The Best Christmas Carol Adaptation Involves None Other Than Mickey Mouse

Here's another exciting entry in this Holiday themed column, 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

Is there any other story more utilized in media than A Christmas Carol? Being in the public domain means the Charles Dickens book can be used with ease, and it's characters have such broad personalities its easy to fit any given cast of any show and fit them into the roles of the spirits or Bob Cratchit. My first exposure to the practice of well known characters reenacting this beloved tale is perhaps the best retelling of the story; Mickeys Christmas Carol.
Now, Mickey isn't the one starring in this particular adaptation despite getting his name in the title. It's actually Scrooge McDuck who plays the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge here, and the journey he takes in the course of this special may be well known, but it's well executed here. Much of that quality comes down to the special allowing for pacing that simultaneously keeps things progressing while not rushing character development. The way Scrooge changes over the years is tricky thing to depict, but the show does so in a more than satisfying manner. 

It isn't just Scrooge who gets to shine in the story though; it's actually Mickey Mouse in the role of Bob Cratchit that may just impress me the most. Despite my Disney obsession, I've always been more of a Bugs Bunny guy than a Mickey Mouse fellow, mainly because Mickey seemed to lack personality to me. But Mickey's Christmas Carol rectifies by depicting Mickey in more realistic circumstances, giving him a terrible job, a wife, a family, real world aspects that help make the character more relatable and interesting.

This kind of thought is applied to the entire show, especially in the animation which utilizes both subtle (I love how non-responsive the dove that Scrooge clutches at the end is) and blatant techniques to reinforce emotional and humorous moments. It's for those reasons and so many more that Mickey's Christmas Carol remains perhaps the definitive portrayal of the classic Dickens story.