I?m consistently the first person to complain when holiday decorations start going up before Halloween, so you must understand that when Disney released two holiday-themed DVDs a few weeks ago, I was exasperated, to say the least. The two disks, Volumes 8 and 9 in Disney?s Classic Cartoon Favorites collection, came out at just the right time from a retailer?s standpoint, but as a consumer, Disney seemed to be jumping the gun. And before you feed the Mass Holiday Purchases machine, you should make sure that you don?t jump the gun as well: only Volume 9 is really worth the investment.
Volume 8, called Holiday Celebration with Mickey & Pals, is comprised of seven episodes featuring Mickey, Pluto, Donald, Chip and Dale and a smattering of nondescript Disney characters. The seven-minute episodes will be familiar to most hardcore Disney cartoon fans, particularly the episodes entitled Corn Chips (Donald vs. Chip and Dale in a battle of snow-shoveling, and then popcorn-hijacking, wits) and Toy Tinkers (Donald vs. Chip and Dale in a beneath-the-Christmas-tree rivalry over walnuts). Other episodes, however, are a bit more on the fringe, with one (Peculiar Penguins) being a musical short about two penguins in a lover?s spate, and another (Mickey?s Good Deed) being a cute but bizarre cartoon in which Mickey sells Pluto so he can buy Christmas presents for a poverty-stricken family.
The cartoons on this disk span several decades of Disney entertainment, and by and large they appear to be in chronological order. Mickey?s Good Deed, for example, has an artistic and musical style that screams ?just a few years after Steamboat Willie,? while Toy Tinkers has a much more polished look, sound and story. As a result, the earliest episodes are probably best suited for older Disney fans, while the more-recent ones are sure to entertain kids and adults alike. The mix, however, means that Volume 8 isn?t for everyone, particularly when Volume 9, released at the same time, is an instant classic.
Unlike Holiday Celebration with Mickey & Pals (Vol. 8), Classic Holiday Stories (Vol. 9) includes only three cartoons, two of which are fully fleshed-out stories that span 25 minutes. The first of these cartoons, The Small One, tells a typical Disney story of an ?underdog? donkey whose young master reluctantly takes him to town for silver. Since this is a feel-god cartoon, and since it?s holiday-themed, it?s none too surprising when the aloof donkey ends up being Mary and Joseph?s ride into Bethlehem.
Still, it?s the third cartoon that really seals the deal with Classic Holiday Stories: Mickey?s Christmas Carol. One of the few treasures in the holiday TV lineup, Mickey?s Christmas Carol retells the classic Christmas Carol tale through the eyes of Mickey, Goofy and Scrooge McDuck. This cartoon alone is worth the purchase price of Volume 9, but the fact that it?s one of three cartoons on the hour-long disk make it the hands-down choice when debating between the two.
It?s still too early in my opinion to be thinking about the holidays, but if you?re one of those consumers who gets in the holiday spirit early, Disney was thinking of you when they released these DVDs. As you look for holiday-themed entertainment to justify your holiday-themed mindset, skip Vol. 8 and head straight for Vol. 9. Your wallet, and your entire family, will be happier for the decision.
— Jonas Allen
