Mickey’s Christmas Carol is getting a primetime slot on ABC this year. The network will air the 1983 short on Wednesday, November 25, from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific under The Wonderful World of Disney banner, the night before Thanksgiving.
The date is listed in ABC’s 2026 holiday programming schedule, which describes it simply: “Mickey, Donald, Goofy and all their pals star in an all-time Christmas classic.” It fills a half-hour slot, which makes it an easy pick for a family night before the holiday.
Scrooge McDuck As Ebenezer Scrooge
If it has been a while, Mickey’s Christmas Carol is Disney’s take on the Charles Dickens story, cast almost entirely with its classic characters. Uncle Scrooge plays Ebenezer Scrooge, Mickey is his clerk Bob Cratchit, Goofy turns up in chains as the ghost of Jacob Marley, and Donald plays Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. Jiminy Cricket is the Ghost of Christmas Past, Willie the Giant is the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Pete plays the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
Burny Mattinson directed the 26-minute featurette, which premiered in the United Kingdom in October 1983 and opened in U.S. theaters that December. It was the first new Mickey Mouse cartoon in theaters in three decades, going back to The Simple Things in 1953, and it earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film. Much of it was adapted from a 1974 Disneyland Records album, An Adaptation of Dickens’ Christmas Carol.
It is also a piece of voice history. It was the last time Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck, voiced the character before his death in 1985, and Wayne Allwine, who voiced Mickey until his death in 2009, played Bob Cratchit.
More Disney On ABC This Holiday Season
Mickey’s Christmas Carol is one piece of a bigger Disney holiday stretch. Five days later, ABC has the Disney Holiday Spectacular on November 30, and the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade returns December 25.
Anyone who misses the broadcast does not have to wait for next year. Mickey’s Christmas Carol also streams on Disney+, so it is easy to fit into a holiday movie night any time in December.
When To Watch
Mickey’s Christmas Carol airs Wednesday, November 25, at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on ABC, as part of The Wonderful World of Disney, the banner ABC uses for Disney movies and specials. Check local listings for the Central and Mountain time zones, since ABC lists the schedule in Eastern and Pacific times only.
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