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How to Stream ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’: Your Family Viewing Guide

mickey's once upon a christmas

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Stream Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas Now

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999) gets viewers into the spirit of the season with three separate holiday stories interwoven with narration by Kelsey Grammer. In “Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas,” Donald (Tony Anselmo) relives Christmas over and over again with nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. In “A Very Goofy Christmas,” Goofy (Bill Farmer) tries to prove to his skeptical son Max that Santa Claus is real. The final story, “Mickey & Minnie’s Gift of the Magi,” retells the classic 1905 story of a young couple who discover something unexpected when they manage to secretly buy Christmas gifts for each other, featuring the voices of Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor. Watch Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas online as part of your family’s holiday season, and read on in this Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas streaming guide to learn about the stories, actors and more. And when you’re done, check out the sequel, Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas, released in 2004.

Here’s how to stream Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas right now:

How to Stream ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ – Exclusively on Disney+

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas is one of the fan-favorite Disney Christmas movies that will be streaming exclusively on Disney’s new subscription streaming service, Disney+.

You can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Disney+ HERE, which will allow you to stream Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas and hundreds of other movies and shows on your computer, phone, tablet, smart TV or streaming device. If you extend past the free trial, the service costs $6.99/month. You may also opt for this discount bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99/month.

  1. 1. Sign up for Disney+ here
  2. 2. Go to Disneyplus.com or download the Disney+ app on your device
  3. 3. Log in using your information
  4. 4. Search for “Once Upon a Christmas”
  5. 5. Tap on Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
  6. 6. Tap the PLAY button

Disney+ also boasts a vast library of Disney-owned movies and series — plus several new original series coming soon. The service includes unlimited downloads so you can watch offline whenever and wherever you want. The list of compatible devices and smart TVs includes iPadsApple TV, Amazon devices, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Chromecast, RokuPS4, and Xbox One.

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‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’: Overview

Release Date: November 9, 1999
Creators: Producer Jim Ballantine, Writers Charlie Cohen, Scott Spencer Gorden, Tom Nance, Carter Crocker, Richard Cray, Temple Mathews, Robin Kingsland and Alex Mann
Director:
Jun Falkenstein, Alex Mann, Bradley Raymond, Toby Shelton and Bill Speers
Starring:
Kelsey Grammer, Wayne Allwine, Russi Taylor, Tony Anselmo, Bill Farmer
Rating:
Not Rated
Synopsis:
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999) gets viewers into the spirit of the season with favorite classic Disney animated characters featured in three separate holiday stories interwoven with narration by Kelsey Grammer.


How Long Is ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’?

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas is a 66-minute animated family movie.


‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ Plot

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas gets viewers into the spirit of the season with three separate holiday stories interwoven with narration by Kelsey Grammer.

In “Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas,” Donald relives Christmas over and over again with nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. The three boys wake up on Christmas morning and open their gifts, even though they are supposed to wait for the family. After they enjoy their new sleds—snatched from Uncle Donald without even reading the card—Christmas dinner and family time, the boys go to bed and wish for it to be Christmas every day. When their wish is granted, they soon realize it’s boring when every day is the same. They play pranks and make the day unpleasant for everyone. Then they finally read the card from Donald and Daisy, which reminds them that Christmas is about more than presents—it’s about family. The boys decide to make the next day the best Christmas yet, and since they’ve realized the true meaning of Christmas, they wake up the next morning to the day after Christmas.

In “A Very Goofy Christmas,” Goofy’s son Max becomes skeptical about Santa Clause after their neighbor, Pete, tries to convince him Santa isn’t real and then Max discovers it’s Goofy playing Santa for the kids. But Goofy is determined to prove to Max that Santa Claus is real. Goofy stays up all night on Christmas Eve on the lookout for Santa but becomes discouraged and gives up hope. Then it’s Max’s turn to cheer up his father. Finally, the real Santa shows up and brings Max the gift he had requested, and he brings Goofy’s gift, too—Max’s happiness.

The final story, “Mickey & Minnie’s Gift of the Magi,” retells the classic 1905 story of a young couple who discover something unexpected when they manage to secretly buy Christmas gifts for each other. Mickey and Minnie each work extra hard to earn enough money to buy each other special gifts—Mickey gets a job at Crazy Pete’s Tree lot so he can get a gold chain for Minnie’s heirloom watch, while Minnie works hard for a bonus at the department store so she can afford a beautiful case for Mickey’s harmonica. But when Minnie’s bonus turns out to be a fruitcake and Pete takes all of Mickey’s money and fires him, both plans are dashed. On his way home, Mickey stops to play his harmonica at a local toy drive, and suddenly he gets the idea to trade his harmonica for the chain.  Meanwhile, Minnie has traded her gold watch for the harmonica case. When the two present their gifts to one another, they realize it’s the thought that counts.


‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ Cast

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas features the familiar voices of some of America’s favorite characters. Here are a few of the main players.

Kelsey Grammer as Narrator

The three independent stories in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas are woven together with narration from Grammer. Grammer is a producer and actor with six Emmy Awards, known for his role as Frasier Crane in the hit television sitcoms Cheers (1984-1993) and its spin-off Frasier (1993-2004). He also voiced Sideshow Bob in the animated television comedy series The Simpsons (1990-2017) and Blinky in Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016-2018).

Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse

In “Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi,” Mickey Mouse is a poor but earnest fellow who works hard to provide a thoughtful Christmas gift to his girlfriend, Minnie Mouse. Allwine has voiced Mickey Mouse in movies and television programs for more than four decades, starting with the 1977 TV series The New Mickey Mouse Club. Notable credits as the voice of Mickey include in the movies Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), A Goofy Movie (1995), Fantasia 2000 (1999) and Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas (2004) and in the TV series Mickey Mouse Works (1999-2000), House of Mouse (2001-2002) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-2016).

Russi Taylor as Minnie Mouse

Minnie Mouse works extra hard to give a special gift to Mickey for Christmas in “Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi.” Taylor voiced many well-loved children’s animated characters during her nearly four-decade career. She voiced Strawberry Shortcake in movies and shows including the 1980 television series Strawberry Shortcake and movie The World of Strawberry Shortcake. She also voiced characters in The Simpsons (1990-2019), The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980-1981), My Little Pony: The Movie (1986), The Smurfs (1982-1989), Duck Tales (1987-1990), Muppet Babies (1984-1991), McDonaldland (1980-2000), Mickey Mouse Works (1999-2001), House of Mouse (2001-2002), Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas (2004), Jake and the Never Land Pirates (2011-2014), Minnie’s Bow-Toons (2011-2016), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-2016) and Mickey and the Roadster Racers (2017-2019). Her first credit as Minnie Mouse was in the 1988 television movie Totally Minnie.

Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck

Donald Duck is his usual crabby self in “Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas,” aggravated with his nephews’ antics but ultimately a loving uncle intent on teaching them a meaningful lesson about Christmas. Anselmo became fascinated with Disney as a child and has provided the voice of Donald Duck in dozens of credits since the 1986 television movie DTV Valentine, including on the television series DuckTales (1987-1988 and 2017-2019), Quack Pack (1996), Mickey Mouse Works (1999-2001), House of Mouse (2001-2002), Minnie’s Bow-Toons (2011-2016), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-2016) and Legend of the Three Caballeros (2018).

Bill Farmer as Goofy

Goofy goes all out to prove to his son, Max, that Santa Clause is real in “A Very Goofy Christmas.” Farmer has played the voice of Goofy in movies and television shows since 1987, including in the television series Goof Troop (1992), Mickey Mouse Works (1999-2001), House of Mouse (2001-2002), Minnie’s Bow-Toons (2011-2016) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-2016), Mickey Mouse (2013-2019), Mickey and the Roadster Racers (2017-2019) and A Goofy Movie (1995), An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000), and Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas (2004). He has also voiced characters in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), The 7D (2014-2016), Despicable Me 3 (2017) and Amphibia (2019).


‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ Songs and Soundtrack

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas is full of classic Christmas songs, including “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “Joy to the World,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” and more. Wayne Allwine as Mickey, Tony Anselmo as Donald, Bill Farmer as Goofy, Russi Taylor as Minnie and Tress MacNeille as Daisy perform the favorites “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” “Jingle Bells,” and “Deck the Halls.”


‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ at the Box Office

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas was released direct to DVD in the U.S. in November 1999 and in 11 additional countries over the next seven years.


‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ Reviews – What the Critics Said

With five critic reviews on Rotten TomatoesMickey’s Once Upon a Christmas has a low rating of 40%, with critics commenting that the stories have positive messages but are geared toward very young audiences. The movie was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Video Production and a Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award.


Where ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ Fits in the Disney Movie Pantheon

Oprah Magazine ranked Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas at number 11 on its list of 35 Best Christmas Movies to stream, and it made number 8 on a similar list from Parade. The movie was followed by the 2004 direct-to-DVD sequel Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas.


‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ Trailer

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‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ Trivia: 5 Fast Facts

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas is a heartwarming family holiday film that includes some great music and a few funny references. Here’s what you need to know.

1. You might recognize the lawn flamingos in “A Very Goofy Christmas.”

The lawn flamingos dressed for the holidays are based on the segment “The Carnival of the Animals” in Fantasia 2000, which was being produced at the same time as Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas.

2. Disney gave a nod to Mickey’s early rival in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas.

In “Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi,” Minnie works at a department store named Mortimer’s. Walt Disney originally planned to name his new mouse character Mortimer before changing it to Mickey. A different mouse character named Mortimer first showed up in the short cartoon Mickey’s Rival (1936).

3. The band playing at the toy drive was inspired by a real musical group formed by Disney animators.

The jazz band at the toy drive in “Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi” is named the Firehouse 5 after the Firehouse Five Plus Two, a seven-person Dixieland jazz band founded by Disney animators in 1949.

4. A hit country music trio performed “Deck the Halls” for the movie.

SHeDAISY—a trio of sisters who originally recorded as The Osborn Sisters—also recorded a cover of “Baby Mine” from Dumbo for a 2008 Disney compilation album, Country Sings Disney. SHeDAISY has been nominated for numerous awards and won a CMT Video Award and Billboard Music Video Award in 1999.

5. If you’re a Monty Python fan, watch for a fun reference in “A Very Goofy Christmas.”

At the mall there’s a store called “Lumberjack Lingerie“—one of those wonderful references that will fly right by the kids but grownups might enjoy.

Stream Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas Now