''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' is a 1999 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

produced by

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA; also shortened to Disney TVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is an American animation production company that serves as the television a ...

. The film includes three features: ''Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas'' (featuring

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are Multiple birth, triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist and screenwriter Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro. They are the nephews of Donald Duck an ...

Daisy Duck Daisy Duck is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. She is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck that has large eyelashes and ruffled tail feathers around her lowest region to suggest a skirt. She is often s ...

, and

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...

), ''A Very Goofy Christmas'' (featuring

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, and Pete) and ''Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi'' (featuring

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

Minnie Mouse Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

, Pete, Daisy, and

Mortimer Mouse The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto as the primary members (colloquially know ...

). Other Disney characters also make cameos in the film. ''Stuck on Christmas'' is inspired by the 1892 short story "Christmas Every Day" by

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells ( ; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American Realism (arts), realist novelist, literary critic, playwright, and diplomat, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ...

and ''Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi'' is based on the 1905 short story "

The Gift of the Magi "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by American writer O. Henry, first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little mone ...

" by O. Henry. A sequel, titled '' Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'', was released on November 9, 2004. Unlike its predecessor, the sequel is produced in CGI rather than hand-drawn animation and is composed of five segments. Upon the release of ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'', the film received mixed reviews from critics. However, it was well-received by audiences, making the film a Christmas

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

Plot

''Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas''

Huey, Dewey and Louie wake up one Christmas morning and run downstairs to open their presents before Daisy, Scrooge and Gertie arrive. The boys then take their new sleds from Donald without reading the card and go sledding. As Donald, Daisy, Scrooge and Gertie sing carols, the boys play with their new toys. Having enjoyed the day immensely, the trio wishes to have Christmas every day. Their wish is granted and at first they are joyful. After a few days however, they realize that every Christmas will be exactly the same. The following day, the trio plays tricks and pranks, including swapping the cooked turkey with a live one at dinner. The boys, distraught at what they have done, read Donald and Daisy's card and they realize Christmas is about presents and being with family. The boys decide to make the next day the best Christmas ever. As the boys spread love and cheer by kissing Gertie and helping Daisy with dinner, Donald eventually becomes suspicious that they forgot something. That evening, after Donald interferes with his family's carol-singing, Huey realizes Donald's suspicions and he, Dewey and Louie give their uncle a sail boat made out of their sleds as a gift. To thank them for this gift, Donald hugs his nephews. At the end of the next day, the boys finally realize the true meaning of Christmas and the time loop ends, leading to the day after Christmas.

''A Very Goofy Christmas''

and his son Max prepare to mail a letter to

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

. Their neighbor Pete tells Max that Santa does not exist, saying that it is impossible for him to fly around the world in one night. Things begin to get worse when Goofy poses as Santa for some kids of a family in need, making Max believe that he tricked him. Goofy is determined to prove to Max that Santa does exist and stays up night on Christmas Ever to keep an eye out for him and photograph him, while a distraught Max just wants to move on and wishes for Goofy to do the same. After mistaking a Beagle Boy (who was robbing Pete's house) for Santa, Goofy eventually gives up hope of Santa coming. Max then does everything that Goofy did, to try and make him happy, including posing as (a very small) Santa himself, although Goofy soon finds out. The real Santa actually comes and gives Max the gift he had asked for earlier (as well as burying Pete's house next door in snow as punishment for his cruel disbelief). When Max asks Goofy if Santa forgot his present, Goofy answers that every year he always asks and receives Max's happiness.

''Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi''

Mickey wants to get Minnie a gold chain for her one heirloom, her watch, so he works at Crazy Pete's Tree Lot. Minnie wants to give Mickey a Christmas present as well, so she works to get a bonus at the department store. When Mickey offers a small tree to a poor family unable to buy a ten-footer tree, his greedy supervisor Pete steals Mickey's money and dismisses him. Pete inadvertently puts his lit cigar into his pocket with Mickey's money without noticing, which triggers a sequence that ends up setting himself, the money and his trees – including the 10-footers – on fire. Meanwhile, Minnie realizes her bonus from her supervisor

is actually a fruit cake. After playing music for a toy drive with the Firehouse Five, Mickey realizes he can trade his

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

for the gold chain. The shop closes when he gets there and the owner is uninterested in the harmonica, but reconsiders after hearing Mickey play it. Back at Minnie's house, Mickey gives her the chain for her watch, which she reveals she sold to buy Mickey a case for his harmonica, which he also no longer has. However, Mickey and Minnie get emotional seeing how far they went to profess their love and they will still be able to celebrate a happy Christmas. The main characters from all three segments later sing "

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the most commonly sung Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont. It is an unsettled question where and when Pierpont originally composed the song that would become known as "Jingle Bells". It ...

