“Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is a wonderful Disney Blu-ray release for parents looking to keep children occupied during the Winter holiday but for videophiles expecting a definitive Blu-ray release for “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”, may be disappointed by the excessive use of DNR.
TITLE: Mickey’s Christmas Carol: 30th Anniversary Edition
FILM RELEASE: 1983
DURATION: 58 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English SDH
COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
RATED: G (General Audiences)
Release Date: November 5, 2013
Directed by Burny Mattinson
Based on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”
Story Adaptation by Burny Mattinson, Tony Marino, Ed Gombert, Don Griffith, Alan Young and Alan Dinehart
Produced by Burny Mattinson
Music by Irwin Kostal
Edited by Armetta Jackson-Hamlett, James Melton
Art Direction by Don Griffith
Starring:
Alan Young as Ebenezer Scrooge – Scrooge McDuck
Wayne Allwine as Bob Cratchit, Mickey Mouse, Weasel Gravedigger, Beggar Dog
Hal Smith as Jacob Marley’s Ghost – Goofy, Collector for the Poor #1
Will Ryan as Collector for the Poor #2, The Ghost of Christmas Present – Willie the Giant, Ghost of Christmas Future (Pete)
Eddie Carroll as Ghost of Christmas Past, Jimini Cricket
Patricia Parris as Belle, Daisy Duck
Dick Billingsley as Tiny Tim
Clarence Nash as Nephew Fred, Donald Duck
Ring in the holidays with a new 30th Anniversary Special Edition of Mickey’s Christmas Carol. Disney’s timeless tale sparkles like never before on Blu-ray and Digital Copy, with fully-restored classic holiday shorts, plus all-new bonus features.
Make the season merry as Mickey, Goofy, Donald and all their pals star in a heartwarming retelling of Dickens’ unforgettable holiday tale. Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck) is far too greedy to understand that Christmas is a time for kindness and generosity. But with the guidance of some wise ghosts (Goofy and Jiminy Cricket) and a bunch of newfound friends, Scrooge learns to embrace the spirit of the season. Share this wonderful holiday treat with the whole family.
For the first time on Blu-ray, Walt Disney’s “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” will be released as part of its 30th Anniversary.
While “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” has been released as part of “Walt Disney’s Animation Collection” for its “Classic Short Films” line, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” (which is a little over 25-minutes long) will be released with five classic holiday shorts and while the short is paused, Mickey and friends will sing Christmas carols such as “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”, “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells” with all his friends.
“Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is a 1983 adaptation of Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” and is an animated retelling of the Charles Dickens masterpiece, Scrooge McDuck plays Ebenezer Scrooge who is tight with money and puts money above everything.
Even on Christmas Eve, his poor employee Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse) is docked pay for Christmas vacation after Bob asks for Christmas Day to spend with his family.
But it’s when the “Ghosts of Christmas Past” pays a visit to Ebenezer and show him that he should have compassion for people or else…
Included are the following bonus shorts in HD:
- “Yodelberg” – (3:33) Yodelberg is a new animated short by Disney in which both Mickey and Minnie are often in a yodeling duet but an avalanche threatens to put an end to their yodeling.
- “The Hockey Champ” – (7:28) – A 1939 Technicolor animated short featuring Donald Duck as he tries to teach his three nephews on how to play hockey.
- “Pluto’s Christmas Tree” – (6:46) A 1952 Technicolor animated short. Mickey cuts down a Christmas tree which is inhabited by two chipmunks: Chip and Dale and with Mickey and Pluto decorating the tree, Pluto is disturbed in finding out that the tree has two inhabitants living there.
- “The Art of Skiing” – (7:54) A 1941 Technicolor animated short featuring Goofy as he tries to show the art of downhill skiing.
- “Corn Chips” – (6:57) A 1952 Technicolor animated short featuring Donald trying to trick Chip n Dale to shovel snow off his walk.
VIDEO:
The last time I have reviewed “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” was back in 2009 as part of the “Walt Disney Animation Collection Vol. 7: Classic Short Films – Mickey’s Christmas Carol” DVD review and my comments back in 2009 were:
Walt Disney Animation Collection†is featured with an aspect ratio of 1:33:1. These classics are available on DVD for the first time but its important to mention that these animated shorts have not been digitally remastered or cleaned up.
As a matter of fact, you will see a lot of the dust and scratches of the film and some of the animation look fine for being nearly 70 years old but others look grainy and a bit aged. Granted, these are not classic full featured films but I hope one of these days, many of these classics do get cleaned up or even digitally remastered.
Fast forward to 2013 and here we are with a Blu-ray version of the short and Disney mentions that these are “fully restored classic holiday shorts”.
