Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

"Of course there's a Santy.  Otherwise, we'd have a lot of jobless elves running around."

The Narrator (Grammer) tells three Christmas stories:
Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Taylor) are excited about Christmas.  They love diving into gifts and devouring Daisy's (MacNeille) delicious turkey dinner.  That evening they wish for every day to be Christmas, but can they have too much of a good thing?

Goofy (Farmer) and his son Max (Fleming) eagerly await the arrival of Santa.  But their neighbor Pete (Cummings) says Santa isn't real and puts doubt in Max's mind.  Goofy will do anything to show Max what Christmas is really about.

Mickey (Allwin) is saving to buy a special present for Minnie (Taylor).  Minnie is also watching her money so she can buy the perfect gift for Mickey.  They both work on Christmas Eve, but what will they do if the money doesn't come through?


This is a sweet Christmas movie.  The three stories are woven together by Kelsey Grammer's narration, based on three gifts under a tree.  That is the only connection until the end of the film when all three groups come together to sing Christmas carols in front of the house.

The stories themselves are well-known stories / tropes, with a Disney twist.  Donald Duck and family star in "Donald Duck Stuck on Christmas."  The story is basically Groundhog Day, with a Christmas twist... and the boys wished for it.  It is predictable, but still enjoyable.  Goofy and his son Max (as a child, unlike the Goof Troop TV show and the A Goofy Movie and An Extremely Goofy Movie) star in "A Very Goofy Christmas".  Their story is about believing in Santa, it has some good moments but not as interesting as it thinks.  And finally, Mickey and Minnie star in the "The Gift of the Magi", which is based on the short story by O. Henry.  If you know the story, you know where the story is going... but it works.

The stories feature a good number of Mickey side characters: Uncle Scrooge, Mortimer Mouse, Pete, Chip and Dale, and cameos by other little characters (Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, etc).  I enjoyed the film, but don't think I'll watch it again.

In 2004 Disney released a sequel, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas.  Unlike this film, the sequel is computer-animated.

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) 66 minutes
Director: Jun Falkenstein, Alex Mann, Bradley Raymond, Toby Shelton, Bill Speers
Starring: Wayne Allwin as Mickey Mouse
Russi Taylor as Minnie Mouse, Huey, Dewey, Louie
Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
Tress MacNeille as Daisy Duck, Chip, Aunt Gertie
Diane Michelle as Daisy Duck
Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck
Bill Farmer as Goofy, Pluto
Shaun Fleming as Max
Corey Burton as Dale
Jim Cummings as Pete, Santa, Police, Mailman
Kelsey Grammer as the Narrator