Before we really jump into it, let me set this up for you: like Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, this is an anthology film of Christmas stories featuring the classic Disney characters, with interstitial segments featuring a narrator who introduces each story, but there are several differences here, besides the CGI. First, the interstitial scenes involve a pop-up book with pages depicting the setting and characters of each story. Second, there are five stories here instead of three (sort of the reversal of the progression from Creepshow to Creepshow 2). Third, at least in my opinion, the overall tone of feels different. While the original was nothing groundbreaking, it told three good, heartwarming holiday tales of the characters learning about love, family, and friendship and how important they are around this time of year; this film seems to go more for just comedy and to show off the CGI. That's not say that the film isn't well-made and the Christmas spirit isn't there, because that couldn't be further from the truth, but still, the heart and soul that was so prevalent in the original feels a bit subdued here. As for the CGI, I think it actually looks quite good for what couldn't have been a very big budget. I thought the characters were designed and animated well, as were the environments (the colors really pop) and the lighting and shading effects. It certainly looks a lot better than the CGI for the preschool show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which I honestly thought was a video game the first time I saw a commercial for it). One final thing I have to say about the film as a whole before we delve into the actual stories is that, even though there are more stories here, the film is just barely longer than its predecessor (and even then, this one is only 67 minutes long), which doesn't leave you much time to really get into the stories and the conflicts involving the characters. One tale, in particular, I thought was completely pointless and should have either been either left out or expanded upon much more, but I'll get to that. Why are these movies so short? Is it a written rule somewhere that these direct-to-video films have to be barely over an hour? I'm just saying, maybe if they'd make them longer, they could develop the stories much more successfully.
The first story, Belles on Ice, stars Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. The two of them are taking part in a Christmas ice-skating competition but when Daisy gets jealous that Minnie gets to go first and the crowd really likes her routine, she decides to barge in to steal the spotlight. This, of course, doesn't sit well with Minnie and she tries to regain the spotlight and soon, it becomes an all-out skating war as the two bickering friends try to outdo each other... with disastrous results. I thought this was an interesting take on Minnie and Daisy's friendship. In more modern incarnations of the characters, it's become customary for them to be portrayed as friends, despite how Daisy's ditzy personality tends to grate on Minnie's nerves, but I don't think this had ever been done before, where they get jealous of each other and an out-and-out fight breaks out. We all know that Daisy's a bit of a diva, so it wasn't that a big of a surprise to see her become jealous, which Tress MacNeille pulls off well, but Minnie is usually portrayed as being very sweet-natured, so it was a little surprising to see her try to get back at Daisy for stealing the spotlight. She actually gets real uppity with Daisy, at one point shredding ice all over her, putting a carrot on her face to make her look like a snowman, and mockingly saying, "Quack, quack." Apparently, Minnie doesn't like being upstaged either, and it was quite funny to hear sweet Russi Taylor actually pull off that condescending attitude!
The skating done by Minnie and Daisy is actually quite well animated (the artists actually had skater Michelle Kwan be the model for the skating scenes) and the ways in which they try to outdo each other is quite spectacular (any Disney fan worth his or her salt will get that Minnie and Daisy respectively use the alligators and hippos from Fantasia as part of their acts). The story's best strength, though, is in its visuals: as I said earlier, the whole movie is bright and colorful but this one is especially so, with the icy blue and white color scheme that fully permeates it and the pink and green spotlights used to respectively highlight Minnie and Daisy. As for the way the conflict between the two is resolved, it's simple: Minnie goes too far in trying to outdo Daisy and ends up almost seriously hurting herself when a stunt goes bad. Daisy, frightened that she may be hurt, rushes over to her and when she sees that she's okay, they both realize how awful they've been acting and decide to bury the hatchet in order to perform a big finale together, with each wishing the other a merry Christmas. You know, I was about to argue that their reconciliation had nothing to do with Christmas but, now that I think about it, I think they realized that not only shouldn't they be acting this way in the first place, they really shouldn't during a Christmas celebration so, in a way, it does have to do with the holiday. All in all, not a bad story to start off with.
