The retelling of Charles Dickens immortal tale as seen through the vision of the Disney artists. All the major Disney characters are here with Scrooge McDuck taking the lead role, Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit, Donald Duck as Scrooge's nephew Fred, Goofy as the Ghost of Jacob Marley etc. etc. etc. Just about everyone has a cameo at some point in the all too short 24 minutes running time.
Originally released in 1982 this little gem now looks like a bit of a Disney milestone. When you consider all the poor feature length cartoons and equally poor animation that proliferated the 1970's this came as a breath of fresh air. The cartooning is excellent - up to the standards of much earlier releases and certainly better than the artwork they are producing now. Perhaps it was this production that led to the animation achievement of 'The Black Cauldron' which resulted in the go-ahead for 'The Little Mermaid'. The whole feel of the picture captures Christmas perfectly. Indeed, once in your collection it is sure to come out every year for a Christmas Eve showing - it sets the mood perfectly.
This was Derann's second release from the deal struck with Disney about seven years ago. The first, of course, was 'The Little Mermaid' which suffered from a poor negative. However, due to the problems with that release everything was sorted out in time for 'Mickey's Christmas Carol'.
Very little movement on this review print combined with excellent definition and rich colour result in a 16mm-like experience. However, this also has the advantage of stereo sound, and pretty good it is too.
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Distributed by: Derann
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The above review was printed in Super Eight Film
Review in issue 41. |
This page was last updated 02 Dec 2002