Cinema Tuesdays Review

When animation studio Pixar announced earlier this year that it was dropping Disney to seek a new distributor for its films, Walt Disney Studios tried to spin the story in its favor, announcing that they would be creating their own computer-animated movies. In fact, Disney has said it is pretty much abandoning traditional hand-drawn animation. Their big summer film in 2005 is to be "Chicken Little," but their first feature-length foray into the world of computer animation, "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas" is already here on DVD, just in time for the holidays.

Let me get down to brass tacks and say that many of our favorite Disney characters look weird in their computer-generated (CGI) form. Instead of the zip, vim and vigor of their hand-drawn counterparts, these CGI characters move in a lazy sort of way, as if they were filmed moving very slowly, and then the film was sped up to the correct speed. Some characters also look less like the familiar icons we've come to love, and more like plastic doll versions that have suddenly found the ability to move on their own. Huey, Dewey, and Louie particularly suffer in this regard, as Donald's nephews look like shiny ping-pong balls with eyes. Pluto also suffers in his transition from hand-drawn animation to CGI.

CGI characters that communicate real feelings and emotions can be effectively rendered, as in Dreamworks' "Shrek" films and Pixar's "Finding Nemo." But "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas" lacks both the technical prowess and the charm of those films.

The movie itself is a collection of five short holiday-themed vignettes. In one short, Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck face off in a heated skating competition. In another, Huey, Dewey and Louie try to forge their names onto Santa's "good" list after being bad all year. Two others feature Pluto getting into some mischief in advance of Christmas, and Goofy's son Max bringing home a new girlfriend for the holidays. Most of them are pleasant enough stories, but each one runs a little long. A couple of the characters' personalities seem to have changed, too. Instead of being the hot-tempered duck he really is, Donald mostly acts like a doofus. The big disappointment in the film is Daisy's ice war with Minnie Mouse. When did these two become so jealous of one another? Since when does Daisy act like such a… well, you know? And when did her voice start sounding like it's auditioning for a role at the Louis Vuitton counter at the Dallas Galleria?

The DVD of "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas" does include a few extra features, despite its direct-to-video pedigree. There are a few deleted scenes, and some set-top games for the kids. One amusing feature is "What is Donald Singing?" where you have to figure out what carols Donald is singing, and then you can sing along. There's also an interesting look at how figure skater Michelle Kwan's on-the-ice routine inspired the animators of the Minnie vs. Daisy skating segment. But ultimately, "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas" is a less than inspiring 68-minute feature. For some great Mickey Mouse holiday fare, check out another DVD set, "Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two," where you can see Mickey and pals in "Mickey's Christmas Carol."

11/23/04

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