A Very Mickey Christmas
Welcome to this month's Blogorail Yellow Loop! Today we are sharing our Favorite Holiday Movies and TV Specials.
I have an affinity for all things Disney and Christmastime is no different. Even prior to getting married and having a family, my husband and I grew up with Disney and holidays coinciding. Naturally, when the time came, we introduced Disney magic and our kids have also grown to love the cherished stories of Mickey and Friends, too!
This was a few years ago, I haven't gotten a picture of them all sitting still together with their hot cocoa since! :)
One of our favorite pastimes includes family movie nights that leave us with peppermint hot chocolate hangovers and sweet dreams full of magic and the Christmas spirit! In fact, we just recently had one of those nights and it was so fun being home to snuggle with my favorite people and enjoy a Disney holiday fix.
Our first holiday movie that we watched this season was Its A Wonderful Life. It's my husband's favorite non-Disney holiday film, and I pretty much cried most of it. It's a great film, but my favorites are Disney so we decided to start out with Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas!
Image © The Walt Disney Company
We love Disney's holiday films, especially when they feature more than one story. Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas includes three stories, each special with a unique lesson teaching the spirit of Christmas, giving, friendship, family, and love. This special film anthology was released in 1999, and has been a favorite of mine ever since!
Image © The Walt Disney Company
Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas is a hilarious holiday take starring Donald’s nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, as they are wishing to have Christmas every day and then realizing that Christmas is more than just presents and yummy food, but about cherishing time with loved ones and appreciating the season to spread joy and love with others.
Image © The Walt Disney Company
The next film, A Very Goofy Christmas, is probably our children’s least favorite film in the series, because they have never really been huge fans of Goofy’s son, Max. They often chatter about Max’s bad attitude and disrespect towards his dad, Goofy. Max does tend to have an attitude of entitlement (assuming it is because of his teenage years) and the kids recognize this as something we’ve really worked on teaching them - the importance of gratefulness and positivity. However, that being said, this specific film is always a good reminder for them to be grateful and have a good attitude even if things don’t go their way. We laugh together as we watch Goofy spread Christmas cheer and blessings to others in the film. Max eventually realizes the spirit of Christmas is about believing and sharing the joy and cheer with others.
Image © The Walt Disney Company
The final story is one of selflessness and love. This one is Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of Magi, a retelling of the classic story where a man gives the love of his life a special treasure by selling his most prized possession. Ironically, this woman gives up her most prized possession to compliment the man’s item. While their gifts end up being "useless" it is the idea of the priceless time and thought, and act of love by giving up what they love for the person they love.
I really appreciate that the films touch on topics that we can discuss with our kids, it is far more than entertainment and with everything that we watch, we attempt to share what we learned or took away from the stories.
In this day and age, it is important to have these discussions with our kids, in order to foster a home environment that has open communication and is founded on love, learning and growing together.
If you have yet to see Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas, I highly suggest it! We will definitely be watching it again, in addition to the sequel, Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas, this weekend!
Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail Yellow | Favorite Holiday Movies + TV Specials Loop:
- 1st Stop - Sparks of Magic | Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas
- 2nd Stop - The Delightful Life | A Charlie Brown Christmas
- 3rd Stop - Love Our Disney | Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas
- 4th Stop - Home is Where the Mouse Is | Elf
