- Jiminy Cricket
I have always loved the Disney clam shells for their VHS tapes. Sure, they took up a lot of room in video cabinets but they were very durable. The clam shells also took great care when it came to the cover artwork, except for the later re-releases that used more kid-friendly and more boring photoshop touch-ups. Of course, that criticism could have came from the infamous Little Mermaid cover. Anyway, the majority of the clam shells I had were the films, with only a couple being compilations. Two of them were special around the holidays, as they were packaged with many segments and shorts that centered around Christmas. These two video releases, which I thoroughly enjoyed as a kid, were Jiminy Cricket's Christmas and A Walt Disney Christmas.
First, I'll talk about the one that hasn't survive too well, the 1986 video release Jiminy Cricket's Christmas. This is one of the strangest and confusing hatchet-jobs of a compilation. It is enjoyable but the glaring cuts and dubbing mixed with the odd segment choices create a giant piece of confusion. The video is structured in ten segments, with all of them being introduced by Jiminy Cricket. However, though I can't find any information, I do believe the Jiminy Cricket intros, along with some of the selections, were taken from a Christmas episode of one of Walt Disney's old shows. The animation is limited and repeated, there's the presence of Tinkerbell, and the quality is very rough. More importantly, Jiminy himself alternates between two voice actors, with the old footage possibly being Cliff Edwards and Eddie Carroll doing the new dub.
Now, the selection of clips is badly edited. The video starts with 80's video quality shots of a Christmas tree and a fireplace before a song by Jiminy Cricket. Then there's another 80's esque music video with a song called "Christmas Morning", where a Mickey Mouse mascot and kids look at a toy store. The rest of the clips are taken from the Disney vaults, with the majority of them sadly being from Disney films. I say sadly because except for "The Nutcracker Suite" from Fantasia, the rest are songs from other films (Pinocchio, Cinderella, etc.) that have nothing to do with Christmas or even the winter season. These songs are included and shown by Jiminy as part of a plotline involving "Christmas cards", which apparently the Disney characters sent to him. The quality of these clips aren't very good at all.
As for the other inclusions, there are three Disney shorts that are edited except for one special short that was proclaimed never to be released to video. The first one is "Toy Tinkers", a 1949 short where Donald fights with Chip and Dale in his house with his presents and toys. Why Donald has toys when there is no company expected isn't explained but the short is just too darn funny to let that suspend you. The next is "The Art of Skiing", one of Goofy's classic training shorts that very unfortunately had its opening cut out. The final and special short is "Mickey's Good Deed", a very ancient 1932 release with Mickey and Pluto in black and white. It is a very odd treasure, where the two are starving on the streets on Christmas. Then, in a very confusing series of events, Mickey sells Pluto to a rich man's spoiled kid in order to give presents to a starving and broke family that they randomly eavesdropped on. Through deus ex machina, the two are later reunited to eat a turkey dinner though if I was Pluto I would be very pissed at Mickey. The video ends with Jiminy singing "When You Wish Upon a Star", which I'll admit does work as a good Christmas song.
Jiminy may have been a mixed bag of gifts but A Walt Disney Christmas is a true joy to re-watch again. This 1982 video release consists of nothing but six shorts, though it too could have been better structured in the matching iconography and humor the shorts use. The video starts with "Once Upon a Wintertime". This short actually started off in a Disney film, 1948's Melody Time, before being released separately. "Once" has no dialogue except for the title song by singer Frances Langford, relying strictly on the fluidity of its animation. A somewhat remake of the silent film Way Down East, it follows a human couple and a rabbit couple as they all skate around a frozen lake before they both have a lover's quarrel. Danger arrives as the women are trapped on broken ice and headed for a waterfall. The short has a nice romantic charm to it and has great animation. The next two are the most controversial inclusions, due to dated racist jokes involving black-face and The Jazz Singer. "Santa's Workshop" pretty much lives up to its title, as it consists of silly toy-making jokes and Santa getting prepared for his trip. The constantly-laughing and very creepy Santa heads into the world, passing by an even creepier Georges Melies-style moon. This leads into "The Night Before Christmas", where Santa stops at a house to hand out presents and waste time by playing with the delivered toys. The two can be enjoyable though the racist throwaway jokes are very distracting.
The last three involve the iconic Disney characters. The simply titled "On Ice" has Mickey and the gang playing on ice. This short was obviously the template for "Once Upon a Wintertime", as the same jokes and action scenes take place. Mickey tries to teach Minnie to skate while Goofy tries to fish with a slab of tobacco and a giant club. Donald ribs on Pluto before somehow getting stuck to a kite and screams for help before heading over a waterfall. A dated short but it has good comedic timing and some great animated moments. Next up is "Donald's Snow Fight", my favorite of the shorts. Yet again, Donald is being a jerk by destroying his nephews' snowman. After a funny gag with a snowman made over a giant rock, Donald declares revenge by using his giant snow battleship to destroy their snow fort. The short is just great with many fantastic jokes and humorous lines ("That's unconstitutional!"). The finale is "Pluto's Christmas Tree", which is very much like "Toy Tinkers" except Pluto takes over for Donald. Pluto wants to get Chip and Dale out of the Christmas tree while Mickey plays the blindman to all of their proceedings. I have always enjoyed this short a lot due to the inside shots of Chip and Dale in the Christmas tree. The backgrounds are beautiful with their hazy and sentimental colors of the ornaments and the branches.
These two videos are still entertaining to behold. Except for a later VHS re-release, the two were not brought to DVD. All of the shorts, however, are scattered around on various holiday-themed DVD releases and in several Walt Disney Treasures. I definitely recommend these, as Disney knew how to make magical Christmas animation.
TOMORROW'S ENTRY: A man and his puppets save Christmas from various evil beings. One which is human and another is only a film.
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