I do sincerely apologize to our baker’s dozen of regular readers for lack of posts lately. More importantly, I’d never be able to forgive myself if I didn’t acknowledge the birthday of one of my all-time favorite cartoon characters!

Happy Birfday, Double D! Art by Poschki

Yep, Donald Duck turned the rip old of age of 77 back on June 9th, so I thought I’d honor Disney’s ill-tempered water fowl with his very own Fan Art Friday, finding as many pieced of fan crafted pieces as I could scare up over at DeviantArt.com. If you dig any of the art below as much as I did, why not follow the provided links and let the artist know yourself?

Not sure why, but there’s a ridiculous amount of Three Cabelleros inspired art out there, such as this one by Henrieke

An irritated Don with comic book color scheme by Skrunch

I’m always happiest when Donald’s angry. Art by PaCoElMoRsA

For a change of pace, here’s the duck sullen and tweaked. Art by J-J-A

Okay, now that’s almost too sad. Art by Ubodan

Back to the happy with an amazing mosaic made up of cartoon still by CrystalMask. Click that shit to enlarge

World of WarCraft fans should get a kick out of mickeymonster‘s piece

Speaking of video games, akumath‘s duck sprite work rules beyond belief

And another Daffy clash by lzx. Anything that reminds the world of Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a good thing indeed

Another Caballeros shot by Firecat1996

Back to the sad and disturbing thanks to Johannek. Wait, did he just kill Daisy’s grave?

Okay, back to the cheerful. Hopefully this makes you as happy as it makes me. Thanks again to CrystalMask

An amazing sketch by zdrer456 recalling the amazing 1952 short “Donald Applecore“

Another sad one super fast by Utopicam and we’ll get you right back to feelin’ good

D’awwww… thanks for another Three Caballeros inspired piece, skyecrystal

Okay, one last cute one and we’re going to get into the weird… thanks Melian86

Awesome… just awesome paper planes

It’s like he’s guest starring on Ren & Stimpy! I’d probably get this tattooed on my body, Themrock

Jesus Christ… uh, thanks Cilluut

Can’t explain why, but this one might be my favorite. Amazing interpretation, UncleLaurence

Oh, I know why! ‘Cause I love Scrooge McDuck almost as much. Big ups to you Crabamoustache

More Don and Scrooge. This slick piece by endpiece

How ’bout some DuckTales/Carl Barks inspired art. Phenomenal, Frobman

BAH-NAH-NUH-NAAAAH! Duck, Don Duck by xXXxMarijexxXXx. Let’s do some Marvel ones!

Duck Ock by raheight

He’s like the last person who should be holding that hammer. By Smudgedredd

Very nice, Markside

Okay, we saw a lot of this after Disney bought Marvel. But let’s be honest, Donald as Hulk is the most approprite. Good on ya, aeolus06

Oh! Did you think me and lokiescape would let you get out of here without a few semi-disturbing depictions?

And I’ll leave you with this Kingdom Hearts inspired ladyboy cosplay. Thanks Hopie-chan

That’s it! And once again, a very happy birthday to the world’s most famous duck. And the last thing you should to to celebrate DD’s B-Day is watch none other than “Donald’s Birthday.” It’s the amazing 1949 cartoon that’s probably most famous for being awesome enough to force kids to smoke!

Similar to what we did last year with the Top 25 Cartoon Christmas Trees, A Cartoon Christmas is letting you (AND ME!) skip the usual 1000+ words of grammatically defiant babble on this day of days, while still giving you the opportunity to look at some gorgeous animated imagery.

REAL SANTAS

1. “Classic Santa” from A Disney Christmas Gift

I forget who issued me the challenge, but it was this: Can you find 50 different pictures from cartoon Santas? Well, two years + one post a day, every day in December until Christmas = 50 posts… yeah, sounds easy enough.

2. “Party Santa” from The Snowman (buy it here)

But wait?! There ain’t no Santy Claws in Mickey’s Christmas Carol or A Charlie Brown Christmas! And a few days on the animated advent calendar over there on left are, debatebly, cop out entries… You know, I could do it if I can do cartoon approximations of Saint Nick (i.e. cartoons characters posing as Santa) in addition to the Real McDeal! And that’s how we’re going to break these down: Real and Fake Santas.

