Your thoughts on.... Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas

[Sorcerer Mickey]

See, guys? Even though the animation's different, and can be a little bad sometimes, the story and everything else can still be good enough to enjoy watching it. I knew they could pull it off somehow!

So, therefore, I, Musketeer2004, on this day will never, ever judge a film before seeing it again.

[Sorcerer Mickey]

Well, early before Mickey's TUAC was released, everyone was starting to loathe the CGI, but now that it's released... well, most of the people are starting to praise it (but some of it still hates the CGI, but I don't care, because I liked the film).

So, don't you think that Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas could be a surprising DTV movie?

Again, I'm not talking about how well it sells, but I'm talking about how many positive reviews it's getting.

[Luke]

Musketeer, I merged it with the existing thread, since that seems like the perfect fit.

There's a couple of things to remember here. The reaction hasn't been unequivocal praise, and all of the people who bought it thought it'd be something they'd like. In that regard, it doesn't disappoint. Familiar characters, familiar settings, jingle bells and all that.

Yes, it's always wise to wait to see a movie before passing judgment (assuming of course, that you decide it's worthwhile to see it at all). But, I think it's always wise to get the opinions of people who will rent this before chalking the film up as a great success.

Plus, you'll have to recall we're all Disney fans here, I think. Of course so are the majority of people who will see this.

[dvdjunkie]

I think they really screwed up the Disney characters with this 3-D type of animation. I won't buy it because they look so stupid. What were they thinking? They all look a characterization of themselves. Even Pluto doesn't look like Pluto. I am very disappointed with this release. Probably the first one that I won't buy new, maybe I will look for it used in a few months.

[Escapay]

The CGI isn't exactly warm and inviting, but the stories are (especially Donald's Gift and Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas). I'd suggest you rent the movie first and watch it with your grandkids, dvdjunkie.

Escapay

[Sorcerer Mickey]

I think they really screwed up the Disney characters with this 3-D type of animation. I won't buy it because they look so stupid. What were they thinking? They all look a characterization of themselves. Even Pluto doesn't look like Pluto. I am very disappointed with this release. Probably the first one that I won't buy new, maybe I will look for it used in a few months.

How could you say that, if you haven't SEEN it yet? Give it a chance and rent this movie. I bet you won't be disappointed when you see this!

[dvdjunkie]

I didn't say that I haven't seen it yet. I rented it the day it came out because I wasn't too sure about the animation thing. My grandkids all fell asleep during it, so they weren't interested in it. I am just disappointed in the animation. Why did they have mess around with such a good thing. I hear they are talking about remaking "Pinocchio" as a 3-D CGI also, and I hope not. That film is a classic and they shouldn't mess with the classics.

I did see this film and I, personally, think that it is a waste of time and effort on the Disney studio part. Look at how great Pixar's "The Incredibles" is, I have seen that film three times already and it has only been out for a week.

Just my opinion. I won't buy it new, I will wait for Blockbuster to have it on PVT or Hollywood to have it on their 3 for $25 deal.

[Christian]

Why did they have mess around with such a good thing.

LOL. People keep thinking this is the only way we are going to see them from now on and I don't think that's the case. It's just the way this particular movie was done.

Look at how great Pixar's "The Incredibles" is

I'm LOL again. You're comparing two different things that aren't meant to be compared. Twice Upon A Christmas is not trying to be The Incredibles. It is trying to be a collection of short little Christmas stories. And it succeeds at what it's trying to be.

[lolopimp]

I wouldn't be so harsh on the movie, it looks a bit more promising than those Beauty and the Beast direct-to-video "christmas sequels" that they released. It looks like a good movie to watch on christmas to calm the kids(and myself) down so we're not impatient 'til 12:00 comes. I'll buy it and add it to my collection. Some of you ar being wayyyy to harsh on this

[The Little Merman]

I just bought M2uAC yesterday, and I watched it tonight. Perosnally, I loved it. I thought it was great, and just as good as the first. I also loved the CGI touch. Here are my reviews for each short....

Belles on Ice- 5/5. This was one of my favorites, and I thought it was a great opener. Very cute.

Christmas: Impossible- 5/5. Another favorite, this Huey, Dewey, and Louie cartoon was wonderful.

Christmas Maximus- 3.5/5. This was the only cartoon that I wasn't too fond of. I liked it, and enjoyed it, but the running time was WAY too short.


Donald's Gift- 4/5. Donald has always been a great character, and this short doesn't disappoint. The sweet story filled up many of the loose ends.

Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas- 5/5. Definatley my favorite, this short was everything- sweet, cute, funny, smart, sad, and emotional. Great lines too- "I'd have to be a sorcerer to clean this mess up!"

