Disney Jr.'s Mickey and the Very Many Christmases creative team discuss new special and nostalgic storylines
By Tiara Starks
No Christmas is complete without Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of Disney's most lovable characters! As we get into all things warm and cozy this holiday season, Disney Jr. offers up a new special called Mickey and the Very Many Christmases, which premieres on Disney Jr. on Dec. 1! The Christmas special is part of Disney Jr.’s 'Magical Holidays' slate on the network with Disney Jr. releasing five new stop-motion sing-along shorts called Mickey and Minnie's Christmas Carols. With a plethora of new programming to choose from, the whole family can have Mickey and the gang be apart of your holiday celebrations!
In the Mickey and the Very Many Christmases special, Mickey makes a wish that every day could be Christmas, but he gets second thoughts when it comes true. The voice cast includes Bret Iwan as Mickey Mouse, Kaitlyn Robrock as Minnie Mouse, Bill Farmer as Goofy, Tress MacNeille as Daisy Duck, and Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck. Mickey and the Very Many Christmases is a co-production between Disney Jr. and Wild Canary with animation from Vancouver-based animation studio, Icon Creative Studio.
At the heart of this special is the creative duo behind this special's story: Tom Rogers, executive producer and writer (The Chicken Squad, Minnie's Bow Toons), and Rachel Ruderman (Elena of Avalor, Sofia the First), co-executive producer and writer. The Parent Watch spoke with Rogers and Ruderman to learn more about what makes this new holiday special the perfect watch for everyone in your home as they speak on a storyline that balances both childhood wonder and human emotion that resonates across generations of Disney fans. Read on!
The Parent Watch: I grew up watching Mickey Mouse and all of the specials growing up. To see a new one in this generation is amazing. From the beginning of development, what made this special so [important] for you?
Tom Rogers: Well, first of all, I have to say that we’re in the same boat as you. We also grew up watching Mickey's specials, so we were super excited to work on this one. What made it special? We’ve both written for Disney for a long time and have written a lot of Christmas episodes, but when we were brought onto this project, we knew there was something unique about it. There was already a script written by a writer named Kim Duran, and she came up with the idea of Mickey wishing that every day could be Christmas.
We really latched onto that concept and crafted it into a story about Mickey learning to be careful what he wishes for. We wanted to turn it into a story that’s very relatable for kids. You know, the idea of wishing every day could be Christmas—Mickey’s coming at it from a real kid’s perspective. Then, we were able to bring our adult perspective to it, taking him on a journey of discovery where he realizes that you quickly get over the superficial fun things about Christmas, like sweet treats, cocoa, sledding, and presents. What really makes Christmas special are the memories we make with our friends and family. That felt like a really a significant journey of discovery for Mickey and something that families would relate to. At that point, Rachel and I knew this was a story with real promise, and that was how we came on to it.
Rachel Ruderman: I echo everything Tom just said. Also, I hope that kids come away from this thinking, 'Oh, maybe it’s good that Christmas comes just once a year. Maybe it wouldn’t be so great if it came every day.' I also hope that adults get something out of it, too. I think they’ll see that it’s those special, unique, and sometimes imperfect moments—the ones where things go wrong—that often turn out to be the best Christmas memories. I hope the message is to enjoy those moments and be present for them.
I wanted to dive deep into the message of wish fulfillment and what that really means. From your own personal experiences growing up with the holidays, did you ever have a wish that you knew that you wanted this to come true? When working on this special, did it conjure up any memories for you both?
RR: I’m not sure I have a perfect answer to that, but what comes to mind is that my parents used to have us draw pictures of what we wanted for the holidays, I think just to get us involved in the process. I remember my brother drawing a picture of a Star Wars ship he wanted, and he wrote everything down—he even wrote 'batteries not included' on there. My parents saw that and said, 'So, this is the one you want? The one with 'batteries not included'? Okay.' I’m not sure if that answers your question perfectly, but that’s what came to mind.
TR: I remember as a kid bugging my parents to get me this helmet with a light and a siren on top, called Super Helmet 7. Apparently, I kept saying, 'Super Helmet 7, Super Helmet 7!' I have no memory of actually getting it. I can see old pictures of me wearing it, but what I really remember is walking around the neighborhood with my brother and two friends. When people would put their Christmas trees out on the sidewalk, we’d drag them all back to our house and build a Christmas tree fort. What I remember most are the things we did together—the fun moments. I remember going out with my grandmother to look at Christmas lights, driving around different parts of Dallas where I grew up. I think, when we were working on this show, I tapped into those memories and recognized that it’s the experiences and the memories that stay with you. Super Helmet 7 ends up in a closet somewhere, but those moments last.