3. “Slow Santa” from Sonic’s Christmas Blast (buy it here)

Both are just as fun to look at anyway, right? Oh, and keep an eye out for a third SUPER SECRET category if I can’t meet the numeric criteria.

4. “Magician Santa” from Frosty the Snowman (buy it here)

Please enjoy our last post on the 2010’s Animated Advent Calendar, and feel free to click on image/link to read more on about the special showcase.

5. “Stranded Santa” from A Wish for Wings That Work (buy it here)

And if you feel like buying the DVD, please do it through the Amazon link provided. Doing so costs you nothing, but kicks a small percentage back to us, which helps keep the site up. Or at least we hope it will someday!

6. “Useless Santa” from The Great Santa Caper starring Raggedy Ann

7. “Second Banana Santa” from A Chipmunks Christmas (buy it here)

8. “Sickly Santa” from Christmas Comes to PacLand

9. “Recipient Santa” from A Johnny Bravo Christmas (buy it here)

10. “Shouldn’t Count Santa” from Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus (buy it here)

11. “Skinny Santa” from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (buy it here)

12. “Donkey-Worshiping Santa” from Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey (buy it here)

13. “Massive Santa” from Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves on Fire (buy it here)

14. “Writer Santa” from A Spongebob Squarepants Christmas (buy it here)

15. “Stupid Santa” from Super Mario Bros. Super Show: Koopa Klaus (buy it here)

16. “Smokin’ Claus” from ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (buy it here)

17. “Blink and you’ll miss ‘em Santa” from Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (buy it here)

18. “Captive Santa” from Invader Zim: The Most Horrible Xmas Ever (buy it here)

19. “Young Ginger Santa” from Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (buy it here)

20. “Interstellar Santa” from George and the Christmas Star (buy it here)

21. “Sleepy Santa” from A Claymation Christmas Celebration (buy it here)

22. “Stinky Santa” from Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy’s First Fart (buy it here)

FAKE SANTAS

23. “Robotnik Claus” from Sonic’s Christmas Blast (buy it here)

24. “Opus Claus” from A Wish for Wings That Work (buy it here)

25. “Kermit Claus” (no longer) from The Christmas Toy (buy it here)

26. “Funky Claus” from TaleSpin: A Molly Jolly Christmas (buy it here)

27. “Robot Holocaust Claus” from Batman: Christmas with The Joker (buy it here)

28. “Snoopy Claus” from It’s ChristmasTime Again, Charlie Brown (buy it here)

29. “Donald Claus” from Toy Tinkers (buy it here)

30. “Racist Claus” from Mickey’s Good Deed (buy it here)

31. “Claus of Doom” from Invader Zim: The Most Horrible Xmas Ever (buy it here)

32. “Samson Claus” from A Very Venture Christmas (buy it here)

33. “Squidward Claus” from A Spongebob Squarepants Christmas (buy it here)

34. “Taz Clauz” from Bugs Bunny Looney Christmas Tales (buy it here)

35. “Dale Claus” from Pluto’s Christmas Tree (buy it here)

36. “Goofy Santa” from Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (buy it here)

37. “An Extremely Goofy Santa” Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (buy it here)

38. “Prince Adam Claus” from He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (buy it here)

39. “BBB Claus” from A Fat Albert Christmas (buy it here)

40. “Sad, Drunk Claus” from Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (buy it here)

41. “Extinct Claus” from A Claymation Christmas Celebration (buy it here)

42. “Dried Fruit Claus” from A Claymation Christmas Celebration (buy it here)

43. ” Doc Claus” from A Muppet Family Christmas

44. “Redemption Claus” from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (buy it here)

YET TO BE COVERED SANTAS

45. “Pink Santa” from A Pink Christmas (buy it here)

46. “Worst 2010 Movie Star Santa” from Yogi’s First Christmas (buy it here)

47. “Nothing to Apologize for Santa” from Pee-Wee Herman’s Christmas Special (buy it here)

48. “Warner Santa” from Anamaniacs’ ‘Twas the Day Before Christmas

49. “Ruckus Claus” from A Huey Freeman Christmas (buy it here)

50. “Robot Santa” from Futurama’s Xmas Story (buy it here)

Seriously, thanks to everyone for reading this stuff. Really means a lot. (Now go have a great Christmas!)

