MICKEY'S MAGICAL CHRISTMAS: SNOWED IN AT THE HOUSE OF MOUSE - DVD review

I was never a fan of "Disney's House of Mouse," and neither were enough people to keep the series on the Disney Channel for more than a few years. Cartoons that take characters out of their stories and contexts and throw them into a single venue never appealed to me, and that's the basis for "House of Mouse." Each episode has a framework structure where Mickey is running a nightclub and serving as the emcee, while Donald works at more menial tasks and grumbles that he should be running the show. In the audience are just about every Disney character imaginable, and maybe I'm the only one, but I find it a little disturbing to see Disney princesses mingling at a nightclub with three little pigs, a warthog, and a meerkat. I wouldn't have thought that their fathers would have been too happy about it either, but half of them are here in the audience as well.

The regulars are Mickey (voiced by Wayne Allwine), Donald and his nephews (Tony Anselmo), Goofy and Pluto (Bill Farmer), Minnie (Russi Taylor), Daisy (Tress MacNeille), Ludwig Von Drake (Corey Burton), Pete (Jim Cummings), Hades (James Woods), and the Genie from "Aladdin" (Robin Williams).

Really, it's an animated version of the old children's show kiddie host who was basically the glue that held a few cartoons together. We got a few gags and distractions, and then an intro to a cartoon, then a few more gags and distractions before another cartoon, and another. "House of Mouse" follows the same tried-and-true format, squeezing in several cartoons into a 20-minute show. "Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse" was a 65-minute version that was released in 2001.

The framework structure is a little rickety, which makes you wonder why Disney didn't just put out a compilation of Christmas-related cartoons. Oh, wait . . . they DID that earlier this year with "Disney Animation Collection 7: Mickey's Christmas Carol," which has some of the same cartoons as this one. What's annoying is that a fun cartoon, "The Nutcracker," appears only on this release but not on the other Christmas DVD, which I've previously reviewed. But I can't imagine people wanting to buy both of these because there's so much overlapping. "Mickey's Christmas Carol" and "Pluto's Christmas Tree" appear on both the Animation Collection volume and "Mickey's Magical Christmas." And since I've reviewed those cartoons before, I won't go into great detail except to pronounce them both solid family fun.

"Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse" offers those two cartoons plus "The Nutcracker" and "Donald on Ice."

"The Nutcracker" is a sassy little Disney version of the ballet, only done rather minimally and with plenty of wisecracking and zero ballet. Minnie plays Maria, while Ludwig Von Drake is a feisty Drosselmeier who gets tossed out of the story by the narrator for ripping the head off The Nutcracker. Yep, that's the tone, and it's very much in the wise guy spirit of the old Ludwig Von Drake routines we've seen over the years. The Nutcracker is shaped like a little Mickey (which presents a problem if one were to stay true to the ballet-I mean, The Nutcracker is supposed to lead the toy soldiers against the rats and Rat Queen, so wouldn't it be confusing to have rodents on both sides?). Other liberties have been taken. There's no Fritz, for example, and no party scene--just the basic broken Nutcracker story. Still, it's fun for people who are familiar with the ballet.

"Donald on Ice" begins with Huey, Dewey, and Louie building a snowman, then we get Donald trying to ice skate and having a hard time of it. Eventually he cracks the ice, and like a scene from "Ice Age," the crack runs all over the place until it finally takes Donald to a cave where an Abominable Snowman looks like a dead ringer for the one that the nephews built. As Disney cartoons go, this one is as solid as "Pluto's Christmas Tree," which has Chip 'n' Dale wreaking havoc when they're brought indoors on a tree that Mickey cut down in order to trim. But the gem on this set is still "Mickey's Christmas Carol," with it's elaborate and sympathetic rendering of the Dickens' classic story. It's uplifting and it doesn't have nearly the fright-factor of live-action versions of "A Christmas Carol."

Still, there's that annoying overlapping of two cartoons and a framework that's really superfluous. As a result, "Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse" is less the must-have holiday Disney DVD than the superior "Animation Collection 7." The only people I could see opting for this one over the "Animation Collection" release are those who don't want their children seeing anything that has Christian elements in it. And the previous Christmas collection features a tale about the donkey that eventually carried Mary to her stable destination and appointment with destiny.

Video:
The copyright at the end runs from 1952 to 2001, and so there's predictably some variation in picture quality. "The Nutcracker" is probably the roughest, while "Mickey's Christmas Carol" has the most detail and least amount of grain or edge blurr. Once again, though "Mickey's Christmas Carol" was presented originally in 1.78:1 aspect ratio, it appears again in 1.33:1, probably for the sake of uniformity again. Everything is in that aspect ratio. But colors are bright and festive, and the target audience--kids--probably won't notice or care.

Audio:
Both audio options are strong: an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, and a DTS 5.1 Surround. There might be a little more ping to the DTS, with a brighter high end and a livelier timbre all the way around.

Extras:
There's a really neat feature here that adults will enjoy as much as children. We see the voice of Mickey Mouse and one of Disney's sound pioneers, Wayne Allwine, in a short feature where he teaches a group of children how to make sound effects. The fire from "Bambi"? A bundle of bamboo sticks tied together and then rubbed between thumb and fingers to make a crackling sound. In the end, Allwine tells a story for which the children create sound effects, and the camera cuts back and forth between cartoon clips and the children at work. It's a fun and fascinating little bonus feature. Sadly, Allwine died earlier in he year, so this under three-minute feature now stands as a memorial.

Fans of "House of Mouse" might enjoy the premiere episode, which is included here in its entirety. Rounding out the bonus features are two sing-alongs from "Disney Sing-Along Songs: A Very Merry Christmas": "Deck the Halls" and "Sleigh Ride." It's kind of cute that instead of a bouncing ball it's a Mickey-shaped Christmas wreath telling you which words to sing.

Bottom Line:
I'm probably not alone, but I'd much prefer a collection of cartoons without a framework like this time-waster from "House of Mouse." There are a few fun gags (as when Mickey is told to get a drink, and he drinks from a giant hamster/mouse water dispenser), but mostly it's just something to endure between cartoons.