When I was watching, there's that classic Mickey Mouse dialogue that we all know and love. As you are thinking about the writing and production, what's the process like behind the scenes and getting it onto the [Disney+] platform?
RR: Well, Tom and I talk—a lot. So much of it is about talking things through. Before we put anything down on paper, we have to talk it out and pitch ideas to each other. It’s almost like we’re acting things out, making the movie verbally together. It’s so great to have a partner for that. I love working with Tom. A lot of writers don’t have that, and they end up writing alone, which is trickier. They’re acting things out by themselves in their room—how sad for them. A lot of it is just us talking, imagining what the movie could be, and then we put it down on paper. After that, we run it by our executives, who have their own ideas about what the movie could be. They offer suggestions and make changes, and the story starts to take shape. Then everyone adds their input, and we get our voice actors involved. When we’re recording with them, they might have ideas that improve things even more.
It’s really important to be flexible and willing to adjust as you go to make things better. The process really takes off when our artists get involved—they start drawing it out and bringing fresh ideas on how to make things funnier, faster, and better. It's a living, breathing thing that keeps evolving as you go through this year plus of production. What you wind up with at the end is always even better than what you started with when you were talking about it.
TR: The one thing I would add to that is that, early on, you need to have a clear idea of what your movie is about. Because there are so many directions you could go in—as Rachel was describing, with all the different aspects of it—there are countless ways you could veer off track, especially when it comes to the many different ideas about what a Christmas movie could be. You really need to know what your movie is about. Early on, we landed on the idea that what makes a holiday like Christmas special is making memories with your friends. That theme is what everything keeps coming back to.
All the songs reference memories, all the dialogue does too, and even the camera, which takes pictures. All these elements reinforce that theme—sometimes subtly, sometimes more directly. We wanted to make sure that the ending and the climax of the movie tied into this theme. The climax involves Mickey and the gang having to remember something from a previous Christmas and using that memory to execute something important. Everything relates to this idea of making memories at Christmas. That's what makes it feel whole and keeps it from going off track as you're going through the many different phases of production.
It's really cool to see the attention to detail within the storytelling. Even the animators, the camera, the design of the camera is so specific. It still feels like those nostalgic specials that we watched all growing up, no matter what the generation is. Minnie is my favorite character. Who did you resonate with in terms of everyone's personalities and which character do you really feel like embodied the Christmas spirit the most?
TR: Oh, my goodness! Well, if you love Minnie, I don't know if you know this, but Rachel and I are both showrunners for Minnie’s Bow-Toons, the shorts that air on YouTube and Disney+. Right now, we have Camp Minnie out, and there are two more unannounced seasons of Minnie Mouse shorts coming up.
RR: Well, because we write for Minnie, we wanted to make sure Mickey had a strong voice in this as well. For me, it was my first time in well over a decade of writing for Disney where I got to write something where Mickey was the main character, and I really related to what he was going through. I mean, there's something you love, and of course, you want it to go on and on. I saw this story from Mickey's perspective, and I found it really valuable to share the lesson that sometimes there's just the right amount of something, and too much can be overwhelming. I definitely saw it through Mickey's eyes in this one.
TR: One additional thought on Mickey: I totally relate to him, but there’s one moment with Mickey that we really had to work through before we could fully lean into it. It’s the moment when Mickey snaps at his friends, which is very uncharacteristic of him. He’s always positive and never mean to his friends. But we wanted to make him relatable, to give him a moment of human frustration. It took some time to get that beat right because we wanted it to feel understandable, and we wanted to make sure it resonated with the audience. It needed to happen at a point where his disappointment and frustration had been building to a breaking point. Yet, it’s not really that he’s frustrated or angry with his friends—he’s frustrated with the situation he’s created. He’s upset with himself. I think I really related to that, especially that feeling of needing to shout but not wanting to hurt anyone, and not being able to hold it in. I think we’ve all been there at Christmas with our families before.
If you and your Mickey-loving loved ones want a sneak peak of the special, The Parent Watch has an exclusive clip to watch on Disney Jr.'s official YouTube Channel. Watch the clip below:
Mickey and the Very Many Christmases premieres on Disney Jr. on Dec. 1 and next day on Disney+