Mickey's Christmas Carol

WALT DISNEY STUDIO
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) 
original production animation drawing
blue and black pencil on untrimmed animation sheet, image size: 5.25" x 8"

This original rough animation drawing of Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge was created by Disney animator David Pacheco in development of a scene in the animated featurette. Disney's version of Charles Dickens' famous Christmas tale marked the return to theatrical animation of Mickey Mouse after a 30-year absence. In this scene Ebenezer Scrooge denies Mickey the burning of a small lump of coal: "Bah, you used a piece last week." Scrooge McDuck was cast in the lead role of Ebenezer Scrooge, and many classic cartoon characters made up the supporting cast, including Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, J. Thaddeus Toad, Jiminy Cricket, Goofy, Ratty and Moley.

David Pacheco, longtime art director for Disney Publishing and the Walt Disney Classics Collection, joined the studio in 1980 as an animator. He worked on many Disney films of the 1980s including The Fox and the Hound (1981), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), The Black Cauldron (1985), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and The Little Mermaid (1989). The animator wrote the designation "37" at lower right to indicate this original's place in the scene, and he wrote his name "D. Pacheco" below the number.