An animated gift for almost any smartphone

If there’s anything I have too much of on my hard drive, it’s used and unused cartoon Christmas art. Next to optimizing it for the web, I’d say I spent a ridiculous amount of time last year scaling and tinkering the shots I pulled into the perfect iPhone Wallpaper. So, this year I’m turning that frustration into my gift to you guys! Simply, tap and hold any image below on your iPhone/iPod Touch, save, head to the Photos app and assign them using the “Set as Wallpaper” function on the left. The rest of the work has been done for you.

From How the Grinch Stole Christmas

From Pluto’s Christmas Tree

From Bug’s Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales

From Frosty the Snowman

From Invader Zim’s The Most Horrible Xmas Ever

From A Wish for Wings that Work

From The Christmas Toy

From It’s Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown

From A Claymation Christmas Celebration

From The Christmas Toy

From Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales

From How the Grinch Stole Christmas

From Invader Zim’s The Most Horrible Xmas Ever

From It’s Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown

From Mickey’s Christmas Carol

From A Fat Albert Christmas

From Fraggle Rock’s The Bells of Fraggle Rock

From How the Grinch Stole Christmas

From Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol

From Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

From Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

From A Muppet Family Christmas

From The Snowman

From Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

From Mystery Science Theater 3000′s Santa Claus

From Mickey’s Christmas Carol

From Ren & Stimpy’s “Stimpy’s First Fart”

From Toy Tinkers

And for a taste of what’s to come on A Cartoon Christmas 2010…

Hope that makes it a little easier to decorate your smartphones this Holiday season. Stay tuned, A Cartoon Christmas is just getting warmed up!

MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL
Original Air Date: December 10, 1984
(Theatrical Premiere: December 13, 1983)

SYNOPSIS:
Scrooge McDuck takes on the role he was born to play in Disney’s damn-near definitive version of Charles Dickens’ Holiday classic.

BACKSTORY:
As mentioned back in the Pluto’s Christmas Tree article, Mickey’s theatrical appearances sputtered to a halt in the early 50’s. Donald starred in a handful of cartoons on into the 60’s, while Mickey and the rest of Disney’s classic stable of characters continued their popularity on television. But the medium that prompted Mickey’s return to the big screen for the first time in thirty years is a rather unexpected one, indeed.

Turns out it was the record, cassette, and to a far lesser extent, the 8-track, that launched Mickey back into theaters. The album Dickens’ Christmas Carol, featuring “The Disney Players,” was released during the Holidays of 1975 in limited quantities, with new editions following each Christmas.

A vintage commercial for the Disney Christmas record

Of the many songs recorded for the album, only one would find its way into Mickey’s Christmas Carol when it premiered in theaters in 1983, attached to a re-release of The Rescuers. It was nominated for an Oscar that same year, premiered on NBC the following Christmas, and would eventually air on all three major television networks.

Based on Mickey’s screen time, this is a bit of a lie

BREAKDOWN:
I know I’ve been playing fast and loose with the criteria of the “Animated Television Christmas Special,” but I’m fairly certain I can justify Mickey’s Christmas Carol here with some general knowledge that I can’t corroborate enough to include in the comparatively “professional” section above.

Thousands were auditioned before McDuck won the role of Scrooge

Reportedly, this 24-minute short was supposed to premiere on CBS in 1982, but an animation strike held up production. So instead a special was assembled from archival animation, using footage from Bambi, Cinderella, some shorts, etc., and known as A Disney Christmas Gift. Which I’m only bringing up because I just found my old copy and my brain is currently exploding with the anticipation of writing it up. (Next year?!)

