November 21st, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
New half-hour stop-motion holiday special Mickey Saves Christmas premieres this Sunday Nov. 27 at 7pm on ABC, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. It will then be available the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Director David H. Brooks describes what he and the Stoopid Buddy Stoodios team did to capture the holiday magic with The Mouse House’s most cherished characters. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: You’re very familiar with holiday specials, with The Predator, Captain Underpants and Pentatonix. Is that one of the reasons why you were attracted to this?
David H. Brooks: Honestly, working with Mickey Mouse, how could you not get excited about that and really want to dive into this? But it’s funny, stop-motion seems to attract the holidays, or the holidays seem to attract stop-motion. It was a perfect fit for the project, but certainly… I was attracted to it because of the holidays and Mickey Mouse.
JM: You’re right. Obviously Rudolph and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town are some of the classic stop-motion specials. And I remember watching the Mickey Christmas Carol when I was young. How have they inspired you?
DB: For me, it came down to the music and the storytelling. I grew up with that stuff and love those old holiday films. Having that music and feel permeate through that holiday season… Every time when you would turn on the TV, it felt like when we were growing up, some holiday special was on. Certainly that 2D content and the stop-motion stuff really stuck with me. It was one of those nostalgic holiday moments that stuck with me forever. I feel lucky that I got an opportunity to create some of it.
JM: There are songs in this, so clearly then the songs were key for you because of your love of music.
DB: Yeah, absolutely. Creating a musical holiday special… the music is crucial to telling that story. And finding a way to integrate it in that story was super important to us. We wanted to stay true to the genre and what we think our audience is gonna respond to.
David H. Brooks and Jackson Murphy
JM: Audiences of all ages will love this. What do you think goes into making the stop-motion versions of Mickey and pals so that kids who may have seen the CG and hand-drawn versions can instantly love and identify with them?
DB: Mickey and pals have been created in so many different iterations — and all different looks. You could turn on Disney+ right now and watch five or six different versions of what Mickey Mouse is and what he looks like. In making sure that we were staying true to a classic in turning him into a stop-motion animated character… I think he’s instantly recognizable and instantly Mickey. Of course, we’ve got a great voice cast that’s been doing [these characters] for quite a while. These guys bringing their voices and seeing the characters we created as stop-motion puppets, bringing them to life, it took a lot of work, but we made sure it really felt seamless and Mickey.
JM: Yes. It is true to him. And there have been so many different versions of Mickey over the years. And I watched the Disney Christmas Day Parade for many years. Kids love the holidays and these characters, and now you’re giving them another reason to love them with this!
DB: It’s really fun. Disney holiday singalongs are everywhere [online].
JM: You have a lot of fun with the Mickey shape and inserting it in various places.
DB: We’ve got a lot of hidden Mickeys in this special. It’ll be a fun little Easter Egg for families to go back and watch this time and time again and see new hidden Mickeys.
JM: There are many different ways you could’ve approached the core story of this, and I like the Mickey and Pluto focus. How did you decide that would be the emotional, driving focus of this?
DB: It all started with the script, and we wanted to make sure we were telling a story that would resonate with kids. But to your point earlier about making sure that it’s right for the whole family, this really does feel like a… sorry to use this term… four-quadrant special — for everybody to love and enjoy. Mickey and his best friend having maybe a little bit of a strain in their relationship because of something we can all identify with: being busy during the holidays… and maybe setting aside, not ignoring, but not quite giving attention to things that matter most to you during the holidays. I think that core story of Mickey and his best friend is the perfect way into that holiday lesson and story.
JM: There are cool flying and dangling sequences throughout.
DB: There are some really fun, big action sequences in here. And those, for us, are the real things we dive into — the real challenges in creating stop-motion animation. It’s not like CG or 2D where we can just draw it at a certain angle. We have a physical sleigh. It’s heavy. And we need to find a way to make that defy gravity. When you’re watching those sequences, just know that a lot of very, very hard work went into creating them.
JM: What would you ask Goofy Claus for Christmas?
DB: Oh my gosh! Goofy Claus. I’ve been really into baking lately. I’m excited about the holiday season and getting ready for Thanksgiving and desserts. It might be a new mixer to mix-up some of my baking goods.
JM: Very nice! It’s good to see Goofy Claus.
DB: I love his beard that dangles really low, like the mall Santas.
JM: Yes! What is the actual height of the set? What are the real proportions of it all?
DB: This set [the Hot Dog Hills town square — David is using an image of it as his virtual background] is about eight feet wide by 12-feet long. We’re about a one-sixth scale, for the miniature fans out there. Mickey is about five or six inches tall. Goofy is about nine or ten inches tall. It’s a fun little world.
JM: It’s amazing. I have to credit the wonderful PR people for letting me know about Brock Powell and Camryn Grimes, as [the voices of] Santa and Mrs. Claus. They were introduced by Bill Farmer, who voices Goofy, and now they’re a couple in real-life. That’s amazing!
DB: I did not know they were introduced by Bill Farmer. That’s absolutely incredible. Bill does Goofy and Pluto’s voices and he… is such a talent and such a sweet guy — and so good at what he does. It actually doesn’t surprise me that he brought these two together. And it’s so fitting that they play Santa and Mrs. Claus. It’s incredible. And you can tell there’s some chemistry there between the two of them.
JM: This is going to air on the 27th at the same time on ABC, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD, and then it’s on Disney+ and Hulu the next day. It’s an event!
DB: It’s such an honor. To be on ABC during the holidays… for you to be able to flip on your television… I still have an antenna on my television. So I still get all the local networks. To be able to flip it on and have it on instead of hunting, it’s really so special to be on that channel — and then simultaneously across the Disney platforms. My niece and nephew… are 13 and 11, and they consume Disney+ like… I think they’ve watched everything on Disney+, if that’s at all possible. I’m thrilled that hopefully everyone will get a chance to see it on Sunday, but if they miss it, on Monday they’ll be able to check it out on Disney+.
JM: Yeah. I still have over the air antennas! It’s wonderful. And you have the opportunity, like the Olaf special and Shrek the Halls (among all the others ABC has), this has the opportunity to air on ABC for years and years and maybe decades. How does that feel that this could be watched for decades?
DB: You know, it really does feel like that thing that is going to be perennial. Early on in my directing career, I directed a piece for Saturday Night Live that’s played every holiday season. Out of nowhere it becomes a thing. This feels like it’s obvious that it’s going to be out there for years and years and years to come. In preparation for this, I went back and watched a lot of the old 2D Mickey holiday stuff. That stuff is as good today as it was the day it was made. It still has that warm, fuzzy feeling. It’s Mickey Mouse. I genuinely believe this is gonna be around as long as Disney is.
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