The Film
The holiday season is approaching, which means you'll be watching some incarnation of A Christmas Carol at some point. It's pretty hard to escape. Just in kiddie fare alone, the Charles Dickens' tale has been covered by The Muppets, Mr. Magoo, Flintstones, Bugs Bunny, and probably others I'm forgetting. Of course, Disney is hoping to make its own animated classic a standout by releasing the Mickey's Christmas Carol: 30th Anniversary Special Edition Blu-ray.
It's hard to imagine that you don't know the story at this point, but at least know that this version has been translated into Mickey-ese -- and pretty easily, I might add. Scrooge McDuck is the main focus here, and considering he was based on Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge back in 1947, it's no surprise that he fits the (duck) bill quite nicely.
Despite giving the characters fur, feathers and other animal characteristics, the story follows the formula very well. Scrooge gets a message from his former partner Marley (Goofy) that he needs to change his scrooge-y ways and will be visited by several ghosts to drive the message home. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket) shows his lost love Daisy, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Willie the Giant) provides a peek into the proverty-stricken life of Bob Cratchet (Mickey), and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Big Bad Pete) gives him a glimpse into the future.
Throughout the entire story, several other classic Disney characters pop up, making this an even more endearing version. Despite all of those characters though, Mickey's Christmas Carol wraps everything up in 26 minutes, which is just perfect for its intended audience. However, this Oscar-nominated (look it up!) short certainly doesn't skimp on Dickens' message. Enjoy.
The Picture
Disney has given Mickey's Christmas Carol a clean 1.78:1 transfer -- too clean, in fact. The studio remastered it to the point where it looks like a computer-generated image. There's absolutely no grain here whatsoever. That said, at least it doesn't have the problems and inconsistencies of today's other release, Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year. It's still enjoyable, but looks nothing like what you'd find deep inside the Disney vault.
The Sound
Similar to the aforementioned Pooh release, Disney has given this Blu-ray a lone Dolby Digital 2.0 track. It's fine for what it needs to do. It's just sort of, well... boring. The past, present and future ghosts could use a bit more oomph and this flat track just can't deliver the goods.
The Extras
Final Thoughts
Even after 30 years, Mickey's Christmas Carol holds up as a great holiday classic for the entire family. It packs all of your favorite characters into a timeless story. Considering that Disney is dubbing this an "anniversary" release, you'd expect there to be more extras. It's certainly worth owning, but that collection and the super processed image may leave you saying "bah humbug."
Product Details
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