Mickey as Bob Cratchit and Donald as Scrooge’s nephew

I’ve been hesitant to write up any more adaptations of A Christmas Carol, because quite frankly, I find most of them boring, derivative, and literally the least an animation production house can do when cramming their characters into an uninspired Holiday presentation. (I’m looking at you Hanna-Barbera!)

Scrooge’s office is filled with lousy de-motivational signs

That said, not only am I absolutely batshit in love with Mickey’s Christmas Carol, I sort of do consider it the definitive adaptation.

Rich environments

Some of that has to do with the all-star cast, and the fact that this is the first one I can remember watching, but I also genuinely believe that Disney created the template for how A Christmas Carol has been adapted in family-friendly entertainment ever since.

Is Tiny Tim played by Morty or Ferdie? The world may never know

Of course, I have no vested interest in the original story, nor do I give a shit about how faithful Disney was to it. Just so you know where I stand: I take far more issue with Pluto’s being completely left out of Disney’s triumphant return to short theatrical animation than I do with the omission of the Phantom Hearse or Mrs. Fezziwig.

Chipmunks bumpin’ butts

It took real balls to bother with presenting these characters again in the first place. Even after basically skipping a generation, the cast has shown unprecedented longevity, and although it couldn’t have been easy, Mickey’s Christmas Carol is a bold and wonderful bridge between two triumphant periods in Disney’s history.

Minnie is distraught over not having a single spoken line

To start, Alan Young – best known as Wilbur from television’s Mister Ed - reprises his role as Ebenezer Scrooge (McDuck) from the record on which the film is based.

Scrooge moves in on his nephew’s gal, Daisy

Prior to this, Scrooge McDuck was primarily a character from Disney Comics, having appeared theatrically as a rough Scottish caricature in the wartime propaganda short The Spirit of ’43, and showing up only once as the duck we’re all familiar with (well, outside of a cameo on The Mickey Mouse Club TV show) in 1967’s Scrooge McDuck and Money.

Ever get the feeling you were being watched?

In addition to being far less “ethnic,” Alan Young’s portrayal was incredibly warm. So much so that when Disney decided to spin the duck off into his own cartoon series, DuckTales, Young got to don the top hat and cane once again for 100 episodes and the theatrical movie.

Alan Young: The Most Important Entertainer of All Time

He’s far and away the voice most associated with Scrooge, and I was shocked to find out that Young is still alive AND voicing the character as recently as last year, at the ripe old age of 90!

Mickey, about to be torn a new asshole

Also of vocal note, Wayne Allwine, the man who voiced Mickey Mouse from 1977 until his passing earlier this year, made his first theatrical appearance as the icon. Before Mickey’s Christmas Carol, Allwine had only performed the character in brief television appearances.

The only Mickey my generation has ever know

But he’s since provided the voice of Mickey for literally everything, from toys to albums, TV shows and videogames. Not bad for a guy who started at Disney as a sound editor!

Donald stole Ichabod Crane’s horse!

Sadly, and most notably, this marked the final time Donald Duck was brought to life by the remarkable Clarence Nash. Since Donald’s first appearance in 1934’s The Wise Little Hen, Nash was the only man to spit the Donald venom for 50 years! He personally trained a Disney animator, Tony Anselmo, as his replacement, and Anselmo has performed the voice ever since.

Half a century in a sailor suit

Which I do think is  worth mentioning…because as much as Disney gets a reputation for being a cold, corporate monolith, the roles of its most famous characters were handed over to internal staffers with next-to-no previous voice credits. There’s just something so familial about that, and I think that many people forget it in their cynical views of Disney’s animation process.

Makes me feel like this

As you can no doubt tell, I’ve been pretty much rambling a super-elongated back story thus far. But there’s a timelessness to both the story and special itself that’s above any need for detailed analysis or explanation. You’ve undoubtedly seen it before and know the story, so really the most interesting thing about it is how well the Disney characters present themselves after such a lengthy hiatus.