The second story is Christmas: Impossible, which, like the first film's opener, is another story featuring Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The boys, along with Donald and Daisy, are celebrating Christmas Eve at Uncle Scrooge's mansion and everything's fine... until after dinner, when it's discovered that the boys gobbled up Scrooge's special cookies that he baked for dessert. Donald angrily sends them to their room and later, Scrooge comes in to warn them that, if they don't get their act together and stop being so selfish, they'll end up on Santa's naughty list and, as a result, not get any presents. Scrooge mentions that he never got what he always wanted from Santa because he was the same way. After Scrooge leaves, the boys, after remembering all the pranks they've pulled on Donald over the past year, realize that they're definitely on the naughty list and mail themselves to the North Pole so they can break into Santa's workshop and forge their names onto the good list. But, in the process, they may end up potentially ruining Christmas for everyone in the whole world!
This is a fun story, exemplifying the enhanced comic tone that I feel this film has. The antics of Huey, Dewey, and Louie are enjoyable, especially the flashback to all the trouble they've caused Donald throughout the year and the havoc they wreak at Santa's workshop. I also find it funny how they're logic doesn't make much sense at all. They actually decide that mailing themselves to the North Pole would be simpler than cleaning up their act by morning and what's more, even after they realize how naught they've been, one says, "So, you want to go put some frogs in Uncle Donald's bed?", and another replies, "Maybe later." Still don't quite get the point, do they? I also like the fact that the filmmakers gave Scrooge McDuck a bigger part here than what was basically a cameo in the first movie. He still doesn't get to do much but he's an actual part of the story and an integral one, too, as he's the one who unintentionally prompts the boys to head to the North Pole and is also a big incentive for their learning their lesson. One thing I have to comment on, though, is Huey, Dewey, and Louie's design in this film. Am I the only who thinks they look a little... odd, especially in regards to their heads? They look like big ping-pong balls with eyes and beaks and you can just barely make out some feathers on the top of their heads! They just look weird to me.
The story really gets good once the boys arrive at Santa's workshop. They find out that the room that houses Santa's list is locked, so they head to his office to get the key, crawling through an air vent that overlooks it and use a fishing pole to lower Louie down so as to get the key without waking Santa. After they get the key, they rush to get back to the list room but end up causing a mess in the toy factory in the process. There's one interesting moment where they cause a bunch of toys called Jailbreak Bob to get piled on the floor and end up losing the key amongst those that unlock Bob's cell. Unfortunately, an elf finds the key before they do and, through circumstance, it ends up being wrapped inside a present that's put into Santa's gift bag. The boys then proceed to rip open all the presents inside the bag until they find the key, not realizing that they've just ruined the elves' hard work. Just when they're about to make it to the list room, they run into Santa, who thinks they were trying to return the key to him and promptly takes it. Once the boys realize that they've potentially ruined Christmas for everyone else because of their selfishness, they decide that, while they may not be able to clean up their act, they can, at least, clean up their mess.
Even though they've learned their lesson, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are still bummed that they didn't get on Santa's good list but when one elf enters the list room and leaves the door open, they take the opportunity to sneak inside. I've always thought the design of the room and Santa's list was interesting. Santa would obviously have a very big list, so it's spread out across the entire room, with a bunch of pulleys and conveyors used to keep everything in order and it's controlled by a panel that makes it possible to go from city to city on it. One of the boys even comments, "And he checks this twice?!" They find the list for Duckburg and, sure enough, they're not on the good list. They're about to write their own names on the list when they have a change of heart and, as you find out later, write down Scrooge's name instead. I was originally going to call bullshit on that because I, at first, thought it was kind of sporadic that they would suddenly get a conscience but, now that I think about it, they realized why they weren't on the good list after they caused the disturbance in the toy factory and almost ruined Christmas for everyone, so they understood just from that alone why they didn't deserve to be on it. As a result of this lesson, not only did they help save Christmas but they also decided to do something nice for someone else for a change. These good deeds result in them being rewarded with presents from Santa, who sends them a note telling them that their helping clean up the mess in the factory and putting Scrooge on the good list earned them a spot on it as well. He also takes pity on them by sending them earplugs, as Scrooge can't really play the bagpipes that he's always wanted that well. Now that I think about it, that is a nice Christmas sentiment, so it's good thing I thought about it before I started writing this. It's also funny that Donald's present was The Big Book of Manners, which feels like something someone would give to him. All in all, this was a fairly enjoyable, well-made story.
