited by three spirits (the Ghost of Christmas Past, played by Jiminy Cricket; and Christmas Present, played by Willie the Giant; and Christmas Future, but I won't say who played him because it would be a minor spoiler). Anyway, I don't want to say too much about what the spirits showed Scrooge, but it's pretty much a condensed version of the familiar story. Except he was crueler here when he broke up with his girlfriend, Isabelle, than I've ever seen portrayed in any other incarnation, as far as I can recall. But of course after seeing the past, present, and future, he decides to change his ways.

I won't bother trying to list all the things that turned out to be familiar to me, but it was nice to see all those moments again. And it's a fairly funny film. I might not rate it quite as high as I did without the nostalgic value, but it would probably be close, anyway. And I'm glad it is only a short film, rather than feature length. I think it has a nearly perfect runtime for this incarnation of the story. I'd understand if anyone finds it a bit rushed, but I didn't. I mean, not really. Maybe a little fast-paced, but not too much. And I think it serves as a great introduction to the story, for younger viewers, and it can be equally enjoyed by older kids or adults who've seen any number of other incarnations of the story (including the original novella).