Hew, Dew, and Lou in a brief, silent cameo

But I do love a good crossover! And for me, the most rewarding thing about the film is that this was one of the first times Disney treated itself like a singular universe, casting animated characters from throughout the studio’s entire history. It’s now ridiculously common for the stable of characters to appear in ensemble, but prior to Mickey’s Christmas Carol it was actually quite rare.

Goofy’s Jacob Marley is an undead klutz

You’d expect to see characters from the short cartoons, but for the role of the ghosts, Disney cherry-picked a couple of unexpected choices. On the album, The Ghost of Christmas Past was played by Merlin from The Sword in the Stone – but I think you’ll agree that Jiminy Cricket made a far better choice for the cartoon.

Always let your conscience be your guide

And what may seem like an odd choice actually works unbelievably well comedically, as Willie the Giant pockets the role of The Ghost of Christmas Present (even though he’d only appeared once before, in 1947’s Mickey and the Beanstalk).

Without a doubt, the funniest character here

And while in retrospect it seems like a no-brainer to cast Pete, Disney’s longest running character, as the menacing Ghost of Christmas Future, the album actually used Snow White’s Wicked Witch in the original role.

No one does bad worse than Pete

But since our little blog/site/mess here is built on a backbone of screenshots, I thought it important to highlight the other Disney players who appear in the silent and supporting roles. You’ll find many a forgotten character from the heyday of the Disney short:

Cocky Locky, Horace Horsecollar, Claribel Cow, and Gus Goose

The cast of Three Little Pigs (1933)

And two of The Three Little Wolves (1936)

But what’s odd are the choices the animators made in picking characters from their feature films. Instead of casting heavyweight stars from their most profitable movies, you’ll find many arguably more obscure characters here:

A familiar face from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1959)

And fellow Wind in the Willows cast members Ratty and Mole

The bird from Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) dances with Lady Kluck

And about a billion other characters from Robin Hood (1973)

All of these appearances are immensely rewarding for an animation dork like myself. Of course, such levels of nerd-dom can be a double-edged sword, as I found myself almost angry that there weren’t more. “Where’s Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty?!”  Etc…

The end is still a little scary

At first, I cynically assumed that the cameo casting was based around choosing characters from the more recent Disney films. But once I pondered the matter further (I seriously did!) it seems the idea was more to pick characters who wouldn’t appear out-of-place in the mid 19th century, or need to change outfits to fit the time period. And the last criterion to occur to me? Duh… no humans!

What, no tree upgrade?

But such thorough care is taken with the animation, and the characters are so well cast, that there’s almost nothing to complain about… aside from the LACK OF PLUTO, YOU DICKS!

Gets me every time

Every time I think I don’t care much for Mickey Mouse because he isn’t funny or he’s a bad dancer, I watch him crying at the grave of Tiny Tim and tear up in a manner most unbecoming. He’s no longer an extremely kinetic character, but when something affects him he sure has a beautifully expressive way of showing it.

If this doesn’t do it for you, you have no soul

No Christ here! But give Mickey a couple more centuries of public worship and I may have to amend the score…

Claus isn’t present anywhere in A Christmas Carol. According to legend, Dickens cut him out of the first draft, along with several kickass car chases.

Sorry, Disney: There’s no reason for A Christmas Carol to be longer than half an hour…you got it right the first time.

Perfect

Every piece of Disney’s legacy is put to excellent use in this soaring comeback, all executed remarkably well, especially given how out-of-practice the animators were at the time. Both the source material and the famous players are treated with the utmost care and respect. A timeless tale that’s been retold a thousand times is still impressively unique; simultaneously heartwarming and funny without ever veering into the overly sentimental or slapstick… Fuck, I really can’t say enough good things about Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

PRODUCT INFORMATION (Support the Site!)