Overall- 4.5/5. Great movie...Very enjoyable for the upcoming Christmas...

[Satoshi]

My mom bought this on Tuesday but we (family) didn't watch it until tonight. My first thought was that the CGI wasn't too stellar. It wasn't too bad, it just wasn't nearly up to the level of quality of the Pixar films. I'd compare it to the Barbie DTV films as far as animation goes. The film itself was a nice little string of Christmas-related stories. I didn't care much for the first two shorts, with Daisy, Huey, Dewey, and Louie being made out to be so cruel (okay maybe that's exaggerating a little, but I really didn't like it). The short with Max and Goofy was okay. While I usually love having songs in animated films, I thought that it felt a little out of place here. The lyrics weren't too wonderful. Overall I did like it more than the first two shorts though. The last two shorts ended up being drastic improvements over the first three. Donald's Gift was great, and Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas was wonderful. I really thought they got the characters right in those two, and I liked the stories more than those in the first three shorts.

Overall I'd at least recommend a rental. If you're a big fan of Christmas films and you can find it cheap (in the $15 dollar range) then I'd recommend a blind buy. It made for a nice, cozy film-watching experience with the family.

[Christian]

We are getting some balanced reviews here. That's a good thing. People nowadays seem to have this attitude where if a movie isn't the greatest thing ever then they better act like it's absolutely awful. Armchair movie critics who think they will look cool if they slam everything in sight and they really end up just looking silly.

[ChrisK]

Just received mine this morning. There was a Kodak promo sticker on the outer sleeve and when I peeled this off, it took a little of the cover with it

I've only watched the Belles on Ice so far but I'm enjoying the new look...

[lolopimp]

Just received mine this morning. There was a Kodak promo sticker on the outer sleeve and when I peeled this off, it took a little of the cover with it

I've only watched the Belles on Ice so far but I'm enjoying the new look...

LOL!!!!!!! It took a piece of your cover?? O man that's funny. You better put the sticker back so noone will notice it.

[Luke]

The way to avoid stickers pulling off bits of cover: heat it with a hair dryer.

Tinsel: not just for decoration.
Hair dryers: not just for drying hair.

[ChrisK]

Unfortunately I don't keep a hair dryer at work (which is where I get my DVD's)

I just wish they'd put these promo things onto the plastic cover of the DVD keepcase rather than on the outside cardboard slipcase.

[Kram Nebuer]

I'm glad there are ppl who are liking MTUaC. I just watched some of it again and noticed how great the music is in Belles On Ice. Also I watched some of them in other languages and it was fun to hear different Mickey pitches, lol.

I hear they are talking about remaking "Pinocchio" as a 3-D CGI also, and I hope not.

Me too! Though...you may be confusing this news with Pinnochio 3000. It's a CGI Pinnochio movie I think in Spain or somewhere else in Europe.

[reyquila]

Overall, I think its great. My kids loved it. It is always great to see Mickey and his gang. With the respect to the CGI medium, I think it looked great. A little weird at first, but excellent.

[Anders M Olsson]

Twice Upon a Christmas was released here in Sweden today, and now I've seen it. In short I found it simply awful. Most of the characters look like they were made from candle-grease. Walking, talking candles. Now there's an idea...

Not much to enjoy story-wise either. The only segment I found slightly amusing was the short Max/Goofy story. That might have worked nicely if done in traditional 2D animation.

Also, I liked the interstitials with the look and feel of a pop-up book. Nicely done and rather original! Too bad you can't say that about the rest of the film.

[Paka]

I'm sure no one here will be surprised at my reaction...

I rented it a couple days ago, and I found nothing to write home about. The CG, of course, was grotesque and very, very plastic. >_< You'd expect this kind of quality from a Goodtimes release - it's just all the more disappointing that this is an official Disney product. The character designs were awkward at the very best - Mickey and Minnie, of course, had those abominable ears; but worse, I think, was Max's hair. It didn't blend at all - it was just some hair texture plunked straight onto the smooth plastic of Max's head. It was so bad that I found it distracting throughout the whole short.
See, the horrific animation could've been saved, somewhat, if the stories were engaging. There's the problem again - they weren't. They were not overly bad, but they sure weren't memorable, either. Dog-Gone Christmas came kinda close, but not really. I would have admired Disney if they had cared enough to get Donder's name correct (yes, it's "Donder" with a "D" - for some reason, Christmas pop culture has forgotten that...), but no dice. And why the hell did all of the elves in Christmas: Impossible have really bad stereotypical Minnesotan accents?

So in short - umm, yeah.... didn't like it. Left a bad taste in my mouth, and I'd be very surprised if this became a "Christmas staple."