When I wrote my own version of Dickens’ classic I also had this charming short film in mind. Believe it or not, it’s one of the better adaptations in terms of being true to the original while bringing a unique flavor.
ONE
Credits roll over sepia drawings. A page of Victorian London transitions into a moving shot that finds Scrooge walking along a snow-covered street. The Big Bad Wolf in a Santa suit rings a bell while the Three Little Pigs sing a carol. (Recognizing Disney characters is part of the fun.)
Scrooge (McDuck, of course) gives a “Bah!” when asked to donate to the poor. He arrives outside his Counting House and acknowledges that Marley is dead. He also establishes his miserliness (albeit, a cartoon take on it).
TWO
Entering, he catches Mickey Cratchit trying to place one coal into the cold stove. Denied the chance to heat the room, Mickey asks for a half day tomorrow as it’s Christmas.
(The film is so good at showing all the meanness while making it light for children. Scrooge is horrible and Cratchit is pitiable, as they should be, yet this version gets us to laugh, too.)
THREE
Scrooge agrees, although a half day equals half pay. Mickey got a raise when he started doing Scrooge’s laundry, so he now makes two shillings and a ha’penny.
FOUR
In comes Fred (Donald Duck) with his Christmas cheer. (Fred gives his pro-Christmas speech in Donald’s indecipherable cheek-wheezing, and Cratchit applauds, “Well said!” Hahaha.) Scrooge reprimands them — “Humbug!” — and literally kicks Fred out the door.
Now Mole and Rat (from Wind in the Willows) enter to solicit funds for the destitute. Scrooge outmaneuvers them.
Dissolve to later. It’s dark, and Mickey tries to warm his hands at the lamp. (It’s seven at night!) Getting off work, he takes the bag of laundry and cheerfully heads out.
The town clock now says nine. Scrooge locks up and leaves. He walks home in the snow and dark. Dissolve to his house and its door knocker as he arrives. It morphs into a brass Goofy who yodels, “Scrooooooge!” Scrooge recognizes him as Marley, although he doesn’t believe it.
Spooked, he heads inside and starts up the stairs while a Goofy shadow tiptoes behind him, chains around his ankles. Scrooge finally notices and dashes into his apartment, throwing all the locks and bolts.
Ghost Goofy, chanting, “Ebenez-ur Scroooge,” materializes through the door. He trips over the real cane, falling, and says, “Gorsh.” (Sorry, these are precious moments, haha. Goofy is the least intimidating Marley ever created.)
Scrooge now believes this is his partner. Marley shows off his chains and warns that the same fate awaits Scrooge. He announces the arrival tonight of three spirits, and leaves.
SWITCH
Later, Scrooge in his nightcap prepares for bed. With a “humbug” at the thought of spirits, he blows out the candle and pulls his bed drapes.
FIVE
A lolloping noise and a bouncing camera lead to Jiminy Cricket landing on the table and lighting the candle with his umbrella. He rings the alarm clock bell. (It’s one o’clock.)
He’s the Ghost of Christmas Past, and he’s easy for Scrooge to ignore. However, he manages to get Scrooge to hold him as he opens his umbrella and takes them for a ride.
They careen through the London rooftops until they end up at Fezziwig’s Tea Company. Scrooge is excited as they look through the window and see a scene from his past. Animals we recognize dance, Toad (as Fezziwig) plays the fiddle, and Daisy Duck (as Isabelle) dances with the young, lovestruck Ebenezer.
The scene changes to later, when Isabelle breaks her engagement with him. Older Scrooge can no longer bear it and asks to go home.
Dissolve to his bedside clock chiming two. Scrooge in bed sees a light coming through the crack in his bed drapes. Sitting on a large pile of gold is the Jack and the Beanstalk Giant playing the Ghost of Christmas Present. (He’s very funny.) He lifts the roof of Scrooge’s building, climbing out of it like a box, uses a street lamp like a torch, and wanders London as if it were a child’s play village. He dives down like a dog in front of Cratchit’s oversized front window.
Minnie Cratchit serves a small game hen for dinner. (Scrooge asks what’s in the large pot on the fire? “That’s your laundry.”) In a family of sweet-natured mice, Tiny Tim is precious. When Scrooge realizes that Tim may die, the window goes dark. and only the Giant’s footprints remain in the snow.
Fog mists in. Coughing, Scrooge is now at the cemetery. He’s surrounded by cigar smoke, blown by a huge figure in a hood, the Ghost of Christmas Future.
SIX
A finger points to the Cratchits gathered around a grave plot. Mickey, weeping, places the little crutch on the headstone. Scrooge moans with despair.
SEVEN
Snickering attracts his attention. It’s the Weasels, digging a grave hole. The headstone is already in place: Ebenezer Scrooge. Pete (who plays the Ghost) lights a match, revealing the name, and backslaps Scrooge into the pit. Way, way down at the bottom is a coffin with fire belching around the lid. Holding a root, Scrooge tries to climb out while Pete guffaws.
EIGHT
When he drops and falls, we’re back in Scrooge’s house with him trapped in the bed drapes. It’s Christmas morning, and Scrooge is a new man. He gives money to Moley and Ratty. He runs into his nephew Donald in the street and accepts his invitation to dinner. With faux annoyance, he arrives at Cratchit’s with a large sack on his back. (Assumedly, laundry.) Tiny Tim discovers the toys in the bag, and Scrooge breaks down into merriment. (Haha, a giant cooked turkey is tucked in with the clowns and teddy bears. Ew.)
NINE
Tim gets his, “God bless us, everyone,” line, and the scene of cheer becomes a sepia drawing. The End.
CRITICAL NOTES
It’s a simple telling that derives most of its fun from using Disney characters in a known story. The Three/Six is a little wonky, but the more I think about it, the more I like it: Mickey is pitiful. At the Three we pity him in a light-hearted way; at the Six it’s serious and painful.
The only sour note for me is Pete as Christmas Future. I’m not familiar enough with him to enjoy the joke. They wanted someone big and coarse, but I wish they’d gone completely in the other direction and used Toad. His obsession with motor car noises always unsettled me as a child. Let Badger be Fezziwig.