Mickey’s Christmas Carol is made available for purchase pretty consistently, with DVDs going in and out of print on a nearly annual basis. I highly recommend you pick up the Walt Disney Treasure: Mickey Mouse in Living Color Volume 2, as it’s still available used and will undoubtedly soon be impossible to find inexpensively. It contains the special, plus 5+ more hours of Mousy goodness, including shorts like Pluto’s Christmas Tree and Mickey’s latter-day resurrection in The Prince and the Pauper and Runaway Brain. The single-disc Disney Animation Collection Volume 7: Mickey’s Christmas Carol is a pretty good deal as well, mostly because it also comes with stacked with the various Disney Christmas shorts that used to accompany the 30-minute feature on television years ago. I can’t vouch for the quality of the many other direct-to-video Mickey Christmas specials made this decade, since I haven’t seen them, but if I’m still doing this next year, expect a thorough examination! More surprisingly, I’m delighted to discover that Amazon also has a super-cheap mp3 of the original record on which the special was based!

Yesterday’s Christmas Special:
A CLAYMATION CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

TOY TINKERS
Original Air Date: December 16, 1949

SYNOPSIS:
Donald protects his nuts from a famous pair of fast-talking rodents.

BACKSTORY:
Donald Duck made his first appearance in 1939’s The Wise Little Hen looking a tad different, yet remained largely the same quick-tempered asshole throughout his entire career in Disney’s theatrical shorts (which extended nearly two decades longer than Mickey Mouse’s, I might add.)

Donald’s first appearance

Toy Tinkers was the last theatrical Donald short of the 1940s. It was nominated for an Academy Award but lost to Pepe Le Pew’s For Scent-imental Reasons.

BREAKDOWN:

To give myself and the dozen or so of you reading this blog a break from the usual post of screenshot-filled drivel followed by an Amazon product link… here’s the entire cartoon followed by an Amazon product link!

Yeah, I’m pretty gay for Donald Duck. But this cartoon spurred the idea for this entire blog (after sensationalizing Disney violence in a feature for GamesRadar.com) plus, it’s my personal favorite Disney Christmas cartoon, so eat that Flintstones fans!

M’lady

The same way people often associate Christmas with cold temperatures and the smell of firewood, I associate it with Toy Tinkers and Anchor Steam’s Christmas Ale.

You haven’t lived until you’ve killed your own Christmas Tree

Chip and Dale follow Donald home to steal his nuts (har har) but you’ll forgive me if I just post a couple of shots without ruining anything about this fantastic holiday cartoon chock full of great gags and wonderful music.

More wholesome than it looks

I’m going to go out on a limb and bet you’ve seen Toy Tinkers before. Disney loves including it on just about any DVD featuring a mistletoe and it’s included in damn near every Yule Tide sizzle reel produced by the company.

Adorable

But what you might’ve forgotten is all the gunplay which has been omitted from the cartoon in order to keep classic Disney characters safe for baby clothes. Either way, give it a watch. Toy Tinkers never ceases to make me profoundly happy.

As is usually the case, Jesus keeps his big beard out of Disney’s business.

Donald briefly dons the red suit… but it’s only to shove a gun in the chipmunks’ face.

Oh no! A Tobacco reference! SNIP-SNIP

I don’t care what today’s parents say: Gunplay and violence can too be funny, especially within the context of Toy Tinkers. Outside of that revolver image above, it’s made pretty clear Donald is firing walnuts out of a cork gun and the chipmunks are shooting fruit and ornaments. So shut up, hippies!

Okay, this image may require some explanation for kids under 10

The music is phenomenal as is the detail of animation, so it’s important not to overlook that just because the news tells us that children today are violent and brainless sponges. Toy Tinkers perfectly embodies the Holidays for me, and never goes a single Christmas without an airing or two in my household.

PRODUCT INFORMATION (Support the Site!)

Toy Tinkers appears unedited on the out of print and astronomically priced The Chronological Donald Volume Three. Oddly enough, Volume Two of Disney’s phenomenal Treasures series is still available at a much more affordable price… if that’s any consolation. Unfortunately, the Treasures series are the only place to find many of Disney’s finest shorts completely uncensored. If that isn’t a factor for you and yours, this year’s Disney Animation Collection 7: Mickey’s Christmas Carol features that and other Holiday classics like The Small One and Pluto’s Christmas Tree.

Yesterday’s Christmas Special:
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. SUPER SHOW: KOOPA KLAUS