In "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983), the Disney characters re-enact Charles Dickens' classic tale with Scrooge McDuck, of course, taking the role of his namesake and the story's main character. Mickey himself plays Scrooge's impoverished employee, Bob Cratchit, while Donald plays Scrooge's nephew, Fred Honeywell. But, of course, besides Scrooge himself, the other focus of the show are the four ghosts.
Goofy plays Scrooge's old partner, Jacob Marley, and warns the miser duck of his impending visitors which include Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past; Willie the Giant as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Pete as the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. But one of the fun aspects of this particular cartoon are the numerous cameos that the other Disney characters make. The careful observer will notice Mr. Toad, Ratty and Mole, all from Wind in the Willows, Chip, Dale, the Three Little Pigs (as well as their little-wolf counterparts) and many other characters that end up having very little screen time. But it is still something long-time Disney fans will love to see.
In "The Small One," which dates back to 1978, we go back some 2000 years to a young peasant boy that lives outside of Nazareth and is forced to sell one of his best friends, an old donkey named Small One. This short is the boy's brief adventure as he reluctantly tries to sell his friend, only to find a worthy and most unusual person to hand Little One off to.
The third cartoon is "Pluto's Christmas Tree" and has Mickey's favored pet discovering that the mouse's new Christmas tree is infested with none other than Chip 'n' Dale. As you would expect, this cartoon is a series of humorous chases of Pluto trying to run off the two chipmunks and help preserve Mickey's Christmas.
The final short in Disney Animation Collection Volume 7 is "Santa's Workshop" which has an odd, and quite frankly unnerving, feel in a modern, politically correct environment (well, at least in one scene with a certain baby doll). In this cartoon, Santa and his elves are working hard to get ready for Christmas and everything from checking the list, to stamping OK on toys and loading up the sleigh must all be done before Santa can fly off to all of the kids' houses.
All in all, this collection is a nice combination of classic Disney holiday cartoons that any Disney family should enjoy having in their collection. When compared to some of the other Animation Volumes released recently, the overall theme of the collection is much more solid and every short in the set fits the overall theme.
