Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites

In the first of only two shorts explicitly set around Christmastime, Mickey decides to give of himself to make the holiday a bit more special for the less fortunate. He does the unthinkable -- selling Pluto -- to be able to bestow gifts upon a family of underprivileged children. While Mickey is off entertaining the little ones, Pluto is subjected to a number of threatening incidents by his spoiled new owner. Fortunately, there is a happy snowy campfire reunion of the Mouse and his dog. This short marks a Classic Cartoon Favorites first: it was made in black & white, but appears colorized here. The copyright date given is 1991, so the past fourteen years of innovation in the field of colorization have not been taken advantage of here, and this shows in the shortcomings that the perceptive will detect.

Nothing says "holiday" like the Arctic, right? This summer's surprising box office results have illustrated that people love penguins, so if they respond to this bouncy 71-year-old Silly Symphony as warmly as they did the breakout hit present-day documentary, then they might not object to its puzzling inclusion. The cold white stuff that we associate with Christmas is abound (both in frozen and mush forms) as our focus falls upon two penguins, a male and a female. The male tries to woo the female with a snow cone (literally) and later a blowfish, with mixed results. He also proves his bravery by rescuing her from a fierce shark. The winning animal antics on display are enough to sustain the longer-than-typical running time.

Long before Kronk's New Groove used the tactic to excess, this Oscar-winning cartoon introduced above-shoulder devil and angel characters for its conflicted protagonist, Pluto. After rescuing a helpless kitten from a close call, Pluto is enraged to find the cat taking his place inside Mickey's house. Efforts to get the new houseguest in trouble with Mickey only result in Pluto being exiled outside and falling into a fix of his own.

Donald has taken on a job in a gift wrapping department and as the title implies, he finds it kind of slow. His only on-site companions are an all-seeing loudspeaker and a plethora of toys which he vehemently manipulates to fit in boxes. In typical fashion, this cartoon relies on a series of gags to raise the wrath of our crabby protagonist.

Though on duty as a rescue dog, it is Pluto himself who needs to be saved when he encounters a little seal who wants to tag along. With no dialogue coming from either of the two characters, gags ensue and the seal remains a good sport, aiding Pluto even when he falls through the surface of an icy lake.

The volume concludes with a second Christmas-set short, though notions of "goodwill" and "brotherhood" are noticeably absent. Instead, things get quite violent as Donald again squares off with Chip 'n Dale. The chipmunks' appearance in Donald's home quickly dampens his holiday spirit, and soon ornaments and presents are being used as weapons left and right. Though this cartoon garnered an Oscar nomination, it's a bit hard to swallow in spite of some fun moments.

After Donald cleverly devises a way to make Chip and Dale shovel his driveway for him, the two squeaky chipmunks plot their revenge. They sneak into the duck's cabin and make themselves at home in his box of Yum Yum Popcorn. Overcoming peril at every turn, from hot fires to near-consumption, Chip 'n Dale find ways to outsmart their irascible nemesis and claim the popcorn for themselves. This battle of wits is a bit more inspired than other Donald/Chip 'n Dale showdowns and the snowy setting apparently qualifies it for this collection.