Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 5, 2019

'Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas' is currently only available as part of a two film bundle with 'Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.'

In the first story, two ice skating stars -- Minnie and Daisy -- are rivals who aim to outdo one another. Minnie’s routine sees her performing with a troupe of alligators, which Daisy decides to upstage by taking the ice and stealing the spotlight. The same happens with Daisy’s routine, complete with a troupe of pink hippos, with Minnie attempting to upstage the show. Can the two ever set aside their differences?

Next, it’s Christmastime at Scrooge’s mansion. Huey, Dewey, and Louie prematurely eat a batch of Christmas cookies. Uncle Scrooge takes the opportunity to teach the boys a valuable lesson: if they don’t behave and get on Santa’s good list, they won’t get any presents. The boys realize the’ve not been very good for the year and must concoct a far-fetched last-minute plan to make sure they make it on the good side of Santa’s ledger. Of course, they might very well make a mess of that, too.

Story three. With Max grown up, maybe it’s time for Goofy to grow up, too. Max brings home a girl, Mona, and asks -- begs -- his dad to be on his best behavior. Of course, the visit doesn’t go as Max envisioned. His dad is as goofy as ever, embarrassing his son at every turn.

In the collection's fourth tale, Donald wants nothing to do with he hustle and bustle of the holidays. It’s a task to even get home from the busy city streets, and all he wants to do is relax with a good, tasty cup of hot cocoa. But when he finally gets home and sits down with his drink, Daisy, Huey, Dewey, and Louie ambush and admonish him for not wanting to partake in family Christmas excursions. He reluctantly goes to the busy mall and finds himself further bombard with all of the holiday “cheer" he so desperately wants to escape.

The final short. Mickey and Pluto are best of friends, but the pup’s enthusiasm for Christmas -- and placing the star on top of the tree -- just might be the end of their relationship. When Pluto destroys everything Mickey worked so hard to build for Christmas, Mickey storms out to get replacements in a huff, leaving the pup at home to sulk...but only for a moment. Pluto hops a train and runs away, leaving Mickey to chase after him when he realizes that the warmth of friends and family is more important than anything else at Christmas.

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The image is quite nice in the aggregate. Even if the digital animation is not as subjectively impressive as the more traditionally presented Once Upon a Christmas, it does look fairly good in the first episode and beyond, delivering rich, highly detailed textures across a wide spectrum of elements, including frozen ponds, ice skating costumes, and accumulated snow. In the third segment with Max and Goofy, definition stumbles, finding a flat, poorly defined assortment of details, from faces to popcorn. That's the anomaly, however, as the rule is a generally crisp, well-rounded presentation that reproduces the digital 3D animation with a fairly stout assortment of details. Colors are wonderfully punchy, too, with an endless assortment of holiday hues on display a with lively, impressively wide spectrum of stable macro colors and finer nuanced shades alike. There is a little banding here and there, such as seen in the nighttime sky during the first short and inside Santa's office in the second. A bit of aliasing is evident, too; take a look at a cookie tray early in the second segment. These issues are not entirely commonplace through the hour but do appear just frequently enough to bother videophiles; casual viewers probably won't even notice.

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music is impressively wide and large, offering solid clarity, good surround integration, and low end engagement. There are also some impressive discrete effects; a knock and opening door off to the rear early in the second segment is amongst the most impressive sound elements in the program. There is also quality reverb accompanying a loudspeaker announcement in the second segment and as the boys return to the cavernous mansion late in the show. Various swoops, sweeps, and sounds of holiday chaos accompany several of the features. It's a very active track that is never wanting for superior stage engagement. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized as it plays from a natural front-center position.

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas contains two extras.

• Inspiration on Ice (480i, 3:12): Michelle Kwan discusses her role in inspiring the animators. The piece includes footage of her rehearsals and performances on the ice, some juxtaposed with clips from the film.
• All Things Deleted (480i, 11:47 total runtime): After Intro: All Things Deleted the following scenes are included: So Many Choices, So Little Time!; Minnie & Daisy's Face-Off; Naughty Nephews with Huey, Dewey & Louie; Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas; and Tie It Up with a Bow. The collection concludes with Final Thoughts, which features some of the filmmakers featured during the deleted scenes sharing a few last words about the film and the deleted scenes.

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas isn't bad, but it's a disappointment following Once Upon a Christmas. The stories feel a little more manufactured and several lack the depth and charm found in the original short collection. The computer animation style is, to this reviewer's eyes, not particularly attractive either, but younger ones should find it plenty adorable. Video and audio qualities are fine, though the former experiences a few flubs along the way. Worth a look.