On Model!

Enesco was back with another Scrooge Jack-in-the-Box, but this time it was Scrooge McDuck from "Mickey's Christmas Carol":

Now we're talking!

They also issued Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit:

Very fun!

"Disney Holiday Treasures" - Upper Deck (2004) - The Figures!

Hope your 2023 is off to a great start!

We swing back to 2004 (which I can't believe was 19 years ago) for a stop at the Collectibles Corner with this pair of figures from Upper Deck's "Disney Holiday Treasures" from my personal collection:

Pretty cool! And no mention of Emily!

In This Mug!

Of course, the Scrooge McDuck coffee could go in this mug:

You need two for display purposes to get the full effect!

Still Gold!

Keeping the Mickey thing going, here's a coloring book from 1984:

The publisher is "Golden," so it must be related to Little Golden Books?

In any event, for those keeping score, that's Dewey doing the painting on the cover!

More Golden Mickey!

So, the Little Golden Book version of "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983) contained a scene that was not included in the cartoon itself.

This makes my thoughts stray over to the cover of said book.

The cover seen at the top is the newer edition and features a nice scene from the end of the cartoon.

The original edition, however, sported a scene not from the cartoon:

That cover shows Mickey, Minnie, Morty, Donald, Daisy and Uncle Scrooge seemingly in character singing Christmas carols.

A nice picture, but who does Daisy represent?

In the cartoon, she plays "Isabelle" (the Belle stand-in) and in he cover picture she's wearing outfit very similar to the one she wears in the breakup scene, although the coloring is a bit different:

But is she supposed to be Isabelle? She still seems young, while Scrooge is older, so it's not an older Isabelle.

Is she maybe Fred/Donald's wife? In the cartoon, it's not specified whether Fred is married or not, although he usually is in most versions, if not at least engaged. 

(I speculated before (here) that Daisy didn't portray Fred's wife in the cartoon because she was needed to play Isabelle.)

Or is the cast just having fun after shooting the show?

Or am I overanalyzing what was probably just meant to be a nice picture including the two big Disney power couples?

Well, yes, but I'm trying to make sense of it in the Mickeyverse!

What also makes things interesting is that there's a Big Golden Book which features the same characters as the first Little Golden Book, but Daisy's wearing a different coat (and a scarf):

Hmmm...

"Mickey's Christmas Carol" - A Little Golden Book (1983)

"Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983)

A Little Golden Book

We stay in the world of "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983) with the Little Golden Book adaptation.

No surprise that this title would be part of their library, as there have been lots of Little Golden Books featuring Disney properties, from the 1940s to the present day.

As is the case with these adaptations, this version of the cartoon is considerably condensed, with simple dialogue and exposition.

So, a lot of things are omitted, but... there is something particularly interesting included here - a scene not in the cartoon!

Check it out:

So, here Bob has already left the office before Fred came in and we see him having to rest on the way home due to the weight of Scrooge's laundry bag and we see him enter his house, greeted by Tiny Tim and Mrs. Cratchit! And Mrs. C gets a line!

Soooo... was this scene included in an earlier version of the script, the one that the Little Golden Book people worked with while preparing this book?

You wouldn't think they purposely added a scene that was not in the cartoon, right? 

And I understand that Russi Taylor (Minnie Mouse's voice artist for many years) had recorded dialogue for the cartoon, but none of the lines made it into the final cut. Was this line one of them?

Interesting to think about!

This makes me think of the first Little Golden Book to feature the Flintstones. It's a oddity because it featured Fred, Jr., a character who never appeared on the TV series, but was included in the advance material provided to the Little Golden Books staff:

Hmmm...

"MIckey's Christmas Carol" (1983) Lobby Cards

While still on the subject of lobby cards, it probably comes as no surprise that there were some snappy ones for the original theatrical release of "Mickey Christmas Carol" in 1983.

These four here seem to be the most common:

SPOILER: The above scene is not from "The Rescuers!"

At the top of the page is a poster showing how it was originally paired with a reissue of "The Rescuers" (originally released in 1977). 

A "Dickens of a package" indeed!

Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - Part 4

Naturally I have a few more things to say about the 1983 featurette "Mickey's Christmas Carol!"