", "

Deck the Halls "Deck the Halls" is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is Welsh, dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, " Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862. ...

", and "

We Wish You a Merry Christmas "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is an English Christmas carol, listed as numbers 230 and 9681 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The famous version of the carol is from the English West Country. Popular version The Bristol-based composer, conductor ...

Voice cast

Wayne Allwine Wayne Anthony Allwine (February 7, 1947 – May 18, 2009) was an American voice actor, sound effects editor and Foley (filmmaking), foley artist. He was best remembered as the third official voice of Mickey Mouse in English language, English (fo ...

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She was best remembered for voicing the character of Minnie Mouse in English from 1986 to 2019, and was married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, ...

Tony Anselmo Tony Anselmo (born February 18, 1960) is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of Donald Duck since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor, Clarence Nash. He has also provided voices for Do ...

* Diane Michelle as

(''Gift of the Magi'') *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

as Daisy Duck (''Stuck on Christmas''), Chip, and Aunt Gertie *

Alan Young Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British-born actor. Young is best known for portraying Wilbur Post in the television comedy '' Mister Ed'' (1961–1966) and voicing Disney's Scrooge McDuck for over ...

* Bill Farmer as

Corey Burton Corey Burton is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformers'', Brainiac in the DC Animated Universe, Count Dooku and Cad Bane in ...

as Dale * Shaun Fleming as Max Goof *

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in over 400 titles. Cummings has frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., serving as the offic ...

as Peg Leg Pete, Police, Mailman, Fire Chief, Dad, onlooker, shop owner, and

Jeff Bennett Jeff Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor. He voiced the titular character of ''Johnny Bravo'', Dexter and Dee Dee's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', List of The Powerpuff Girls characters#Ace, Ace, List of The Powerpuff Gi ...

as Dad Firefighter #2,

, Store Announcer, Man, and Costumer *

Gregg Berger Gregory Alan Berger (born December 10, 1950) is an American voice actor. He is known for his roles as Jecht from ''Final Fantasy X'' and the ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' games, Grimlock from ''The Transformers (TV series), The Transformers'', Myste ...

as Mr Anderson and Shopper * Kylie Dempsey as Kid #2 and Little Girl * Taylor Dempsey as Little Jimmy, and Kid #1 * Andrew McDonaugh as Boy *

Pat Musick Patricia Anne Musick is an American voice actress who has provided numerous voices in many television shows, films, and video games. Career Musick’s first role was in the 1981 film ''The Loch Ness Horror''. Her roles in animation include Snapp ...

as Distressed Woman, Angry Woman, Eccentric Lady, Shopper and Mrs Anderson *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

as Turkey and Figaro *

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...

as the Narrator *

Tommy Morgan Thomas Morgan Edwards (December 4, 1932 – June 23, 2022) was an American harmonicist and session musician, who had been active since the 1950s. He was considered one of the most heard harmonica players in the world, playing in over 500 fea ...

as Mickey's harmonica soloist

Release

Home media

''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' was originally released on VHS and DVD on November 9, 1999. It was later re-released on VHS and on DVD (as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection) on November 7, 2000. Coinciding with its 15th anniversary, the film was released in a 2-Movie Collection

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

with '' Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'' on November 4, 2014. In 2000, the film was part of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Happy Meals toys as one six titles highlighted as the Disney Video Showcase Collection. Each toy came as one of three interlocking characters from the film (Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto) packaged in a simulated video case. The film was made available to stream on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. It was subsequently released on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Broadcast

''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' aired in the United States on

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

in December 2013, and in December 2015. It aired on Freeform in December 2022.

Reception and legacy

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported an approval rating of 50% based on 6 reviews with an average rating of 5.60/10. Allison McClain Merrill of ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...

