Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001)

I wasn't satisfied nor content with this Disney holiday special. I bought a VHS copy of it around the time that it was released and I played/viewed it only once, and haven't been interested in viewing it again since. What a waste this is and the money I spent. Because, of course, I was among those who anticipated so much more than what we got instead and was duped into purchasing it, without, at least, trying to search for and read reviews on some site first. More, better stuff could've been done in this and I really like one Amazon reviewer's ideas of how it could've and should've been done a lot better in lieu of the results we did get. How did some Disney people go from the outstanding Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas to the inferiority of this and why couldn't as much perfection be put into this??? Dern whoever came up with this dim idea and didn't even bother applying more effort. In the main plot of this half of the House of Mouse holiday specials, after a while of watching cartoons starring Mickey Mouse and/or any of his friends, the Disney characters who make up the clientele get ready to leave emcee Mickey's club. But then here's where the one problem ensues as evident and self-explanatory in the title: They're snowbound. Donald Duck isn't into the holiday spirit for some reason or another (this is a loose end that is never tied and explained exactly, and resolved by getting to the bottom of it), so Mickey and the gang try to stir up some holiday cheer in him by showing more cartoons. These include: the Walt era featurette Pluto's Christmas Tree, a few Mickey Mouse Works shorts and Mickey's Christmas Carol. It seems that these take up a majority of the special and these are a waste, since none of them are new (or at lease newer) cartoons, and some of these can already be found on other DVDs (although they're only good if one doesn't already own a VHS/DVD copy that contains Pluto's Christmas Tree, also from one of the Walt Disney Treasures sets and more recently Mickey's Christmas Carol, as part of the Walt Disney Cartoon Classics Favorites line). The Mouse Works featurettes can be seen in two Christmas episodes of House of Mouse as well ("Clarabelle's Christmas List" and "Pete's Christmas Caper"), in addition to that, the parts in the House of Mouse about what the guests wish for Christmas and what they're thankful for would later be recycled in those (if not vise-versa, not so sure which way or how that was done first). And there's the odd moment of one villain, Jafar, saying "It's so nice to see everyone having a good time at the House of Mouse" or something to that effect, which is out of character. The shorts played seem to be taking up more time of getting on the inside of what's happening in the club. Donald does eventually cheer up in the end and the special concludes with the holiday sing-a-long "The Best Christmas Of All". I hate to say it, but this is horse-feathers. For the aforementioned run down and the reasons giving/explained by some of the other reviewers. I wish I could've gotten the DVD instead (which I know I still can, but not necessarily for this sham-mockery that is supposed to be the prime attraction) for one of the bonus features (which includes the very first HOM episode: "The Stolen Cartoons", which is better). All the above explanations are accurately why I prefer the show to this and the other holiday (Halloween) special, Mickey's House of Villains. I don't recommend this to anyone but some kids who are below the preteen stage and may find this more entertaining than most older viewers. Why must most things Disney touches nowadays turn to scat? What another joke this was by the studio/company. I say just stick with the show.

I have no idea what this was supposed to be, but the end result was atrocious. It certainly seems to fit in nicely with the current Disney run of "cheapquels" being cranked out at furious pace to squeeze a few more dollars out of their "properties", quality be damned. Certainly whoever produced this misaligned heap of bouncing blobs set to jarring and annoying music was hired by ghouls in suits or possibly accountants to do a dirty job, and no love went into it whatsoever. The direct-to-video animation is clumsy, the characters are ghastly and vague impersonations of themselves; worse, the storyline is retarded, so much that even my 5-year-old nephew (who made me watch this awful thing) could see that it was dumb and didn't "feel" like any of the classics. The characters all have the same personality of ill-defined bouncing blobs without motivation, and the "story" couldn't have taken more than a few minutes to work out. Indeed, this thing has all the sincerity of a street hustler and all the charm of a corporate powerpoint presentation. The music was apparently provided by a handful of lounge entertainment dinosaurs armed with cheap Casio synths.

Okay...so I'm a Disney fan. This is a great holiday movie with a touching lesson. (that may be a bit overused in holiday movies. Christmas is all about friends and family)I have to admit, the whole reused segments and in between animation is kind of boring, but they are classic tales from Disney and the in betweeners are fun to watch! It's not everyday you watch movies with loveable characters side-by-side. I think it's great that the other characters are able to chat with each other and take a break from their movie lives. It's just like actors and actresses getting together at a club and watching other performances for a change. The classic tales retold with that Disney magic is great and the classic features mix well with the newly animated (though not the best animation) shorts.But... What are you other people talking about??? You obviously haven't seen the Saturday morning show, HOUSE OF MOUSE, which the movie is based on!!!! Watch the show and you'll understand why all the characters are there and why cartoon shorts are shown! Mickey and Donald run a CARTOON club! Of course there will be cartoons shown! With that said...this was okay for a Disney movie. It wasn't the Disney company's best holiday movie(Once upon a Christmas was much better!!), but they seem to be running out of material. I mean- Cinderella II, Hunchback II, Lady and the Tramp II, etc., coming soon- Dumbo II, Mulan II, 101 Dalmations II: Patch's adventuresomething like that], Tarzan and Jane...okay, it's weird I know all this stuff...Disney is running low on their magic. Anyway, to sum it up...Magical Christmas was great and shouldn't be shunned so much by people who probably think Anastasia was Disney movie(believe me, most people think it is)

This video is just a collection of old Disney cartoons repackaged with very poor filler material involving many classic characters with boring one-liners. Reminds me of when they have a "special" episode of a sitcom which is only recycled bits from the whole season. Don't bother to buy this one. Very poor, Walt. Don't rip us off like that!