I do think this is best approached as a fun romp through the story. It's interesting to see the little twists that they put on the familiar incidents and characters.

I've read some reviews over the years where the reviewer seems to think that the material isn't treated seriously enough, but when the cast is composed of anthropomorphic cartoon animals, what do you expect?

I like the way that the characters seem like actors playing roles. As I mentioned earlier, this seems to be in the Mickeyverse, with some other characters mixed in.

The inclusion of Willie the Giant from "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947) makes me think of that movie and how "Mickey's Christmas Carol" could have been a segment in one of those Disney "package" films of the 1940s.

Goofy and Willie are billed on the poster, but Jiminy is billed onscreen.

"Fun and Fancy Free" itself is important because it gives billing to Mickey, Donald and Jiminy Cricket as if they are actors, which implies that they're playing roles in the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment.

Mortimer Snerd acts like a giant peeking in is no big deal!

That they exist in the "real world" is further shown when Willie lifts off the roof of Edgar Bergen's house looking for Mickey.

Then Willie starts romping through Los Angeles while Jiminy Cricket watches. It's all so brilliantly meta!

This also puts Jiminy in the Mickeyverse for the first time, which eventually led to his appearance as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

It all comes together if you think about it enough and that's what I'm here for!

Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - Part 3

"Mickey's Christmas Carol" from 1983 is a reasonably faithful version of the classic story. It features most of the characters and a lot of the incidents from the book.

This is a cartoon through and through, though, and the story really serves as a framework for the gags that come fast and furious. It's not exactly a spoof, but everything is exaggerated. While there are a couple of dramatic moments, this is not "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol!"

I wouldn't say there are exactly spoilers ahead, as we all know the basic story, but if you haven't seen this cartoon, by all means do so, as I'll be discussing some of the jokes.

After a pretty cool establishing shot of London, Scrooge enters his office. A bit of a running gag is that he keeps having to knock the snow from the sign, as it covers his name, but not Marley's, which is scratched out.

The opening scenes actually get in all of the essential story elements.

Scrooge gives Bob Cratchit a hard time about using coal, but Bob shows Scrooge that his ink is frozen, which gives a good indication of the exaggerated tone.

Scrooge's nephew Fred comes in to invite him to Christmas dinner and two gentlemen come in collecting for charity.

I absolutely love the squelch that Scrooge uses on the charity collectors and I will say no more in case you didn't heed my spoiler warning!

Scrooge goes home and sees Marley's face in the door knocker. This is perhaps the only version in which Scrooge squeezes Marley's nose!

There's some funny business with shadows going up the staircase before Scrooge reaches his chambers. Marley's Ghost comes and manages to warn Scrooge and tell him the other spirits are coming, although he is quite... Goofy!

The Ghost of Christmas Past comes along and he's pretty good at needling Scrooge.

We only have time for a couple of scenes from the past, but they both involve the Belle character, named Isabel here.

The first is Fezziwig's Christmas party. As is so common, she's at the party with young Scrooge. I wonder if there are more adaptations in which Belle (or whatever she may be called) is at the party than ones in which she is not.

Next is the breakup scene. The spirit mentions that this was 10 years later. Always interesting when little details like that are added. A bit of a twist here is that Isabel was still hoping to marry Scrooge until he does something very Scroogey. This is for comedic effect and is funny.

The Ghost of Christmas Present is next up and we get a lot of wackiness from him.

The only scene we get in the present is the Cratchit family's Christmas dinner. Tiny Tim is very sweet and thoughtful. He's the one who says they should thank Mr. Scrooge for the feast.

We don't get the chance to go to Fred's house, so we really don't know much about him, even whether he's married or not.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appears next and he and Scrooge are in a graveyard where they see the Cratchits without, of course, Tiny Tim. This is handled extremely sensitively, which is a contrast to the mostly jokey tone of the rest of the show.

Scrooge sees his own grave being dug and is eventually pushed into it by the talking, cigar-smoking spirit!

But he wakes up back in his own bedroom and is ready to change his ways. He runs into Fred and the charity guys when he's on his way to Bob Cratchit's house.

That's another frequent change found in a lot of adaptations - Scrooge going to visit the Cratchits on Christmas Day.

