Here's a Disney record I had heard of but never listened to until now:
An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, from 1974. This recording would become the basis for the now far more familiar cartoon short Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983.
It was also the first time Alan Young ever voiced the character of Scrooge McDuck, which he would go on to do for decades, although his first time voicing the character in animation would be Mickey's Christmas Carol. He also voices Mickey Mouse on this album, for the only time in his career.
As in Mickey's Christmas Carol, we hear Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge, Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit, Goofy as Marley's Ghost, Willie the Giant as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Donald Duck as Fred, Daisy Duck as Isabel, and Minnie Mouse as Mrs. Cratchit. Much of the dialogue in the later cartoon is taken word-for-word from the album too.
But there are some important differences from the cartoon. The two charitable gentlemen are played by Honest John and Gideon from Pinocchio (obviously cast against type) instead of Rat and Mole from The Wind in the Willows. The Ghost of Christmas Past is played by Merlin from The Sword in the Stone instead of Jiminy Cricket. And the Ghost of Christmas Future is played by the Evil Queen from Snow White in her old hag form rather than Peg-Leg Pete. Apart from Young as Scrooge and Clarence Nash as Donald Duck, the voice cast is entirely different too. And the album is a musical adaptation with an assortment of songs, none of which are used in the cartoon.
Overall, I have to say I prefer Mickey's Christmas Carol, but this album is still a very interesting forerunner to that animated classic.
