Plot[]
Mickey Mouse has just finished up another successful night at the House of Mouse on Christmas Eve and is wishing the guests a safe journey home. However, Goofy points out that a huge snowstorm has trapped them in the House. Mickey decides to have a free-of-charge Christmas party for the guests. Donald Duck, on the other hand, is being awfully miserly for a reason (not unlike his Uncle Scrooge) that is never given and would prefer not to take part in the festivities. However, Daisy, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy get him to enjoy a cup of hot cocoa on stage next a fireplace set and comfy armchair. Minnie then finds some Christmas cartoons they haven’t shown today and they decide to play them.
After the first cartoon, «Donald on Ice», Ludwig Von Drake presents «the science of Santa» to explain some of the impossibilities of his traveling over the world in one night (using the speed to have a future version of himself steal a cookie jar from his mother, who is surprisingly at the club as well). Donald is still not in the Christmas mood, so Mickey shows clips of him asking the audience members what they wished to have for Christmas. Seeing that Donald is still not willing to change his mood, Mickey shows two more cartoons, Pluto’s Christmas Tree and «The Nutcracker», plus excerpts of Mickey decorating his house from «Mickey’s Christmas Chaos». Unfortunately, even after seeing that, Donald still refuses to change his mood (likely sour at the idea of being miscast as the mouse king and losing in the «Nutcracker» story), earning frowns and glares from everyone in the audience (except for Grumpy, who actually smiles at this).
Mickey then reluctantly gives up. He and his friends have done everything that he can think of. He then thinks that Donald will never get in to the Christmas spirit. Mickey heads to the roof of the building, where he talks to Jiminy Cricket about how he tried so hard to make Donald feel the Christmas spirit. Jiminy then tells him that the spirit of Christmas doesn’t come from a party, it’s about being together with the people you love and care about. Mickey agrees on his advice that Donald is his best friend and he’s part of his family. Jiminy reminds him to make a wish upon a star. Doing so, Mickey wishes that home or away with family and friends whenever they have the best yet decorations even a humblest little tree that everyone would have the Christmas spirit. He then receives a star from the sky and returns to the stage, offering Donald the opportunity to put it on the tree as it lacks one. This simple act fills Donald with joy as he places the star on the tree. The star then starts working its magic on the House, turning all the wreaths they have around the club gold and adding more golden wreaths throughout (even giving the Magic Mirror Spirit in the lobby a hat). They show their last cartoon for the night, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and afterward, everyone, even the villains, gathers on the stage to sing the closing song, «The Best Christmas of All». Mickey then tells the viewers «Merry Christmas» and Tinker Bell ends the film.
Characters by film[]
- Classic Disney Cartoons: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Ludwig Von Drake, Chip and Dale, Mortimer Mouse, Grandma Duck (credited as Mama Von Drake; voice only/cameo on Mickey’s Christmas Carol), Humphrey the Bear, Ranger, J. Audubon Woodlore, The Three Little Pigs, Big Bad Wolf, Hobo Cookie and Judge Cookie from The Cookie Carnival, and Professor Owl
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Snow White, Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Happy, Dopey, The Evil Queen, and the Magic Mirror
- Pinocchio: Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Geppetto, and Stromboli
- Fantasia: Hyacinth Hippo, Ben Ali Gator, Magic Brooms, and Yen Sid
- Dumbo: Dumbo and Timothy Mouse
- Bambi: Bambi, Thumper, and Flower
- Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, and Melody Time: José Carioca
- The Three Caballeros: Panchito Pistoles
- Fun and Fancy Free: Bongo the Bear, Willie the Giant
- Song of the South: Brer Rabbit, Br’er Fox, Br’er Bear
- Cinderella: Cinderella, Jaq and Gus, the Birds, the mice, Perla, Suzy, and Mary Mouse
- Alice in Wonderland: Alice, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, Bread-And-Butterflies, and Flamingo
- Peter Pan: Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy Darling, John Darling, Michael Darling, and Captain Hook
- Lady and the Tramp: Lady and Tramp
- Sleeping Beauty: Aurora, Prince Phillip, and Maleficent
- 101 Dalmatians: Pongo, Perdita, and the Colonel
- The Sword in the Stone: Merlin and Madam Mim
- Mary Poppins: The Penguin Waiters
- The Jungle Book: Mowgli, Baloo, King Louie, and Kaa
- Robin Hood: Little John and Sheriff of Nottingham
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Kessie, Christopher Robin, and Owl
- The Rescuers: Madame Medusa
- Pete’s Dragon: Elliott
- The Little Mermaid: Ariel, Prince Eric, and Ursula
- Beauty and the Beast: the Beast/Prince, Belle, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Fifi
- Aladdin: Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, The Magic Carpet, Jafar, and Iago
- The Lion King: Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, and Zazu
- Pocahontas: Meeko and Governor Ratcliffe
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Hugo, Victor, and Laverne
- Hercules: Hercules, Megara, Hades, Pain and Panic
- Mulan: Mulan, Mushu, and Cri-Kee
- The Emperor’s New Groove: Kuzco
Voice cast[]
- Wayne Allwine — Mickey Mouse (also in archive footage)
- Tony Anselmo — Donald Duck (also in archive footage)
- Russi Taylor — Minnie Mouse, Grandma Duck, Mary Mouse
- Tress MacNeille — Daisy Duck, Chip and Dale
- Bill Farmer — Goofy, Pluto, Practical Pig