This is my least favorite story for several reasons. One, it's by the far the shortest in the film, as it can't last any longer than seven minutes, and I don't get why they put this story in if they were going to barely anything with it. Second, most of the story takes place with this song by Scott Leonard called, Make Me Look Good, playing over it, so the voice actors (Bill Farmer as Goofy, Jason Marsden as Max, and the aforementioned Kellie Martin) have little to do. I think they could have done a lot more with it by having it actually play out normally story with the voice actors actually, you know, acting. Finally, and my biggest problem with this story, it's yet another tale about how much Max has to put up with his dad's clumsy and embarrassing antics. How many times have we seen this story? Many episodes of Goof Troop were about that and we've already had two movies featuring teenage Max's conflict with his dad (A Goofy Movie and An Extremely Goofy Movie), so why do we need to devote yet another story, and very small one, to it? Is that really all Disney can come up with in regards to these characters? And what's more, it ends exactly as you would expect: Max realizes how much he loves his dad, despite how embarrassing he can be, and he, Goofy, and Mona have a nice Christmas Eve. So, in essence, the conflict's resolution had nothing having to do with Christmas, which was it was merely a backdrop (unlike the story featuring Goofy and young Max in the original, which was very much about Christmas). I'm sorry if I sound overly harsh but I just find this story to be a waste of space and would have rather have had them put one of the other proposed stories that wasn't used in its spot.
I like this story, mainly because it's always funny to see Donald lose his cool, although it seems with these Christmas films, they can never decide whether Donald enjoys the holiday season or despises it. But, then again, while I do enjoy Christmas, the holiday rush of buying gifts can grate on you, especially when you're stuck at the mall in huge crowds (which I hate). Sometimes, you do just want to sit back in your warm house and enjoy some hot cocoa, which is why I can't blame Donald for being grumpy when Daisy and the boys force him to go back to the mall. When Daisy tells him to quit being such a grouch, I'm like, "The guy's had a bad day and just wants to have some peace and quiet. Leave him alone!" I can also relate to Donald getting so frustrated at hearing Christmas carols over and over again, especially nowadays when it seems like Christmas comes sooner and sooner every year and they start shoving it down your throat earlier as well (although, I don't know if I would go as far as to destroy a Christmas display at a department store). But, you know what, even though Donald realizes what a jerk he's been and how disappointed Daisy and his nephews are in him, I still can't help but feel, "Daisy, if you'd just left him alone, this wouldn't have happened." Maybe that's just the lazy guy in me talking but that's my feeling. Still, it is nice to see Donald help a group of carolers get back into singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas with heart and for Daisy and the boys to learn that he does have some Christmas spirit after all. Not much else to say. It's an entertaining story but not without its flaws.
The final, and longest, story, Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas, focuses, as you can guess, on Mickey and Pluto. Mickey returns to his house with a lot of Christmas decorations for the night's Christmas party and, much to Minnie's dismay, he's gone overboard and put up too many decorations in the house (apparently, Mickey is like Tim "The Tool-Man" Taylor from Home Improvement in his habit of going overboard with Christmas). Pluto wants to put the star on top of the tree but Mickey tells him that he has to be patient and wait. Unfortunately, Pluto can't wait and tries to put the star on the tree anyway, which leads to him accidentally causing a chain reaction that destroys all the decorations. Mickey leaves to buy more and angrily tells Pluto to go to his doghouse. Hurt and feeling unwanted, Pluto takes off his collar and runs away from home, hopping aboard a train that leads him to the North Pole and Santa's workshop, where he's adopted by the reindeer, particularly Donner, who names him Murray (as in, "Murray Christmas"; to quote Blitzen, "Oh, my head.") Meanwhile, Mickey discovers that Pluto has run away and, feeling guilty for yelling at him, heads out to find his best pal.
