I don't think Mickey's Magical Christmas:Snowed in at the House of Mouse is the best Christmas movie nor is it among the best Disney has ever done. It is though a decent movie and worth seeing if you like the show House of Mouse(I do), if you love Christmas(once again I do) or if you like Disney(once again I do). This has been compared to House of Villains. I will say I liked them both equally, both had their faults but both have their virtues. I feel Snowed in at the House of Mouse is less rushed and has the better combination of shorts, while House of Villains had the better story and animation.
So what were Snowed in at the House of Mouse's faults? While less rushed, which is in some ways a good thing, the story does drag and does revolve a little too much around the shorts. The animation on the whole is pretty decent, but I did not like how Belle and the Beast were animated, Belle is deflated and Beast is ripped of his majesty. Also, it is a little too short.
However, the animation as I have said apart from Belle and the Beast is decent, there are some nicely drawn characters and the backgrounds are lovely and colourful, and it sticks reasonably true to the animation style of the show like House of Villains does. The animation in the shorts though is better than the animation inside the House of Mouse I feel. The music is very nice too, especially loved the end song, and the ending was better than that of House of Villains(it wasn't as abrupt). There is some nice dialogue, without being too sappy or going overboard with the humour, the voice work is pretty much excellent and it was wonderful seeing Disney characters such as Lumiere, Jiminy Cricket, Ariel, Jafar and Peter Pan again, and Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Daisy and Goofy of course. What made this film though was the cartoons. Donald on Ice was amusing, and matches the humour evident in the early Donald Duck cartoons. Mickey's Christmas Carol and Pluto's Christmas Tree are both Christmas classics, while the take on the Nutcracker was a lot of fun, especially for Donald's Mouse King which was hilarious.
Overall, I liked this film. It's nothing extraordinary, but it is not a bad way to pass an hour or so of your Christmas holiday. 7/10 Bethany Cox
