Mickey's
Christmas Carol
Five ornaments from the beloved 1983 Disney animated short — Mickey Mouse at the counting house desk, Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge, Goofy rattling his chains as Jacob Marley, Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and Mickey carrying Tiny Tim through the snow to close the series. Charles Dickens as only Disney can tell it.
Disney Characters Tell the Dickens Story — The 1983 Animated Short
Mickey's Christmas Carol is a 26-minute Disney animated short released in 1983 — Mickey Mouse's first theatrical film in thirty years, and the first time Scrooge McDuck appeared in a Disney theatrical production. It is, in the simplest possible description, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol told by Disney characters: Scrooge McDuck plays Ebenezer Scrooge (a natural piece of casting — Scrooge McDuck's name is itself a reference to Dickens, coined by Disney cartoonist Carl Barks in 1947 as a tribute to the miser of Victorian literature). Mickey Mouse plays Bob Cratchit. Goofy plays Jacob Marley. Jiminy Cricket plays the Ghost of Christmas Past. The short is beloved by everyone who saw it as a child in the 1980s and by everyone who has encountered it since — it is one of the warmest versions of A Christmas Carol ever made, precisely because the Disney characters bring an affection and gentleness to the Dickens story that its severity requires as a counterbalance.
The Hallmark Keepsake series launched in 2009 with Mickey as Bob Cratchit — seated at his roll-top desk in Scrooge's counting house, keeping numbers in his ledger with a white feather quill pen, 3¼" tall, artist Nello Williams. The series traced the story across five years: Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge (#2, 2010), Goofy as Jacob Marley in his chains (#3, 2011), Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past (#4, 2012), and the series finale — Mickey as Bob Cratchit carrying Tiny Tim (#5F, 2013). The story starts at the counting house and ends in the Cratchit street, Mickey carrying his son through the snow. God bless us, every one.
"Mickey is seated on a high-top chair at a brown roll-top desk keeping the numbers in his ledger with a white feather quill pen. Bob Cratchit always keeps a cheerful attitude even when Scrooge McDuck is in a grumpy mood."
— The Ornament Shop, on the 2009 Mickey as Bob Cratchit · Mickey's Christmas Carol #1 · Artist: Nello Williams · 3¼" H
Mickey as Bob Cratchit — 2009 (#1)
The series begins exactly where the 1983 Disney short begins: Mickey Mouse at the counting house desk, keeping the ledger with a white feather quill pen. Artist Nello Williams, 3¼" H, not dated. "The details on this thing are amazing," one collector wrote when the ornament was first released. "Mickey is sitting at his desk in Scrooge's counting house working on the books. The desk and chair are painted to look like wood — you can see the grain, in fact." The series review ends with: "If the rest of the series is as detailed as Mickey as Bob Cratchit, I'm going to hope this series lasts a long time." It lasted five years. It ended with Mickey carrying Tiny Tim through the snow. It ended perfectly.
Shop Mickey as Bob Cratchit — First in Series →
Bob Cratchit & Tiny Tim — 2013 (#5F)
The series closes on the moment the story earns — Mickey as Bob Cratchit with Tiny Tim, the two characters whose relationship is the heart of A Christmas Carol. Scrooge's transformation matters because of what it means for these two: the warmth that replaces the cold, the generosity that replaces the miser's grip. The series starts in 2009 with Mickey alone at the counting house desk, cold and underpaid. It ends in 2013 with Mickey and his son together. Series verification 5F on the ornament. God bless us, every one.
Shop Bob Cratchit & Tiny Tim — Series Finale →Tips for the Collection
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01Display the five entries in narrative order to tell the complete Christmas Carol story. Mickey at the desk (#1) → Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer (#2) → Goofy as Marley with his chains (#3) → Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past (#4) → Mickey carrying Tiny Tim (#5). Arranged in sequence on adjacent branches, the five ornaments tell the complete arc of the story: the setup, the miser, the warning, the haunting, and the redemption. It is a complete story in five ornaments.
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02The 2011 Goofy as Jacob Marley (#3) is the collection's most dramatically compelling entry. Goofy in chains is simultaneously funnier and more affecting than it has any right to be — Goofy's characteristic warmth and vulnerability makes Marley's warning feel genuinely sad rather than threatening, which is exactly how the 1983 Disney short played it. The ornament captures the specific quality of Goofy-as-Marley: the mournful warning that somehow still makes you smile.
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03The casting choices are the series' greatest achievement. Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge is so natural it feels inevitable — Carl Barks named the character in 1947 as a direct tribute to Dickens, and the Hallmark series acknowledges that seven-decade connection. Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past is inspired: the conscience as the ghost of the past. Mickey as Bob Cratchit is the warmest possible casting. Goofy as Marley is the most surprising and the most moving.
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04All 5 Mickey's Christmas Carol Keepsake ornaments, 2009 through 2013, are at Already Christmas. The complete series — counting house to Cratchit street, Scrooge to Tiny Tim. All five here. God bless us, every one.
Every Mickey's Christmas Carol Keepsake — 2009 to 2013
From the counting house to Cratchit street. Dickens as only Disney can tell it. Click any character to shop.
Mickey Mouse at the counting house desk in 2009 — a white feather quill pen, a roll-top desk painted to look like wood, Bob Cratchit's cheerful attitude even when Scrooge McDuck is in a grumpy mood. Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge in 2010. Goofy in chains as Jacob Marley in 2011. Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past in 2012. Mickey carrying Tiny Tim in 2013 to close the series and the story. Five characters. Five years. God bless us, every one.
All five here.
✦ Part of our Collection: Disney Hallmark Series, Explored ✦