This is the most condensed, Cliffs Notes version of A Christmas Carol that I have ever been exposed to. It was also the first version I was ever exposed to, which I'd wager is the case for a lot of people my age.
Cratchit (played by Mickey) does Scrooge's laundry in this version- I hope Scrooge at least covers the cost of his water.
Scrooge makes the statement about boiling merrymakers in their own pudding, but leaves out the part about burying them with a stake of holly through their hearts. So, he's pissed off nephew Fred, played by Donald, and he also snubs the charity collectors, albeit without saying the line about "if they'd rather die they'd better do it." Charity collectors are played by two characters from Wind in the Willows, as is Mr. Fezziwig later. I never knew who they were when I was little. Wind in the Willows never held my attention. Scrooge lets Cratchit go home a whole two minutes early, which Mickey is downright gleeful about.
Why Goofy for Jacob Marley? It's hard to imagine Goofy ever having been cruel or miserly. After Marley gives his spiel, he falls down the stairs with his trademark yell. How does a ghost fall down stairs?
Jiminy Cricket is the Ghost of Christmas Past. Because this version is very abbreviated, their first stop is Fezziwig's. There we meet Belle, Scrooge's former love interest, played by Daisy Duck, which confused me when I was little. She was Donald's girlfriend! Next we see her heart broken by Scrooge's love of money-- he forecloses the mortgage on her honeymoon cottage and she runs away in tears. Interesting way to dump someone. I had no idea what was happening there when I was little. And it didn't really seem important.
The giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk is the Ghost of Christmas Present, who takes Scrooge to see the Cratchits and their meager feast. And his laundry boiling in the fireplace. Minnie Mouse has no lines as Mrs. Cratchit, and the whole scene lasts less than five minutes. Scrooge asks about Tiny Tim's fate, and he gets very emotional considering he just laid eyes on the kid.
Too late-- the Ghost of Christmas Present is already gone, and the scary one has taken his place. They skip the robbers and go straight to the cemetery. We see Cratchit/Mickey sadly lay Tiny Tim's crutch against his headstone, then we see two weaselly (literally) gravediggers laughing about the funeral that no one came to. We can read the headstone, but I guess Scrooge can't, because he asks the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come "Whose lonely grave is this?" And in response, the ghost lights a match to illuminate Scrooge's name. I have to admit that this moment gave me chills when I was little, and it still kind of does. The ghost lights the match, then raises it to light his cigar. In lighting his cigar, he throws back his hood and reveals himself to be Pete (sometimes called Big Pete, Bad Pete, Big Bad Pete... you get the idea), which is odd because Pete isn't usually scary, but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn't usually speak, so it's startling when he says "Why yours, Ebenezer. The richest man in the cemetery!" and, with an evil laugh, pushes Scrooge into the grave. Suddenly, there are flames. Nightmare fuel, anyone?
Scrooge wakes up. Everything's okay! There's no sending a child to buy a turkey, but he does see the charity collectors (and puts coins in their pants) and his nephew Fred, and he makes things right. Next, he heads over to the Cratchits', bringing along a bag of toys. As I said, this was the first version of A Christmas Carol I was exposed to, and it's worth noting that as I became familiar with more complete tellings of the story (including, eventually, the original novel), despite all the new scenes and details that made the story make so much more sense, the fact that Scrooge never brought over a bag of toys always seemed like a glaring omission.
Wow, that was even shorter than I remembered. Despite its hurry to tell the story as quickly as possible, it's a sweet little special. There is no narration, so we don't get the reassurance that Tiny Tim DID NOT DIE-- but we know he lived.
Visuals: 2 out of 5
Spirit: 4 out of 5
Nostalgia: 4 out of 5
Humor: 2 out of 5
Music: 1 out of 5
overall: 3 out of 5
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