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Parents' Guide to

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

By Andrea Beach, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 3+

Three average Christmas stories highlight positive messages.

Movie NR 1999 70 minutes
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 5+

Based on 4 parent reviews

Nunyaa
Nunyaa Parent of 6-year-old
November 28, 2019
age 10+

Awful

If you want a 5-7 year old to start questioning about whether or not there's a Santa, this is your go to movie. Very mad about the Goofy storyline.
1 person found this helpful.
Very L.
Very L. Parent of 3-year-old
March 18, 2023
age 2+

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In the first story, Huey, Dewey, and Louie's wish that it could be Christmas every day is granted. But it gets pretty old pretty fast when the same thing happens every day. How can they break the spell? In the second story Max's neighbor tells him there's no such thing as Santa, and his dad Goofy will do anything to show Max about the true meaning of Christmas. In the third story, Mickey and Minnie both are working hard to save enough to buy each other a special present. But when the money doesn't come through, what are they willing to sacrifice for the other?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (5 ):

MICKEY'S ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS falls squarely in the middle of the many holiday choices out there. Disney fans will enjoy watching their favorite characters: fly-off-the-handle Donald, goofy Goofy, and heart-of-gold Mickey all are true to form. If your holiday viewing time is limited, you may prefer a classic such as Rudolph, Frosty, or A Charlie Brown Christmas. If you do have some time to kill on a snow day, you could do a lot worse than these gentle stories that emphasize love, caring, and the spirit of giving.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what makes Christmas special. What do you like best about the holiday?

  • Huey, Dewey, and Louie try to make Christmas fun again by "livening things up." What happened instead? Why didn't their pranks help them enjoy Christmas more?

  • What is the holiday spirit? How can we keep that feeling alive all year long?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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