Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

Well, we’re back to Disney. And the category.

Disney put out a direct to video Christmas movie November 9, 1999. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas was a package film with three segments. Starring Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Jeff Bennett, Alan Young, Jim Cummings, Bill Farmer and Frank Welker, it was narrated by Kelsey Grammer.

The first segment, “Stuck on Christmas” puts Huey, Dewey and Louie in a Groundhog Day loop on Christmas day. And they soon get tired of it.

“A Very Goofy Christmas” has Max question Santa’s existence and Goofy is determined to keep his faith alive.

The final segment, “Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi” centers on the duo planning to give each other great gifts, but can’t because of circumstances. They then sacrifice their prized possessions for the gifts.

When you have an Aesop to teach, there’s one of two ways to do it. You can either present it in a subtle manner or whack the viewer over the head with a sledgehammer. And while these three segments are good, all their lessons come about the latter way.

There’s not much I can say on these other than that, except that the second segment can actually be very relatable. Especially for someone who dealt with the subject matter at that age.

#40

Ducktales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

After DuckTales became a hit television series, the Disney Company decided to make a film based off of it. Released August 3, 1990, the film starred Alan Young, Rip Taylor, Christopher Lloyd, Russi Taylor, and Terrene McGovern. While it earned $18 million at the box office, it isn’t considered a part of Disney Animated Canon, nor has it been given a wide DVD release in America.

Scrooge, Launchpad, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby arrive at a dig site where Scrooge’s diggers have found the map to the treasure of Collie Baba that he has been searching for forty years However, one digger, Dijion, works for the evil sorcerer Merlock (Lloyd) who is looking for the lamp that Collie Baba stole from him. While he steals the treasure, he missed the lamp that Webby had.

Back home, the kids discover the lamp contains a genie. Scrooge eventually finds out and wishes the treasure be brought back to him. However, Merlock and Dijon know that Scrooge has the lamp.

I remember seeing this on television a few times when I was young. And I always enjoyed watching it. But after seeing it again after 15 or so years, I find underwhelming to be a great way to describe this film. I still feel that it seems like an episode of the series stretched out to be 75 minutes. Usually, when a television series is made into a film, it’s given a grander scale and a bigger production value. Like Serenity. Yet, this just doesn’t feel like that until the last few minutes. And even then, it still like this film should have been a four part series finale instead of a feature film.

Scrooge is the only character who undergoes character development, however slight. After losing everything and being sent to prison, he doesn’t realize that money isn’t everything. He just resolves not to use a wish for selfish uses. And while his final wish is selfless towards the genie, he still ends the movie by chasing after money.

And while it does have its funny moments, there’s nothing really notable about it.

Final Call: It doesn’t really age well. #25

Initial Reaction: Ducktales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

I guess the best word I can think of right now is... underwhelming. It feels like an extended episode of the television series until the final act. And even then, it tries too hard.

On one hand, we've got character development from Scrooge, in the fact that he won't wish for another selfish wish. And doesn't, so that's a good thing.

But the Genie is just unfunny. Although, when he's not trying for humor, he can be enjoyable.

It's not part of the official animated canon and clearly just there for entertainment and a cash grab on a popular series.

Right now, I want to put it at #23.