Classic Cartoon Favorites, Volume 9: Classic Holiday Stories

This ninth volume from the series that harvests the crème de la crème of the Walt Disney cartoon vaults features a trio of festive holiday titles. First up is the 1978 classic “The Small One,” a Don Bluth (An American Tail) production set in biblical times that features little dialogue but plenty of feeling in its tale of a boy whose father forces him to sell his favorite donkey because it simply can't do the work required to pay for its food. Boy and beast go to market, searching in vain for a “friendly face” but finding only evil (including a tanner who wants the “small one's” hide) until they meet a man who needs a gentle donkey…to carry his pregnant wife…to Bethlehem. Next is “Pluto's Christmas Tree” (1952), a short in which the tree that Mickey and Pluto chop down from the forest turns out to hold stowaways: chipmunk pals Chip and Dale, who mess up the house and cause mischief (much to Pluto's chagrin) but join in the festivities when Minnie and others show up. Lastly is 1983's “Mickey's Christmas Carol,” a retelling of the classic Dickens tale with Mickey as Bob Cratchit, Scrooge McDuck as, well, Scrooge, and Goofy as Jacob Marley. A fine selection of holiday favorites, this is highly recommended. Aud: P. (J. Williams-Wood)