First, let me discuss the positive. For those who want a more colorful, sharper and not as grainy version of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”, then the Blu-ray will surely satisfy you. Now the negative, if you are a person who is against use of Digital Noise Reduction (DNR), then you will be disappointed to know that the grain that I discussed in my older review is gone. There appears to be an overuse of it that while colorful, it’s almost as if things look painted in a smudgy kind of way. So, for those wanting or were expecting an HD upgrade that compliments what people have seen on DVD, the heavy use of DNR is not going to appeal to some people, while those who dislike grain may like this version more.
It’s important to note that the some of the video used during the Christmas intermission (when you pause during “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”) is lower-res, so you are going to see a lot of compression. I was a bit surprised that this video was used for the intermission instead of other footage that may have been much easier and looks much better to use for the intermission.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. These shorts never had great dynamic range to begin with and even on the older Disney shorts collections on DVD, I would switch to stereo on all channels on my receiver. But because the audio is in lossless stereo, it’s still a slight a step up from the previous DVD releases of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Mickey’s Christmas Carol” comes with the following bonus shorts plus a Christmas Disney Intermission that plays when “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is paused. You can hear Mickey and friends singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”, “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells”.
- “Yodelberg” – (3:33) Yodelberg is a new animated short by Disney in which both Mickey and Minnie are often in a yodeling duet but an avalanche threatens to put an end to their yodeling.
- “The Hockey Champ” – (7:28) – A 1939 Technicolor animated short featuring Donald Duck as he tries to teach his three nephews on how to play hockey.
- “Pluto’s Christmas Tree” – (6:46) A 1952 Technicolor animated short. Mickey cuts down a Christmas tree which is inhabited by two chipmunks: Chip and Dale and with Mickey and Pluto decorating the tree, Pluto is disturbed in finding out that the tree has two inhabitants living there.
- “The Art of Skiing” – (7:54) A 1941 Technicolor animated short featuring Goofy as he tries to show the art of downhill skiing.
- “Corn Chips” – (6:57) A 1952 Technicolor animated short featuring Donald trying to trick Chip n Dale to shovel snow off his walk.
EXTRAS:
“Mickey’s Christmas Carol”comes with a Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy of the short and a slipcover.
As a child, I can easily remember my prized possession was a Walt Disney book that my father purchased for me and it featured the chronology of the early classic Walt Disney animated shorts. Some of these shorts were shown on the Disney Channel when I was younger but suffice to say, with all the new animation being released by Disney, a lot of these classics have yet to be seen by the newer generation or to be released on video (as many have only been released on VHS).
But with the release of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”, one of my favorite Disney Christmas shorts has now been released on Blu-ray and if only “The Small One” was included with this Blu-ray release, I would have been more thrilled.
But with this release alone, I know many Disney fans may wonder if it’s definitely worth picking up, especially if they own the 2005 DVD release of “Walt Disney’s Classic Cartoon Favorites, Vol. 09 – Classic Holiday Stories (1952-1983)”” and the 2009 DVD release of “Walt Disney Animation Collection Vol. 7: Classic Short Films – Mickey’s Christmas Carol†DVD release.
With the 2009 DVD release, I felt Disney did fans a service because both “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and “The Small One” were released together. Both have a very touching storyline and for those like myself who are fans of Disney animated shorts, it would have been great if Disney included both together.
But Disney opted to feature five bonus shorts including the newer “Yodelberg” with this Blu-ray release along with “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and for the most part, people should be stoked.
Unfortunately, as one side of me is thrilled to see “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” on Blu-ray, the overuse of DNR was overlydone. While parents purchasing this Blu-ray release for their children, will probably not mind. For those who are Disney fans wanting to see this animated short in its best presentation may be slightly disappointed.
I do prefer grain and I don’t like overuse of DNR but I do know there is another side of casual fans who dislike grain and may prefer the use of DNR and probably not care of how it looked like before on DVD, as long as the grain is gone. So, I was hoping there would be a happy medium but instead, Disney opted to remove as much grain as possible and in the process, that does affect the look of the short by making things look a bit smudgier.
So, with that being said, if you are anti-DNR and the mere mention of DNR will upset you, then you should be good with the older 2005 and 2009 DVD release of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”, but if you are not too picky with picture quality and are excited more by the fact that these shorts are on Blu-ray or just looking for a holiday Disney animation release for the kids, then I can easily recommend this Blu-ray .
By knowing that videophiles will probably be disappointed with the picture quality of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol: 30th Anniversary Edition”, I will then shift my review more for the parents who want a holiday Disney DVD animated release for the children.
Your children will get a total of nearly an hour worth of Disney Christmas animated shorts featuring Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald Duck and Goofy and they can sing along to the Christmas Carols with Mickey and friends when you hit pause during your viewing of a short. While it would have been awesome if Disney would have included their holiday short, “The Small One”, for almost an hour worth of content, it may be slightly pricey for some people, especially as we tend to expect a lot more from Disney.
Overall, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is a wonderful Disney Blu-ray release for parents looking to keep children occupied during the Winter holiday but for videophiles expecting a definitive Blu-ray release for “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”, may be disappointed by the excessive use of DNR.
