Micky und Pluto feiern Weihnachten

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE arrives in Mickey's living room with Chip 'n' Dale still living in it...

This enjoyable little Holiday film matches the frustrated Pup against the cunning Chipmunks, with all the props & paraphernalia of Christmas Eve adding extra interest. Mickey has only a supporting role; Goofy, Donald & Minnie have a quick cameo at the end of the cartoon as carolers singing `Deck The Halls.'

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.

This is another case of Mickey's dog getting too involved. When MIckey cuts down a Christmas tree, he doesn't realize that Chip and Dale live in it and end up in the house. When Pluto realizes they are there, he begins to attack. Unfortunately, they are much smarter than he is, and they torment him, knowing he will overreact. This has lots of charm and a nice Christmas message. It is colorful and filled with some really fun moments.

Now, I admitted in my 'Pueblo Pluto' entry that I'm not a huge fan of Pluto (or Chip and Dale for that matter), but this animated short is a classic. The visuals are just great, like when Chip and Dale first notice their home has been transformed into a beautiful Christmas tree. Pluto loses his sanity for a moment and chases these chipmunks all over the place, destroying everything. It's just like a classic `cat and mouse' cartoon. Mickey also fits in nicely with a supporting role, and it's also interesting to see him wearing something other than his trademark red shorts and yellow shoes.

Finally to make this cartoon even more memorable, lovable Disney characters, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald make a cameo and sing 'Deck the Halls,' only to be joined by Pluto's ear-screeching rendition. If I were a rich guy, I'd love to get the original animation cel of the final scene of what Chip and Dale do to Pluto. It's just a classic!

My IMDb Rating: 9/10

When the episode begins, Mickey and Pluto are out in the woods chopping down a tree for Christmas. What they don't realize, however, is that this was Chip 'n Dale's home....and the pair stow away in the car in order to stay with their purloined home. Soon Pluto discovers the pair and spends most of the show chasing them about...with the chipmunks consistently getting the upper hand on him.

This is a cute and funny cartoon. And, like so many of the Mickey cartoons of the 1950s, Mickey is barely in the thing and it's really more a Pluto short. Well worth your time...and a Christmas favorite.

Just went on YouTube and rediscovered this classic cartoon from Walt Disney starring Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Chip 'n' Dale that I first saw on "The Wonderful World of Disney" on December 25, 1977 when the episode was the all-animated "From All of Us to All of You". In this one, Mickey and his dog live in a cabin near the tree that the chipmunks reside in. C 'n' D have some mischief with the yellow dog before master Mickey chops their tree down. Since the mouse is oblivious to the little rodents, Pluto risks trouble in pursuing them...Directed by usual Donald Duck helmer Jack Hannah, Pluto's Christmas Tree shows nice timing in many visual gags especially of the chase variety though they do pale somewhat compared to the kinds of pacing that abound in the Warner Bros. and M-G-M cartoons of this period. Still, it's enjoyable enough and well worth seeing for Walt Disney enthusiasts of all kinds.