He has a big bag of presents, including the turkey and makes Bob his partner. Happy ending!

So, despite the very wacky cartoony tone, this version actually gets in a lot of the story. I'm not sure if you already need to be familiar with the story to really follow what's happening, but it certainly helps.

It's hard to believe this came out 36 years ago, but I think it really holds up well. The classic cartoon stars are as appealing as ever and the story is timeless!

Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - Part 2

One of the things that makes "Mickey's Christmas Carol" so much fun is that in addition to the big Disney cartoon stars in the cast, there are a host of others along for the ride.

I look at this as taking place in the Mickeyverse, with the main group (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy) going over to England to shoot this cartoon, where they met up with the casts of "Robin Hood" (1973) and "The Wind in the Willows" segment of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad" (1949).

In the lead role, of course, is Scrooge McDuck.  Alan Young (star of TV's "Mr. Ed") does a great job with his voice. He had originated the voice characterization on a 1974 Disneyland Records with the awkward title "An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol Performed by the Walt Disney Players." Phew!

Scrooge McDuck, like Quincy Magoo, has a "real-life" nephew. Fortunately for Mr. McDuck, his nephew Donald is a much better actor than Mr. Magoo's nephew Waldo. So, we have Donald Duck as Fred. What's really great is that Clarence Nash, who created Donald's voice back in back in 1934 was able to play Donald one more time here!

One more Duck has a featured role: Daisy. She plays the Belle role, named Isabel here. Since she was committed to that role, there was no one available to play Fred's wife, so we don't know if Fred is married or not.

Mickey Mouse has his name in the title, befitting his superstar status, but he has a supporting role here as Bob Cratchit. That's probably the second biggest part.

His girlfriend Minnie Mouse plays Mrs. Cratchit, which Minnie must like, as she finally at least gets to act as Mickey's wife! She does not have any lines in the show.

Mickey conveniently has a couple of nephews, as so many cartoon stars do. Apparently Morty plays Tiny Tim and Ferdie plays the other Cratchit boy, perhaps Peter. Whatever the case, this is probably the mst adorable Tiny Tim ever!

Minnie herself has a couple of nieces, one of whom plays the Cratchits' daughter. It could be Melody or Minnie playing Martha or Belinda.

Goofy as Marley's Ghost tells Scrooge to expect three spirits!

Goofy appears as Marley's Ghost. He was probably cast in that role because he looks the part, but his genial nature doesn't make him seem that he would've swindled widows and such as Scrooge says!

A scene from "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad."

The cast members of the earlier "Wind in the Willows" adaptation get some good parts here to help give a little British feel to the proceedings with so many American cartoon stars involved.

Water Rat and Mole are really well-cast as the gentlemen attempting to collect for charity.

Mr. Toad makes a great Fezziwig. He has the look and temperament. He doesn't have any lines, but plays the fiddle at his party.

And a couple of the weasels make appropriately sinister gravediggers in the Christmas Future segment.

We can also spot Angus McBadger from the Mr. Toad gang at Fezziwig's party and Cyril the horse appears with Fred (Donald) at the end.

Grandma Duck also joins in the fun!

In keeping with the British feel, several members of the "Robin Hood" cast pop up as extras.

The three spirits are all from the Mickeyverse and are also well-cast.

Jiminy Cricket, breakout star of "Pinnochio" (1940) plays the Ghost of Christmas Past. His experience with acting as Pinnochio's conscience serves him well here. For a little guy, he has always had a huge presence in various media.

The Ghost of Christmas Present is supposed to be a giant, and they already  had one on the payroll in the "person" of Willie from the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947). He seems to mix up his lines from the two roles a bit, but he's probably still rattled from that fall from the clouds and he never could pronounce pistachio anyway! Jiminy Cricket introduces and appears in "Fun and Fancy Free," so he knew already had worked with Willie prior to this production.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the scariest spirit of all, so who better to play that part than Pete, Mickey's longtime adversary. He's the rare G of CYTC who speaks and maybe the only ever to smoke a cigar. But who's gonna tell Pete there's no smoking on the set?

There are a lot of other classic Disney characters in cameos, which adds to the fun.

So, we have a great cast assembled. What kind of script were they given to work with?