'' called the three stories of ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' "memorable", while Zach Grass wrote, "This movie is like a cup of hot chocolate with all the marshmallows and toppings you could possibly ask for. The plots aren't exactly deep, but they're touching, funny, and oh-so festive that you just can't help but catch the feels from these wholesome holiday stories. They'll definitely make your binging session merry and bright." Caitlin Gallagher of ''

PopSugar PopSugar Inc. is an American media and technology company that is the parent to the media property PopSugar (stylized POPSUGAR) and a monthly subscription business PopSugar Must Have. The company was founded in 2006 by married couple Brian and Lis ...

'' described ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' as one of the "perfect holiday underdogs" and as a "heartwarming movie", while Sabienna Bowman said, "Each one of the segments is terrific, but Mickey and Minnie's version of "The Gift of the Magi" is a standout for being a total tearjerker." Andrea Beach of ''

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

'' gave ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' a grade of three out of five stars, and praised the depiction of positive messages and role models, citing love, caring, and the spirit of giving. Megan McCluskey of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' included ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' in their "10 Best Christmas Movies for Kids on Netflix" list, stating, "Disney's most beloved characters get into some holiday hijinks in one of the best Christmas kid movies on Netflix. With two Disney-themed retellings of classic Christmas tales, "Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas" and "Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi", as well as the original short "A Very Goofy Christmas", this animated anthology is a nice solo-watch for kids." Bryce Olin of ''

FanSided FanSided is a network of more than 301 commercial American sports, lifestyle, and entertainment websites and newsletters. It was co-founded and launched in 2009 by brothers Zach Best and Adam Best. The network was sold to Time Inc. in May 2015. ...

'' included ''Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas'' in their "Best Christmas Movies on Netflix 2016" list. Michael Thomas of ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...

'' included ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' in their "Best Holiday Movies and Shows on Disney+ Right Now" list, stating, "''Once Upon a Christmas'' is Disney at its finest. It's a wholesome watch with beautiful animation, and all three stories fit well within the relatively short runtime. We're reminded why Mickey and the gang have endured for so long," while Ashley Amber ranked the film ninth in their "10 Best Animated Christmas Classics" list and described it as a "memorable watch for gen Z-ers and millennials alike." Ashley Jones of '' Romper'' ranked ''Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas'' fifth in their "20 Of The Best Christmas Movies For Kids" list, saying, "Though it's not so much a movie as it is a film-length collection of animated shorts, ''Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas'' earns a spot on this list thanks to its charming holiday appeal. Kids who love Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and the whole crew won't be able to resist these heartwarming stories." Rachel Johnson of ''

MovieWeb Valnet, Inc. is a Canadian media company established in August 2012 by Hassan and Sam Youssef in Montreal, Quebec. It operates primarily in the entertainment media industry, where it has sought to acquire producers of content in this space. In ...

'' ranked ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' eighth in their "Best Christmas Movies of the 1990s" list and called it a "holiday gem". ''

TV Insider ''TV Guide'' is an American biweekly magazine that provides television program listings information as well as television-related news, celebrity interviews and gossip, film reviews, crossword puzzles, and, in some issues, horoscopes. The print ...

'' ranked ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' thirty-eight in their "50 Best Holiday Specials and Movies of All Time" list, asserting, "There is lots of fun, songs and laughter and you'll find yourself being thawed out of any "humbug" state and embracing the Christmas spirit."

Accolades

''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' won the Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 5th

Kecskemét Animation Film Festival Kecskemét Animation Film Festival () (KAFF) is an animated film festival held biennially during the month of June in Kecskemét, Hungary. Although the bulk of the festival is oriented toward efforts in Hungarian animation, the associated KAFF-spo ...

in 1999. It was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Video Production at the 2000

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origi ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas 1999 films 1999 American animated direct-to-video films 1999 children's films 1999 comedy films 1990s Christmas comedy films 1990s children's animated films 1990s children's comedy films 1990s fantasy comedy films Works based on The Gift of the Magi American anthology films American children's animated comedy films American Christmas comedy films Disney direct-to-video animated films Donald Duck films Animated films based on American short stories Films directed by Bradley Raymond Goofy (Disney) films Mickey Mouse films Santa Claus in film Films set in shopping malls Time loop films Animated Christmas films Disney Television Animation films Scrooge McDuck Films directed by Jun Falkenstein Films produced by Jim Ballantine 1990s English-language films Films based on works by O. Henry 1990s films about time travel English-language Christmas comedy films