This is undoubtedly the best story in the film. There are two typical characterizations of Mickey Mouse: the feisty, prank-pulling but still overall good guy of a rascal and the squeaky clean boy scout. The characterization here, along with the one in most of the shorts involving Mickey in Mickey's Mouse Works and House of Mouse, is kind of in the middle: Mickey's a nice guy for the most part but has his breaking point and does get exasperated when things go wrong. Even though Pluto is his best pal, he loses it with him big time, so much so that Pluto actually runs away. I personally prefer this characterization of Mickey as it makes him feel more like a real person rather than a bland overall nice guy. I also like Pluto in this film because he really comes across as a pet who doesn't mean to get in the way and cause trouble but just does and most of us have had a dog or a cat like that at some point in our lives. Bill Farmer's vocalizations when Pluto feels sad about Mickey being angry at him and later when he's missing him are quite moving and so is the animation of Pluto's facial expressions, which really convey the emotion in him (just like in the classic Pluto cartoons from the 40's and 50's).
I also can't help but like the other characters in this story especially the two lead reindeer: the gruff leader, Blitzen (voiced by Jim Cummings), and the scatter-brained, slightly dim-witted Donner (voiced by Jeff Bennett). Donner, in particular, makes me laugh just because of how dumb he is and how short his attention span is as well, which really frustrates Blitzen. (The exchange of dialogue between those two that really gets me is when Santa says that Pluto is come homesick and Donner asks, "Who's Pluto?" Blitzen says, "I think he's Murray." "Murray's Pluto?" "Bingo." "Bingo's Pluto?" Blitzen, not wanting to have to talk really slowly, just groans and says, "Yes.") Speaking of Blitzen, as tough and responsible as he seems to be, you find out that a Christmastime disaster that was alluded to in an earlier story was apparently his fault, which Donner blurts out. I also have to mention Chuck McCann as the voice of Santa Claus because, in both of the stories involving him, especially this one, he comes across as the truly kind, jolly soul that you would expect Santa to be. In fact, Mickey is lucky because, when he resorts to going to a department store Santa to help find Pluto, he happens to come across the real one and when Santa talks about Mickey to Pluto, you can hear the genuine kindness in his voice. I also like the ending scene where Mickey and Pluto get back together and reconcile, leading to the ending where all the main characters featured in the stories come together for their party and sing the same mixture of carols that they did at the end of the first movie (which is kind of odd since they use the same audio from Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, which featured the voice of young Max while teenage Max does show up with everyone else here, but whatever).
As with Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, this film has several directors: Carole Holliday, Matthew O'Callaghan, and Theresa Pettengill and, also like that film, they manage to make the stories and the interstitial blend together to keep a consistent look and feel with their great CGI animation and vibrant colors. It was also interesting to hear about some of the proposed stories that weren't used on the DVD special features, one in particular which I found intriguing: how Mickey and Minnie met, which involved Minnie being all alone on Christmas Eve and running into Mickey somewhere (I can't remember if it was at a store or what). That would have been interesting to see because, other than cartoons where it's the characters playing parts themselves like in The Three Musketeers and some of the classic shorts like The Brave Little Tailor, they've never tried to do that kind of story with the characters in their own personal scenarios (I hope that makes sense). Maybe if they ever do a third movie, they'll use that one. The directors also put in a running joke involving a grumpy old man character who appears in four of the stories. His most notable appearance is in Donald's Gift, where hot chocolate gets spilled on him twice, and he can also be seen in the crowd in Belles on Ice, in Christmas Maximus with Max spilling something on him on the train, and in Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas where Mickey gives him a MISSING flier with Pluto on it and he just throws it away. Think of him as this film's version of the man with the bottle who appeared in three James Bond films in a row.
As far as the music by Stephen James Taylor and Jim Wise goes, I really don't have much to say about it. Other than the opening music and the pieces that plays during the skating scenes in Belles on Ice, none of the music left that much of an impression. However, I do have to put over the song that plays over the ending credits: Share This Day by Scott Kelley, which is the best part of this entire movie in my opinion. That song is just so wonderful, catchy, and heartwarming that, if it doesn't put you in the Christmas mood, you either don't have a soul or you must have been sleeping. It's a shame that song isn't more well known because it's just such an awesome holiday medley.
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