"A Special Cartoon"

Synopsis

Both Mickey and Minnie, hard pressed for Christmas money, decide to make some sacrifices to buy each other gifts.

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Pluto

Figaro

Pete

Daisy Duck

Mr. Mortimer

The Firehouse Five

Horace Horsecollar (cameo)

Clarabelle Cow (cameo)

Clara Cluck (cameo)

Credits

Director : Toby Shelton

Associate Director : Bill Speers

Unit Director : Keith Ingram

Screenplay : Richard Cray and Temple Mathews

Animation Production : Walt Disney Animation Canada, Inc.

Sources

Based on the story "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.

Inside Jokes

The band that plays towards the end of this short is "The Firehouse Five" which was an actual Dixieland band composed of Disney artists back in the '40's and 50's. (The original name was "The Firehouse Five Plus Two.")

Videos

United States

Once Upon a Christmas

Germany

Micky's Fröhliche Weihnachten

Italy

Topolino e la Magia del Natale

Click here to submit a comment of your own.

This is a new presentation of a time-honored classic theme, so all who have ever read or seen "The Gift of the Magi" already know the basic plot. There are no real surprises here, but it is nicely played out with Mickey and Minnie in the lead roles. It's fun to see Mickey palling around with Pluto, and Minnie so domestic with my favorite pet, Figaro! Daisy makes an appearance as Minnie's co-worker, and Minnie's boss, called Mr. Mortimer, is reminiscent of another "Mortimer Mouse." Pete plays a slightly pivitol roll and there are guest appearances by a few others like Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar, with a quick shot of Clara Cluck. The music is lively and cheerful. I give this one a 8 since it was a little too predictable, but was still nicely accomplished.

This segment is loosely based on the O.Henry short story but this time it works being true to O.Henry's intent if not the text. This is one of the few of the more recent tales that I can say really has charm that we've come to accociate with Mickey and Co. This is what MouseWorks should be like given the time and the money to, iron out the wrinkles.