- Carlos Alazraqui — Panchito Pistoles
- Jodi Benson — Ariel
- Robby Benson — Beast
- Paige O’Hara — Belle
- Corey Burton — Ludwig Von Drake, Mad Hatter, Grumpy, Gus, Captain Hook
- Eddie Carroll — Jiminy Cricket
- Peter Cullen — Eeyore
- Jonathan Freeman — Jafar
- Pat Carroll — Ursula
- Jennifer Hale — Cinderella
- Maurice LaMarche — Lumiere
- Mark Moseley — Mushu
- J.P. Manoux — Kuzco
- Rob Paulsen — Jaq
- Kevin Schon — Timon
- Ernie Sabella — Pumbaa
- Sally Dworsky — Nala
- Joseph Williams — Simba
- Michael Welch — Pinocchio
- Carolyn Gardner — Snow White
- April Winchell — Mother Von Drake
- Nikita Hopkins — Roo
- Kath Soucie — Kanga
- David Ogden Stiers — Cogsworth
- Rick Logan — Aladdin
- Bobbi Page — Jasmine
- Blayne Weaver — Peter Pan
Shorts-only voices (archival audio)
- Wayne Allwine — Otto, Weasel #1 (Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
- Tony Anselmo — Huey, Dewey, and Louie («Donald on Ice»)
- Jeff Bennett — Mr. Jollyland («Donald on Ice»)
- Frank Welker — The Abominable Snowman («Donald on Ice»)
- Jimmy MacDonald — Mickey Mouse (Pluto’s Christmas Tree)
- Pinto Colvig — Pluto, Goofy (Pluto’s Christmas Tree)
- Dessie Flynn — Dale (Pluto’s Christmas Tree)
- Helen Seibert — Chip (Pluto’s Christmas Tree)
- Ruth Clifford — Minnie Mouse (Pluto’s Christmas Tree)
- Clarence Nash — Donald Duck (Pluto’s Christmas Tree and Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
- John Cleese — Narrator («The Nutcracker»)
- Alan Young — Scrooge McDuck (Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
- Hal Smith — Goofy (Mickey’s Christmas Carol), Ratty (Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
- Will Ryan — Willie the Giant, Pete, Weasel #2, Mole, Big Bad Wolf (Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
- Patricia Parris — Daisy Duck (Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
- Dick Billingsley — Morty Fieldmouse (Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
- Hannes Schroll as Goofy’s holler (Mickey’s Christmas Carol)
Trivia[]
- When Pluto’s Christmas Tree and Mickey’s Christmas Carol are shown, the House’s TV screen is in 4:3 format rather than its usual widescreen appearance.
- Certain scenes in the House segments are recycled from episodes of the show (although these episodes were not aired until about a year after the video’s release):
- Parts of Mickey’s «Mouse on the Street» interviews were taken from «Clarabelle’s Christmas List» and «Pete’s Christmas Caper».
- Von Drake’s «The Science of Santa» speech was reused from «Pete’s Christmas Caper».
- Cinderella, Eeyore, and Mushu saying what they’re thankful for is taken from «House of Turkey».
- The Mad Hatter’s «Ode to a Hat» was recycled from the beginning of «Mickey vs. Shelby».
- Two of the crowd shots were used in subsequent episodes beginning with «Where’s Minnie?»
- Excluding the cartoons, the movie’s framing animation is only about 23 minutes long, which is about the length of a regular episode.
- Donald is the only staff member not to wear a Santa hat like his friends do, due to his grouchiness of being snowed in.
-
Max Goof, Pete, Clarabelle Cow, and Microphone Mike do not appear in the film itself (although Pete and Clarabelle appear in Mickey’s Christmas Carol
This is the only time in the series which Microphone Mike does not appear at the start or ending.
).
- This is the first time where Peter Pan is voiced by Blayne Weaver.
- This is the only time in the series where a cartoon with a longer running time than the standard 6-12 minute runtime is shown (in this case, Mickey’s Christmas Carol).
- This is the only time in the series where Belle is voiced by her original voice actress Paige O’Hara, as in the series finale episode «Mickey and the Culture Clash» (the only episode in the series aside from this movie where Belle has a speaking role), she was voiced by Jodi Benson, who also voices Ariel.
- This was also the only time Lumiere was not voiced by his original voice actor Jerry Orbach prior to his death in 2004. Furthermore, it was the only time Maurice LaMarche voiced Lumiere, as Jeff Bennett would become his regular replacement voice actor following Orbach’s death.
- This is the only time Jasmine is not voiced by her original voice actress Linda Larkin, nor her singing voice actresses Lea Salonga (who provided her singing voice in the original Aladdin) or Liz Callaway (who provided her singing voice in The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves). Instead, vocal contractor Bobbi Page voices Jasmine for the first and only time in this film, providing her singing vocals in the musical number «The Best Christmas of All». Although, Larkin did reprise her role as Jasmine in the House of Mouse episode «Ladies’ Night».
Goofs
- During the scene where the gang sings «The Best Christmas of All», when the group sings the second, «and family» part, Lady’s paws are the medium brown that’s for coloring her fur (not to mention the void between her two front legs is colored in the same creamy-brown as they usually are, and her front as well), but when they get up-close to the Beauty and the Beast objects singing, Lady’s paws are the creamy-brown they usually are.
- The DVD said it had FastPlay on the cover but it didn’t have FastPlay, since it was a reissue of the DVD, and FastPlay was not added to Disney DVDs until .
- The PAL DVD release of the film, unlike the NTSC DVD release, strangely features numerous oddities in the DVD box art on the front and back cover, such as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy depicted in their signature trademark outfits instead of their House of Mouse uniforms, Ariel in her mermaid form and Belle in her blue peasant dress, and the film’s setting being at a regular suburban house instead of the House of Mouse night club, all which aren’t even present in the actual film.
